1. Workshop on Biomass Sustainability in Ukraine, Hotel Ukraine, Kiev, 25 May 2010
Certification of sustainably produced
biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
Jarno Dakhorst, NEN Energy Resources

2. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
Outline
• Background
• NTA 8080: Sustainability requirements
• NTA 8080: Chain of custody
• NTA 8081: Certification scheme
• Certification system
• Outlook

3. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
Background (1)
• Biomass from green revolution to hot issue
• Establishment project group in 2006 by Dutch
government addressing sustainability
• Final report 'Testing framework for sustainable biomass'
in 2007 with sustainability criteria on:
– greenhouse gases (emissions and carbon stocks)
– competition with food or other local applications
– biodiversity
– environment (soil, water and air)
– prosperity
– social well-being

4. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
Background (2)
• Establishment BIOPEC consortium in 2007 aiming at
certification system for sustainable biomass
• Certification system requires:
– document with requirements for sustainable biomass production
and chain of custody => NTA 8080
– scheme with rules for certification => NTA 8081
• NEN facilitates process to develop and manage
certification system
– standard is voluntary agreement on product, process or service
– principles: all parties concerned, transparency, consensus
– NEN is not a certification body, so independent and neutral

5. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
NTA 8080: Sustainability requirements (1)
• Developed by broadly composed working group =>
25 organizations from industry, NGOs and government
• Translation of criteria from 'Testing framework for
sustainable biomass' in verifiable requirements
• Developed in timeframe of 8 months
• Requirements apply to primary biomass producers
except for greenhouse gas balance (entire supply chain)
• Residues => list of exceptions (based on NTA 8003)
• Small-holders => some exemptions or group certification

6. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
NTA 8080: Sustainability requirements (2)
• Inclusion of consultation of stakeholders (by both
producers and certification bodies)
• Based on continuous improvement (PDCA cycle)
• Chain of custody => all models possible
• Reference date new production units 1 January 2007
• Available in Dutch and English

7. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
NTA 8080: Sustainability requirements (3)
Principle Requirement
Greenhouse
gas balance
Emission savings compared with fossil reference:
• 70% for power & heat, ref. coal-fired installations;
innovative technologies 50%
• 50% for power & heat, ref. gas-fired installations
• 60% for biogas
• 50% for biofuels; 35% for some biofuels till 2012
Carbon stocks For new production units:
• exclusion of areas with high above-ground carbon
stocks
• exclusion of areas with high risk of significant
carbon losses from the soil
• carbon losses shall be compensated within ten
years

8. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
NTA 8080: Sustainability requirements (4)
Principle Requirement
Competition
with food and
other local
applications
Reporting of information, if available, about:
• land use changes
• changes in land and food prices
• availability of biomass for food, energy supply,
construction materials, medicines, etc.
Biodiversity For new production units:
• exclusion of gazetted protected areas and high
conservation value areas incl. 5 km zone around
=> under some conditions not excluded
• 10% of functional area covered with original
vegetation

9. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
NTA 8080: Sustainability requirements (5)
Principle Requirement
Biodiversity
(continued)
For all production units:
• compliance with national and local relevant
legislation
• measures to conserve, recover and strengthen
biodiversity
Soil quality • compliance with national or local relevant
legislation
• measures to preserve and improve soil quality
• conditions for use of residues
Water quality • compliance with national or local relevant
legislation
• measures to preserve and improve water quality
• no use of non-renewable water sources

10. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
NTA 8080: Sustainability requirements (6)
Principle Requirement
Air quality • compliance with national or local relevant
legislation
• measures to preserve and improve air quality
• no burning during constructionand operation;
under conditions possible
Prosperity • measures to involve local population (also in
management) and contribute to local economy
Social well-
being
• practices and measures to:
– provide good working conditions
– respect human rights
– respect property rights
– contribute to local social well-being
– prevent corruption and improve integrity

11. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
NTA 8080: Chain of custody (1)
Segregation
Certified chain
Regular (uncertified) chain

12. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
NTA 8080: Chain of custody (2)
Mass balance (required by RED, 2009/28/EC)
Certified chain
Regular (uncertified) chain

13. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
NTA 8080: Chain of custody (3)
Book & claim
Biomass chain

14. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
NTA 8081: Certification scheme (1)
• Developed by broadly composed committee of experts =>
25 organizations from industry, NGOs and government
• Developed and validated in timeframe of 12 months
• Validation by (inter)national projects (pilots)
• Pilots resulted in first interpretation document NTA 8080
• Chain of custody => elaboration of mass balance
• Ready to use, formal publication after acknowledgement
by Dutch Accreditation Council
• To be assessed by EC as tool to prove RED compliance
• Available in Dutch and English

15. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
NTA 8081: Certification scheme (2)
• Certification scheme describes:
– scope of scheme
– requirements for certification bodies and auditor(s)
– audit effort in man-days
– method of conformity assessment
– assessment frequency and validity of certificate
– 'minor' & 'major' non-conformities and way to deal with
– conditions and requirements for group certification
– necessary information for register and report
– way of complaints, objection, appeal, suspension and de-
registration

16. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
Certification system (1)
NEN Scheme Ownership is acknowledged by
Dutch Accreditation Council as scheme owner

17. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
Certification system (2)
• Documents and tools:
– NTA 8080
– NTA 8081
– interpretationdocuments
(NTA 8080, elaboration mass balance)
– central register*
– flow charts on procedures
– system plans for self-assessment by organization to be certified
and risk analysis by auditor*
– web portal www.nta8080.org or www.sustainable-biomass.org
– …
* in development

18. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
Certification system (3)
• 4 types of scopes:
– ‘Producer’ for organization producing primary biomass or
collecting residual flows, as described in NTA 8080, annex A
– ‘Processor’ for organization processing or converting (primary)
biomass
– ‘Trader’ for organization trading in biomass
– ‘End-user’ for organization using biomass for generation of
electricity and heat or production of biogas or biofuel

19. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
Certification system (4)
• Procedure:
– check if organization falls within scope NTA 8080
– complete system plan (self assessment) and
undertake necessary actions if not satisfactory
– apply for certification by recognized certification
body (if organization thinks it is ready)
– co-operate with audit team of certification body
(e.g. documentation, site visit)
– if compliance with NTA 8080, NTA 8080 certificate is granted to
organization; otherwise first correct non-conformities
– organization is included in central register with scope certificate

20. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
Outlook (1)
Europe => CEN/TC 383:
• Standard on conformity assessment including chain of
custody to assist economic operators demonstrating RED
compliance (note: EC does not require certification)
• Waiting for EC communication on mass balance method
and voluntary schemes to finalize draft
• Formal publication in May 2012, than adoption by all
CEN members
• NTA 8080 shall be reviewed and revised
(e.g. incorporation of interpretation documents)

21. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
Outlook (2)
International => ISO/PC 248:
• One standard covering similar scope as NTA 8080
(standard does not require certification)
• Publication in May 2014, might be adopted by NL
(depending on level of sustainability)
• If adopted, NTA 8080 will be superfluous
(but has proven its existence for at least 5 years)
• Certification scheme could be adjusted to ISO standard

22. Certification of sustainably produced biomass – NTA 8080 & NTA 8081
Questions?
Thank you for your attention
NEN Scheme
Ownership NTA 8080
nta8080@nen.nl
+31-15-2 690 326
www.nta8080.org