SUSTAINABILITY, IMPACTS AND POLICIES

2.1 Sustainability, socio-economic aspects and public acceptance

  • Sustainability aspects of biomass production and use;
  • Sustainability schemes, sustainability standards and products certification;
  • Socio-economic aspects, benefits and socio-economic opportunities;
  • Competition and risk mitigation of the increased use of biomass;
  • Bioenergy, food security and local, traditional use of biomass;
  • Actions for sustainable economic growth;
  • Bioenergy contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG);
  • Improving citizen awareness and acceptance;
  • Promoting good practices for bioenergy.

2.2 Environmental impacts

  • Biomass and land use, agricultural intensification, water and air emissions from biomass production and conversion;
  • Biomass production preserving biodiversity and ecosystem services;
  • Land use change impacts, monitoring and addressing indirect land use changes;
  • Land use and land governance;
  • Biomass production and water use, energy, land and water interactions;
  • Trade-offs between different impacts;
  • Environmental Life Cycle Assessments.

2.3 Climate impacts and GHG performance

  • Climate impacts of biomass, biofuels, bioenergy and bio-based products production;
  • Assessment of climate change mitigation potential;
  • GHG emissions, LULUCF and sustainable forest management;
  • Assessing direct and indirect land use change impacts;
  • Carbon storage on land and materials;
  • Innovative carbon utilisation options;
  • Assessing GHG of biomass pathways;
  • GHG Life Cycle Assessment.

2.4 Biomass strategies and policies

  • Policies for the sustainable and circular economy;
  • Agriculture, forestry and rural development;
  • Bioenergy policies and targets for 2030 and beyond;
  • Bioenergy and bio-based products contribution to a low carbon economy; LULUCF emissions and Emissions Trading Scheme;
  • The role of bio-based products for the 2030 and 2050 targets;
  • Biomass and rural development, opportunities in the sustainable and circular economy;
  • Strategies for international cooperation;
  • Strategies for the integration of bioenergy into a low-carbon economy;
  • Strategies for the integration of bio-based products into the chemical industry.

2.5 Resource efficient economy

  • Approaches for efficient management of natural resources (land and water);
  • Promoting resource efficient value chains;
  • Sustainable circular economy and cascading use of biomass;
  • Competition and risks of the increased use of biomass;
  • Opportunities of biomass use for food, feed, fuels, bio-based products;
  • Innovation, growth and job creation;
  • Exploiting the value of co-products;
  • Cross-sectorial synergies to avoid over-exploitation.