Optimizing Pathways and Market Systems for Enhanced Competitiveness of Sustainable Bio-Energy

BIOTEAM

Contract number: IEE/12/842Project duration: 36 months, 01/04/2013-31/03/2016

26/09/2013

Project summary

RESULTS•harmonized framework for assessing bio-energy pathways;•detailed sustainability impact assessment of a set of prioritised bio-energy pathways;•6 national market system assessments;•comprehensive assessment of bio-energy policy interactions, and set of strategic policy recommendations on how to shape policy instrument.

BIOTEAM:Helping public and private stakeholders gain better insight on how the bioenergy market works and how private business decision and EU and national policy instruments affect bioenergy pathway competitiveness and sustainability.

BIOTEAMpartners

BackgroundBioenergy is a complex business with many potential resources and final uses. It is usually difficult for policy makers and market actors to fully understand, within this complex market environment, the economic, social and environmental implications of their strategic bioenergy pathway decisions.

Market systems and policy framework influence the strategic and operational behaviour of actors active in the biomass markets and also the social and environmental performance of biomass-usage pathways. Many market systems have a tendency to operate predominantly in a mode of economic optimization.

The BIOTEAM project aims to:assess the impact that market forces and policy instruments have on the sustainable use of biomass resources;achieve a new balance with social and environmental aspects/interests, so as to optimize the sustainability performance of biomass usage systems, with a primary focus on biomass-to-energy pathways.

Objectives and main steps

Assess the sustainability of a number of bio-energy pathwaysCheck the relevance of alternative (non-energy) use pathways for the biomass-to-energy pathwaysContribute to the advancement in the knowledge and understanding of public and private stakeholders about the unknown impacts of policy frameworks and market system dynamicsPropose - in collaboration with public and private stakeholders – a series of actions that promote the sustainable use of scarce biomass resources, with a balance between economic, social and environmental impacts

BIOTEAM key activities

Assess the impact of policy instrument on the sustainable use of biomass

Build an harmonized framework for assessing bio-energy pathways. Sustainability impact assessment of prioritised bio-energy pathways for each country involved.

Market mapping tool to assess the impact of day-to-day competitive (or distorted) market forces on the behaviour and actions of bio-energy pathway stakeholders

Multi-criteria assessment (MCA) that aims to strike a balance between the social, economic and environmental impacts. The weighting will be performed in a participatory setting with stakeholders

Expected impacts

Main BIOTEAM reports:

Harmonized bioenergy pathway sustainability assessment frameworkComparative analysis of common policy instrumentsMarket system assessment reportsStrategic bioenergy decisions using micro-economic optimization tool and a sustainability optimization assessment with stakeholders

Direct impact

Public and private sector stakeholders in the six involved EU countries revise or at least consider a revision of their decision (e.g. bioenergy policy incentives, choice of biomass feedstock, investment size of bioenergy production plants) towards more sustainable pathways on the basis of the insights developed by BIOTEAM.

Partners & Contacts

Mr. Eise SpijkerStitching Joint Implementation NetworkNetherlandsE-mail: jin@jiqweb.orgTel: +31(0)50-5248430/1

BIOTEAM consortium

Coordinator

Website

www.sustainable-biomass.eu