Sustainability standards
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Sustainability standards (also known as "sustainability guidelines") are agreed criteria by which the production, transportation and processing of particular bioenergy sources can be assessed for environmental, social and other values.
- Sustainability standards and certification schemes can help consumers and others judge whether given products are "environmentally friendly" and should be purchased. This type of incentive has been useful in promoting improved environmental and social-economic performance for example, in the production of paper and wood through the Forest Stewardship Council and other certification systems.
- The establishment of a Carbon Stewardship Council has been proposed. A credible and comprehensive system of sustainability standards for bioenergy is likely to be useful in promoting "environmentally friendly" biofuels and bioenergy, while discouraging the production of bioenergy that harms the environment and local communities.
- This page provides information on ongoing processes and initiatives to develop sustainability standards for bioenergy and biofuels. These are mostly multi-stakeholder initiatives, which bring together representatives from civil society including farmers and academia; business and government.
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International initiatives
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Global Bioenergy Partnership
- Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) was launched by the G8 + 5 (Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa)in 2006.
- GBEP provides a forum to, among others, suggest rules and tools to promote sustainable biomass and bioenergy development.
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Inter-American Development Bank
- IDB Biofuels Sustainability Scorecard - "The primary objective of the Scorecard is to encourage higher levels of sustainability in biofuels projects by providing a tool to think through the range of complex issues associated with biofuels."
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IEA Task Force 40: FAIRBiotrade
- One of the task forces of the International Energy Agency Bioenergy Implementing Agreement.
- Task 40: Sustainable International Bioenergy Trade: Securing Supply and Demand
- They are also working to develop standards and to evaluate the impact of standards on markets and trade.
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Responsible Commodities Initiative
- A multi-stakeholder process sponsored by the Sustainable Food Lab
- Biofuels: Responsible Commodities Initiative
- Sustainable Bio-Fuels Development Research and Synthesis - Sustainable Food Lab, October 2006.
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Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels
- A multi-stakeholder process sponsored by the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland
- RSB webpage
- Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels Flyer (pdf)
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Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
- Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil - "RSPO is an association created by organisations carrying out their activities in and around the entire supply chain for palm oil to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil through co-operation within the supply chain and open dialogue with its stakeholders."[1]
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Roundtable on Sustainable Soy
- Better Sugarcane Initiative (BSI) - BSI "is a collaboration of progressive sugarcane retailers, investors, traders, producers and NGOs who are committed to developing internationally-applicable measures and baselines that define sustainable sugar cane. BSI is an international initiative with the Steering Committee based around the world."[2]
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Sustainable Agriculture Network
- A coalition of environmental groups, of which the Rainforest Alliance serves as the Secretariat. They certify farmers and farm products with the "Rainforest Alliance Certified seal of approval".
- Sustainable Agriculture Network Standards - The Sustainable Agriculture Network Standards were developed "developed with active stakeholder involvement through a public consultation process".
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National and supranational initiatives
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Belgium
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Brazil
- This is part of Brazil's National Program of Biodiesel Production and Use.
- It attempts to deal with the question of social sustainability of biofuels by providing tax incentives for biodiesel producers to purchase feedstocks from small family farms in poorer regions of the country.
- To receive the stamp, producers must agree to:
- "To purchase minimum percentages of raw materials from family farmers, 10% from regions North and Mid-West; 30% from the South and Southeast and 50% from the Northeast and the Semi-Arid Region; and
- "To enter into contracts with family farmers establishing deadlines and conditions of delivery of the raw material and the respective prices, and to provide them with technical assistance."[3]
- Small farmers to join Brazil sustainable cane move, 1 September 2008, by Reuters: "Dozens of small and medium-scale farmers in Brazil's Sao Paulo state will grow sugar cane certified as meeting strict social and environmental standards, the region's cane producers association said late on Thursday."
- Sugarcane suppliers joining the program "must refuse the use of child or slave labor, limit their use of agrochemicals, and gather their cane with mechanical harvesters as opposed to cutting it manually. Manual cutting involves burning the plant's foliage, which pollutes the air."
- "Production standards, which will come into force on August 30, were set by Organizacao Internacional Agropecuaria (OIA), a private company which provides inspection and certification services."[1]
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European Union
Public Consultation on Biofuels. The European Commission is accepting comments on the following questions as they draft proposals for the 10% mandate for biofuels and the 20% mandate for renewable energy.
- How should a biofuel sustainability system be designed?
- How should overall effects on land use be monitored?
- How should the use of second-generation biofuels be encouraged?
- What further action is needed to make it possible to achieve a 10% biofuel share?
News related to EU standards:
- New report shows EU biofuel policy likely to cause worldwide environmental destruction, 6 May 2008 press release by Birdlife International: "The EU’s biofuel policy is likely to cause large-scale environmental harm across the world, according to a new report [Fuelling the ecological crisis - six examples of habitat destruction driven by biofuels (PDF file)] published today by BirdLife International."
- "The report presents real life cases, from across the world, where the production of biofuel feed stocks is leading to the clearing of natural habitats. It examines the potential for future damage by analysing these case studies against the “sustainability standards” proposed by the European Commission, which are supposed only to allow “sustainable biofuels” to be allowed into the EU market."
- "The major failing of the Commission proposal is that it ignores indirect effects of biofuel production such as increased consumption of EU oil-seed rape driving up demand for South-East Asian palm oil or US corn ethanol subsidies driving soya expansion in the Amazon."[2]
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Germany
- Draft Biomass Sustainability Regulation has been agreed upon by cabinet as part of the “Integrated Climate and Energy Programme” in December 2007.
- Biofuel quota law contains provisions that allow the Federal Government to set sustainability criteria.
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Netherlands
- GAVE stands for Climate Neutral Gaseous and Liquid Energy Carriers.
- GAVE website
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United Kingdom
Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation
- Starting in 2008 the RTFO will "place an obligation on fuel suppliers to ensure that a certain percentage of their aggregate sales is made up of biofuels. The effect of this will be to require 5% of all UK fuel sold on UK forecourts to come from a renewable source by 2010."[4]
- Biofuel producers will have to report on the green-house gas balance, and environmental impact of their biofuels.
- This information will be used to develop sustainability standards, which may be imposed on any extension of the RTFO.[4]
- Statement by the UK Transportation Minister on Sustainability and the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation
Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP)
- "The LowCVP is a partnership of nearly 250 organisations from the automotive and fuel industries, the environmental sector, government, academia, road user groups and other organisations with a stake in the low carbon vehicles and fuels agenda."
- LowCVP has done important work in developing a life-cycle analysis tool for green-house gas emissions. This will allow for a real evaluation of the comparative emission benefits or costs of various biofuels.
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Related sustainability standards initiatives
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Certification systems and organizations
There are a range of organizations that already certify a range of products based on sustainability standards. Many of these standards are relevant to bioenergy.
- International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling Alliance (ISEAL)
- Fairtrade Labelling Organizations (FLO) International
- Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC)
- Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
- International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM)
- Marine Aquarium Council (MAC)
- Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
- Ethanol and sugar impact analysis - ESIA Consulting - certification for ethanol market
- Esia consulting website
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Other relevant organizations and initiatives
- Protected Harvest
- RTRS: Roundtable on Responsible Soy Association
- Basel Criteria for Responsible Soy Production
- Ethical Sugar NGO
- Biomass Mark
- "The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Japan has advanced the promotion and use of biomass based on the “Biomass Nippon Strategy” which the Cabinet Council agreed to in December, 2002 and this strategy has triggered a Biomass Mark Program inauguration."
- "The Biomass Mark is designed to be put on commodities which are produced using biomass totally or partly and is aimed to promote consumers’ use of biomass by their seeing this mark and recognizing that it is a biomass utilized commodity."
- The Biomass Mark is a registered trademark of Japan Organic Resources Association, an affiliated organization of Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
- Council on Sustainable Biomass Production
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Publications
See books, reports, scientific papers, position papers and websites for additional useful resources.
- Sustainability Criteria and Certification Systems for Biomass Production by Biomass Technology Group, prepared for DG TREN European Commission, February 2008. The objective of this report is to provide a basis upon which the European Commission could decide which actions to undertake in terms of proposing minimum sustainability criteria and certification systems for the production of biomass in the EU and for imported biomass.
- LASEN's Review of Biofuels sustainability initiatives (Final draft) (LASEN, EPFL) by Dr. Edgard Gnansounou, Luis Panichelli and Juan David Villegas. The goal of this document is to describe and compare different initiatives on biofuels sustainability standards, in the intention of offering a useful tool for policy makers and different stakeholders already involved or wishing to be involved in liquid biofuels consumption and production. October 2007
- The Challenge of Sustainable Bioenergy: Balancing climate protection, biodiversity and development policy - A Discussion Paper by Gerald Knauf, Jürgen Maier (German NGO Forum Environment & Development), Nikki Skuce (OneSky - Canada) and Annie Sugrue (CURES Southern Africa). This discussion paper looks at the challenges of sustainable bioenergy and makes suggestions for sustainable development including a focus on the use of biomass for heat and power, biogas as a transportation fuel as opposed to liquid biofuels.
- Sustainable Bioenergy: A Framework for Decision Makers (pdf) - UN-Energy, April 2007. An overview of the benefits and risks of bioenergy and what policy makers have to do to ensure environmental, social and economic sustainability.
- Creating Markets for Green Biofuels: Measuring and improving environmental performance (pdf) by Brian T. Turner, Richard J. Plevin, Michael O’Hare and Alexander E. Farrell; research report, UC Berkeley Institute of Transportation Studies, April 2007. Details a methodology and policy options for a Green Biofuels Index, which would rank biofuels according to how well they met environmental criteria. This would help create a market for more sustainable biofuels.
- Overview of recent developments in sustainable biomass certification (draft)(pdf) by Jinke van Dam, Martin Junginger, André Faaij, Ingmar Jürgens, Gustavo Best, Uwe Fritsche; IEA Bioenergy Task 40, December 2006.
- Feasibility Study on certification for a Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation by E4Tech, ECCM, and Imperial College London, June 2005. This study addresses whether and how greenhouse gas and environmental and social standards should be linked to a Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation.
- Draft Environmental Standards for Biofuels (pdf) by The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management, IIED, ADAS, Imperial College; LowCVP, 18 July 2006.
- Sustainability Standards for Bioenergy by Uwe R. Fritsche, Katja Hünecke, Andreas Hermann, Falk Schulze, Kirsten Wiegmann with contributions from Michel Adolphe;WWF Germany, Öko-Institut, November 2006.
- Criteria for Sustainable Biomass Production - Final report of the Project group Sustainable production of biomass,Interdepartmental Programme Management Energy Transition, Netherlands, 14 July 2006.
- The impact of sustainability criteria on the costs and potentials of bioenergy production (pdf) by Edward Smeets, André Faaij and Iris Lewandowski; Copernicus Institute, part of the FAIR Biotrade project funded by the Dutch electricity company Essent N.V. and NOVEM (Netherlands Organisation for Energy and the Environment), May 2005.
- Paving the way for agrofuels: an unsustainable path (pdf) by Tamra Gilbertson, Nina Holland, Stella Semino and Kevin Smith (Transnational Institute), September 2007.
- Sustainability of Brazilian Bioethanol (PDF) by Edward Smeets, Martin Junginger, André Faaij (Utrecht University); Arnaldo Walter, Paulo Dolzan (State University of Campinas); commissioned by SenterNovem, The Netherlands Agency for Sustainable Development and Innovation, August 2006.
- Social Dialogue for Sustainability of Brazilian Bioethanol (PDF) by Ethical Sugar NGO with the participation of the Brazilian Ministeries of Agriculture; Public Labor and the Sao Paulo environmental secretary June 2006.
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News
- U.S. needs environmental standards for biofuels, 2 October 2008 by mongabay.com: "The U.S. lacks criteria to ensure that cellulosic ethanol production will not harm the environment, warn scientists writing in the journal Science. The researchers say that with proper safeguards, cellulosic ethanol can help the U.S. meet its energy needs sustainably."
- Read the original article here (subscription required)
- IDB launches interactive Biofuels Sustainability Scorecard 9 September 2008 press release by the IADB. The Inter-American Development Bank released an interactive tool known as the Biofuels Sustainability Scorecard on September 9th, during the 4th Annual Western Hemisphere Energy Security and Cooperation Forum, held at IDB's headquarters in Washington DC. and as part of a comprehensive effort to ensure that biofuel investments produce social, economic and environmental benefits. The Scorecard addresses 23 key environmental and social issues such as food security, greenhouse gas emissions, water management, land use change, biodiversity or poverty reduction. The IDB is inviting comments and suggestions regarding the Scorecard, which is available at www.iadb.org/secci, during a six month public consultation period that will end in March 2009.
- CBD Invites Submissions on Experiences on Tools Relevant to the Sustainable Production and Use of Biofuels, 6 August 2008 by Climate-L.org: "The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has invited submissions regarding experiences in the development and application of tools relevant to the sustainable production and use of biofuels, as well as relevant information from research on, and monitoring of, the positive and negative impacts of the production and use of biofuels on biodiversity and related socioeconomic aspects, including those related to indigenous and local communities."
- "The deadline for sending the submissions is 31 March 2009." Download notification here (PDF file)
- "A Call For A Strategic U.S. Approach To The Global Food Crisis - A Report of the CSIS Task Force on the Global Food Crisis" (PDF file), July 2008, by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Recommends revising "the U.S. approach to biofuels so that fuel and food security objectives are effectively de-conflicted", as well as bringing "into force new sustainability criteria to assess the life-cycle costs and carbon requirements for alternative biofuels."
- Human rights, rare species on EU biofuels agenda, 1 July 2008 in The Guardian.
- "The European Union is near to agreeing standards for biofuels that put human rights and endangered species high on the agenda"
- "Biofuels that do not meet the EU's strict new standards will not be banned, but member states will not be able to count them towards their renewable fuels targets."
- "But several key areas are still being debated, such as the level of greenhouse gas savings a biofuel would have to achieve as well as how to calculate the performance of different crops and different methods for converting them to biofuels."
- Don't burn food: biofuels standards now! - A March 2008 petition by Avaaz collected tens of thousands of signatures for their petition to heads of industrialized countries calling for "strong global sustainability standards."
| Sustainability standards | edit | |
| Organizations/Initiatives: Better Sugarcane Initiative | Forest Stewardship Council | Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels | Responsible Commodities Initiative | EU: GAVE | LowCVP
Policy proposals: Green Biofuels Index | ||
| Standards related to bioenergy | edit | |
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Technical standards - quality standards |
Sustainability standards | ||
