Sustainable biomass: a subject fraught with conflict
Sustainable biomass is a subject dominated by strong and enduring disagreement. Michael Moore’s latest film Planet of the Humans is a recent reminder of that. In the Netherlands, always looking for consensus, the government now tries to develop a ‘widely shared sustainability frame’. What is the possible role of biomass in the energy transition? The
Energy from biomass is sustainable, as a nest egg
Once upon a time, energy from biomass like wood, manure, whale oil and other sources was the primary supplier of heat, light and food processing. If we should like to contain climate change effectively, would we have to return to those times? This article was first published (in Dutch) on the site of wattisduurzaam.nl. Energy
Beyond food: the role of animals in the bioeconomy
The bioeconomy may be dominated by plant-based processes, but the role of animals in the bioeconomy is also notable. This article was first published on the site of NNFCC. In the bioeconomy, we are well-used to processes involving plants. In the overwhelming majority of cases, plants are the source of biomass from which biobased products
Biohydrogen: the next green alternative fuel
Hydrogen has a high energy content (120-142.9 MJ/kg); it is a clean energy carrier and can replace fossil fuels. Hydrogen is already a fuel of choice for space programs; it guarantees environmental quality and mitigates climate change. However, the presently used commercial methods for its production are not environmentally friendly; they require a major energy
Bioenergy: fine, if from side streams
Why cannot we lift all barriers for the use of bioenergy? Because the energy sector is much larger than the food sector. The 20 billion tons of fossil fuels that mankind uses each year, is equivalent to 40 billion tons of biomass; whereas our yearly harvest for food is 9 billion tons, of which 3
Limits to biomass use
Since the turn of the century, there is a discussion raging on the limits to biomass use for energy purposes, in order to control man-made CO2 emissions. After having been greeted with enthusiasm at first, bioenergy is now met with many more restrictions. How do we look upon this after all these years? This is
First generation bioethanol deserves revaluation, says nova-Institute
European biofuel policy is being revised. November last year, the new draft renewable energy directive (RED II) has been proposed, and decisions on it will be taken in the coming months. The main difference with RED I is a further reduction of the amount of first generation biofuels. Nova-Institute reviewed the underlying scientific evidence and
Drop-ins lead the biobased economy astray
Earlier this year, German nova-Institute published another thoughtful document on the biobased economy. It starts out from the observation that ten years of European policy making have not been very successful. The amount of biomass used in the European chemical and plastics industry has stagnated. The only sectors showing growth are the bioenergy and biofuel
