Renewable carbon is gaining momentum as a cornerstone of the EU’s round financial system, however its success hinges on good coverage and sustainable forestry practices, consultants advised an occasion organised by Euractiv on 18 March.
Because the EU pushes to fulfill its local weather neutrality targets by 2050, the idea of ‘renewable carbon’ is rising quick in each coverage and business circles.
Not like fossil carbon, which is extracted from underground and launched into the environment throughout manufacturing and consumption, renewable carbon comes from above-ground sources, biomass, recycled supplies, and captured CO2. Briefly, it’s carbon that’s already a part of the continuing carbon cycle.
“Renewable carbon is not only about changing fossil-based supplies: it’s about rethinking how we design, use, and reuse sources throughout industries,” stated Michael Carus, managing director of the Germany-based Nova Institute throughout a latest occasion hosted by EURACTIV and Metsä Group.
This type of considering is gaining traction amongst firms trying to inexperienced their provide chains.
Wooden-based merchandise, as an example, have a singular potential to retailer carbon for lengthy intervals when utilized in building or sturdy items, making them a vital part of a low-carbon, round financial system.
“The financial system have to be worthwhile, and we should create an financial system that works with environmental limits […] From a round financial system perspective, the hot button is to make use of merchandise longer, improve them, and solely recycle as a final resort,” stated Finnish centre-right MEP Sirpa Pietikkäinen. “That is precisely what we are able to do with wooden.”
Christian Holzleitner, Head of Unit on the European Fee’s DG CLIMA, added: “If we do it nicely, we are able to have worth chains which might be successfully good for the local weather as a result of we take CO2 out of the environment and preserve it right here with us.”
“So, if we glance in direction of 2040 or 2050, a key efficiency indicator, specifically for the bioeconomy, will likely be how a lot carbon will be captured and sequestered in these worth chains,” he advised the occasion.
Profiting from each tree
A central theme within the renewable carbon dialogue is the cascading use precept: getting the utmost worth from biomass sources like wooden earlier than they’re in the end used for vitality.
The precept dictates that biomass ought to first go into long-life merchandise like buildings and furnishings, then be reused or recycled, and solely within the remaining stage be transformed into vitality. This method ensures carbon stays saved for so long as doable, somewhat than being prematurely launched by means of combustion.
Nonetheless, the shift to renewable carbon shouldn’t be with out its challenges.
Forests throughout Europe are already below strain, and elevated harvesting may undermine their potential to sequester carbon in the long run. Critics argue that the local weather advantages of harvesting could not compensate for the diminished carbon sink that Europe’s forests are already going through.
“If you’re slicing a tree to even make a building beam, for instance, you’re producing a carbon debt, which means the counterfactual, not slicing the tree, would have been higher in local weather phrases,” stated Martin Pigeon, campaigner on the NGO Fern.
“In that sense, you are not setting a local weather service, even assuming substitution. That stated, it is clearly higher to construct with wooden than with cement, with concrete,” he added.
Hybrid building options
Within the building sector, one of many largest carbon emitters globally, wooden is rising as a climate-friendly various to concrete and metal. Corporations like Metsä, a Finnish forest group, are investing in regenerative forestry and high-value wooden merchandise that help the cascading mannequin.
However even right here, audio system warned towards a one-size-fits-all method.
“Not all the pieces can or needs to be constructed from wooden,” stated Jaakko Anttila, EVP at Metsä Wooden. “That’s why we’d like good, hybrid building options that use supplies the place they’re best.”
Their flagship product, laminated veneer lumber, presents thrice the market worth of conventional timber whereas utilizing wooden extra effectively. Such improvements, they argue, are key to delivering high-value, low-carbon buildings.
Wooden can be utilized in mixture with different supplies for extra climate-friendly buildings, too.
“We’ve proven worldwide in lots of of tasks that cross-laminated timber can substitute cement – not completely, however about 80% of cement,” stated Michael Carus.
That would considerably scale back carbon emissions from cement, which at the moment account for some 7-8% of world greenhouse gasoline emissions.
Certification and mandates
The European Fee is actively engaged on frameworks to measure and certify carbon removals, together with carbon saved in merchandise. These insurance policies intention to offer firms clearer market indicators and reward climate-positive practices.
“We’re engaged on carbon removing certification and monitoring techniques to trace how a lot CO2 is saved in forests and merchandise,” stated Christian Holzleitner, Head of Unit on the European Fee’s DG CLIMA.
“The important thing dialogue is how can we optimise this worth chain, how a lot CO2 can we take out of the environment and sustainably retailer alongside that worth chain,” he added.
Past certification, consultants proposed a extra assertive method: mandating renewable carbon use in particular sectors, like quotas in vitality markets. The textile business, as an example, is more and more reliant on fossil-based polyester. With out intervention, this development will proceed to worsen the sector’s local weather influence.
“If we mandated limits on fossil carbon use in textiles, you’d see speedy progress in wood-based fibres and improvements in materials recycling,” stated Michael Carus. He additionally highlighted a broader challenge: Europe’s innovation hole isn’t about concepts however about scaling them.
“We’ve good pilot tasks and applied sciences however lack the demand-side insurance policies to deliver them to market.”
This text follows the coverage debate “Renewable carbon and the round financial system – Unlocking the position of wood-based worth chains” supported by Metsä Group.
[Edited By Brian Maguire | Euractiv’s Advocacy Lab ]