Solid biomass is a long-established and used energy source and an important means of achieving energy and climate protection goals in many EU Member States. However, there is a long-standing debate about the time horizon for considering forest biomass as a renewable energy source, as the claim that the carbon released by burning and sequestered by newly growing trees is offset can only be true over a period of several decades. When trees are cut down, the carbon sequestration capacity of forests is immediately reduced, while climate change raises questions about their future absorption capacity.

Last year, the debate during the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive also raised the question of whether it is the right direction to promote the use of forest biomass for energy. The European Parliament's proposal was ultimately not voted through, yet many see it as a first step towards removing woody (primary) biomass from the scope of the Renewable Energy Directive.

The aim of the workshop was to have a balanced debate on what role forests should play in today's climate and energy policy. We invited speakers who summarised the current policy thinking and argued for and against forest biomass use. REKK also presented the recently developed FOX model for cost-effective and efficient optimisation of forest carbon sequestration.

Speakers:

• Biljana Kulišić, DG ENER, Unit C.2, European Commission
• Viktor Rácz, Senior Research Associate, REKK

Panelists:

• Markku Ollikainen, Professor of Environmental and Resources Economics at the University of Helsinki, Chair of the Finnish Climate Change Panel
• Linde Zuidema, Senior Consultant at Trinomics
• Daniel Reinemann, Policy Officer, Bioenergy Europe
• Zuzana Sarvašová, Scientific Secretary, National Forest Centre, Slovakia
• Biljana Kulišić, DG ENER, Unit C.2, European Commission
• Moderator: Gabriella Szajkó, Senior Research Associate, REKK