The U.K. Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on Dec. 2 opened a public comment period on a common biomass sustainability framework that is designed to strengthen existing biomass criteria and ensure greater consistency across sectors.&nbsp;The proposal includes provisions aimed at strengthening existing biomass sustainability criteria in line with the latest evidence as well as improvements to current monitoring, reporting and verification practices. In addition, the proposal sets out guiding principles for addressing non-compliance.&nbsp;Once finalized, the framework is expected to provide a consistent view on biomass across all relevant bioenergy sectors in the U.K.Within the consultation documents, the DESNZ explains that the adoption of a common framework for biomass sustainability presents a strong opportunity to strengthen confidence in biomass use by applying robust, clear and consistent rules on sustainable biomass across the country’s net-zero programs. This increased confidence is expected to help the U.K. maximize carbon benefits while safeguarding environmental and social outcomes across diverse biomass feedstocks and supply chains.&nbsp;The public consultation aims to gather information from stakeholders on the development of a common biomass sustainability framework, including the score of the framework and the sustainability criteria that should be included.Once finalized, the framework is expected to set minimum sustainability criteria to enable consistency between different biomass applications and ensure government only supports low carbon biomass to meet its ambition to accelerate towards net zero. The U.K. government is currently proposing that the framework initially apply to government incentive schemes supporting bioenergy and would be adopted by relevant government policies in the future. It could also be used as a voluntary framework by biomass users outside of the bioenergy subsidy regime to improve public confidence and trust in the sustainability of the biomass used.The public comment period is open through Feb. 27. Additional information is available on the U.K. government <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/common-biomass-sustainability-framework">website</a>.

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The U.K. Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on Dec. 2 opened a public comment period on a common biomass sustainability framework that is designed to strengthen existing biomass criteria and ensure greater consistency across sectors. 

UK government seeks comments on new biomass sustainability proposal

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