BIOMASS AND THE BIOECONOMY IN THE NEXT CAP Nicola Di Virgilio, European Commission DG Agriculture
Supporting the decarbonisation in the EU in a system-wide approach by developing the bioeconomy through the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy.
T
he bioeconomy offers important opportunities for the decarbonisation of the European economy. Its role is clearly recognised in the Communication adopted by the EU Commission in November 2018 “A Clean Planet for all�1, in which the Commission set out its vision for a climate-neutral EU. The document explores several pathways for EU sectors and their contribution to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, concluding that the development of the bioeconomy for the substitution of fossil-based materials is key to achieve that. This will imply
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sourcing biomass from waste, crops and forest residues, further promoting circular solutions in the supply chains of biogas and advanced biofuels, with a further development of non-food crops on agriculture land. The modelling exercise envisages that depending on the analysed scenarios, the domestic production of feedstock to fulfil the EU demand for bioenergy, would range from 214 Mtoe to more than 320 Mtoe by 2050, of which 38 Mtoe to 108 Mtoe are provided by fast growing energy crops, such as lignocellulosic grasses and short rotation coppices.
The analysed scenarios with the highest energy crop requirements see about 29 Mha of land being used for new energy crops, representing a diversification in agricultural land use equivalent to 10%. The contribution of energy crops is fundamental in order to avoid unsustainable use of forests, to maintain the natural carbon sink while preserving ecosystems, therefore an increase of land cultivated with energy crops is expected in all tested scenarios. For the same reason, adaptation measures to climate change are also needed in order to
