Standards Development

Scope

This European Standard only defines procedures, criteria and indicators to provide the required evidence for:

— production of raw material in areas for nature protection purposes;

— harvesting of raw material from !non-natural highly biodiverse grasslands"; and

— cultivation and harvesting on peatland.

This European Standard specifies requirements relevant for the provision of evidence by economic operators that the production, cultivation and harvesting of raw materials is in accordance with legal or other requirements concerning the areas mentioned above. This European Standard is applicable to production, cultivation and harvesting of biomass for biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuel production.

Purpose

With the REDII and the new iLUC related delegated act (2019/807) becoming implemented, we deem that it is time start the revision of our standard. We deem that the parts 1, 3 and 4 need to be revised. Also the ‘additionality measures’ may require some further explanation. We refer to document N 264 for further explanation. A further implementing act, containing further guidelines hopefully for the implementation of REDII, is expected to be published in January 2021. The REDII implementation by the Member States is due in July 2021.

After consultation of a.o. Bioenergy Europe and Concawe, the idea is to start with Part 3 and Part 1 to generate the necessary impetus and follow with Part 4 later on. WG 3 is operational and more experts were announced during the CIB (in N255). Sufficient experts for Part 4 were also announced during the CIB, according to N255, so we hope that we can form a new working group parallel to starting Part 3 in the existing WG 3.

The actual proposal for revision is to include, next to biofuels and bioliquids, the 'new' biomass fuels as part of the title and scope. Looking at REDII there are differences in terminology (new and altered) which implications need to be checked for Part 3. The extension of the REDII scope (to renewable electricity, renewable liquid and gaseous transport fuels of non-biological origin, and recycled carbon fuels) needs to be considered, though there are no requirements for these in Article 29 (that mainly concerns Part 3). In any case the expected implementing act with regards to co-processing may imply text revisions as well.

A scope adjustment for this part needs to be discussed, in line with the new scope of the TC, i.e. "…sustainably produced biomass for energy applications, to provide agreements for producers to implement sustainable production…