Indirect land use change (iLUC) and biogas industry - Horst Fehrenbach

ifeu - Institut für Energie- und Umweltforschung Heidelberg GmbH
Indirect Land Use Change (iLUC)
and biogas industry
Horst Fehrenbach
EBA Conference 2014
Egmond aan Zee, the Netherlands, 1 October 2014
horst.fehrenbach@ifeu.de
Horst Fehrenbach 1 October 2014 1

Overview
1 Why ILUC?
2 How to „measure“ ILUC
3 How to reduce ILUC risk
4 ILUC and biogas
5 Outlook

1
Why ILUC?
EU Energy policy goals after 2000
Increasing demand for biomass as
renewable energy source (biofuel quotas)
Increased demand for crops / land use
Raised awareness of sustainability requirements
Solution: certification of production chain

Thus certification is mandatory
according to EU Directive 2009/28/EC
(à list of land-use-related sustainability requirements)
1 Why ILUC?
However certification …
à does not cover the entire problem
à is focussed only on direct effects
à fails to prevent leakage effects
Since 2006 many scientific articles and reports
(also by US experts) are dealing with that issue.

1 Why ILUC?
What is ILUC?
(1)
certified producer:
production of feedstock
for bioenergy
(2)
replaces previously
grown food/feed crops
on same acreage
NEW Demand:
biomass for
biofuel
Ongoing
Demand:
food/feed
(3)
replaced food/feed crops
are produced elsewhere.
(4)
“elsewhere” is likely
to be natural areas
(e.g. Primary forest)
INDIRECT EFFECT:
DEFORESTATION

1 Why ILUC?
Is ILUC relevant?
IFPRI Report (October 2011):
… emissions related to land use changes driven by
biofuel policies are a serious concern.
This finding is robust ....
The LUC effect reduces the environmental gains of
the biofuel policy and should not be neglected.
Laborde, D., (2011). Assessing the Land Use Change Consequences of European Biofuel
Policies, Final Report. ATLASS Consortium, Contract No SI2. 580403.
Available at:
http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/biofuelsreportec2011.pdf

1 Why ILUC?
The IFPRI results (GHG emissions due to ILUC)
No ILUC if
based on
residues
Source: IINAS/IFEU-Study for Shell (2012)

How to measure ILUC
2
First of all:
all current ILUC assessments are expressed by
Greenhouse gas emission (g CO2eq/MJ biofuel)
However:
ILUC is more than just a carbon debt
Ø Biodiversity
Ø Food security
Ø local energy security
Ø Water scarcity

How to measure ILUC
The indirectness counteracts any straight-forward
approach to „measure“ ILUC
2
Ø It is a matter of market relations
Ø It is a matter of magnitude
à There are many approaches out there, ranging
from simple assumptive approaches to highly
complex econometric models.
à There is no way to avoid a large number of
conventions and assumptions.

How to measure ILUC
Key issue: „who‘s responsible?“
2
Ø ILUC to be blamed rather on the policy than on
the single producer.
Ø ILUC effects are direct effects of someone else
(sectoral thinking is implicating the problem)
Ø Tendency to differ between low-ILUC-risk and
high-ILUC-risk bioenergy
(favoured by EU Commission).

How to reduce ILUC risk
Ø The EU Commission is tending to phase out
First Generation biofuels (from crops à ILUC)
and to promote 2nd Gen. from residues/waste.
Ø Low Indirect Impact Biofuels (LIIB) by WWF/EFPL/Ecofys
§ Biofuel feedstocks produced from yield increases.
§ Biofuel feedstocks produced by increasing the overall
system efficiency.
§ Biofuel feedstocks produced on unused land with low
carbon stocks and low biodiversity values.
§ Biofuels produced from waste.

Key issue “residues”
Ø How exactly are residues defined?
Ø What if the residue is already used for some
other reasonable purpose?
Ø Does double-counting (or even quadruple-counting)
insentivise the „production“ of waste/
residues?

4 ILUC and biogas
ILUC and biogas
Ø Mode of utilization does not matter, only
feedstock acquistion matters.
à biogas = ILUC-relevant like any other biofuel
Ø Biogas from crops (e.g. maize) need to be
handled the same way as Biodiesel from
rapeseed oder Ethanol from wheat.
Ø Biogas from residues/waste:
à consider the aspects from previous slides

Considerations on „residues“ for biogas
4 ILUC and biogas
Ø Manure:
digestion does not compete with any other
potential use of manure.
à no ILUC at all
Ø Industrial residues (e.g. glycerine)
is there evidence that there is no competing
use?
The waste character has to be justified,
otherwise the feedstock is a co-product
à land use to be allocated
à ILUC (?)

Considerations on „residues“ for biogas
4 ILUC and biogas
Ø Agricultural residues (e.g. straw):
firstly: straw is a residue per RED definition
à formally no ILUC
secondly: is it actually a residue?
Or rather a lucrative co-product?
à industrial waste (slide before)
à land use to be allocated
à ILUC in actuality (?)
(matter of market / magnitude)

What about „low ILUC biogas“
4 ILUC and biogas
Ø LIIB criteria can be easily applied on biogas
feedstock production:
Ø e.g. Intercropping
Ø e.g. plants leading to yield increases along
the crop rotation
Ø e.g. integration of biogas plants leading to
increased overall system efficiency
(integrated cycles which livestock
à manure)

5
" The EU Commission is still pending the decision on
how ILUC shall be handled for biofuels.
Likely that crop-based biofuels will be phased out,
residue-based biofuel featured.
" The EU Commission will not set mandatory
requirements for biogas (heat/power) à SWD(2014) 259 final
Therefore: legally no ILUC for biogas
" The discussion is ongoing anyhow
§ land use is the most discussed environmental key
aspect after climate change
§ Food security remains an unsolved global issue.
OUTLOOK

Thank you for listening
horst.fehrenbach@ifeu.de
+49 6221 4767-16

Indirect land use change (iLUC) and biogas industry - Horst Fehrenbach

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