17 June 2021

Brussels aims to tighten rules on burning wood pellets as green fuel

Biomass makes up nearly two-thirds of the renewable energy in the EU, dwarfing output from sources such as wind and solar power. And Finland and Sweden are among the leading EU member states with a heavy reliance on biomass. The two countries have pushed Brussels to keep the rules, known as the Renewable Energy Directive, unchanged.

Now Brussels wants to tighten rules to prevent some forms of wood-burning energy from counting towards the EU’s green energy targets after rising pressure from environmental groups and scientists. The European Commission will propose strengthening its “sustainability criteria” to measure whether forms of biomass — which involve combustible pellets made from wood or organic waste — should be considered as renewable, according to a leaked document, which says that wood from diverse and primary forest land, known as “no-go areas”, should not be considered as renewable. Primary forest material accounts for about 18% of all biomass produced in the EU. The proposed EU rules will also be expanded to cover biomass plants with a fuel capacity of more than 5 MW, lowering a threshold that presently stands at 20MW. (Financial Times)

Fortum, Statkraft, and Vattenfall amongst 7 promoting reform of EU ETS

Seven major EU energy companies – EDF, Enel, ESB, Fortum, Statkraft, Uniper, and Vattnefall – have put out a position paper for EU ETS reform, ahead of the European Commission’s ‘Fit for 55’ proposal due next month. Their views urger steeper annual cap cuts from 2023 and a more evenly spread decarbonisation effort across all sector. (press release)

Green Hydrogen Systems rises 10% on first morning, before falling back to earth

Green Hydrogen Systems rocketed on Thursday morning, increasing 9.9%. to DKK 43.95 after listing at DKK 40. However, by the end of the day the shares had given up almost all of their gains. (NP Investor)

Neste and LyondellBasell agreed long-term collaboration to make polymers and chemicals from renewable raw materials more accessible to global brands

Neste and LyondellBasell announced a long-term commercial agreement where LyondellBasell will use Neste RE ™, a raw material from Neste - produced from 100% renewable raw materials from bio-based sources such as waste. and residues and fats. The raw material is processed into polymers at LyondellBasell's plant in Wesseling, Germany and sold under the Circulen Renew brand. (press release)

Autoliv commits to Science Based Targets

Autoliv, a supplier of car safety components announced its plan to become carbon neutral in its own factories by 2030 and aims for net zero emissions throughout the supply chain by 2040. Autoliv has also joined the Science Based Targets initiative.

Work is underway to define a concrete ambition for these reductions. The work will include all the main tools for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, such as renewable energy in its own and suppliers' operations, logistics for low carbon dioxide emissions, energy and material efficiency and materials with low carbon dioxide emissions. A more detailed plan for the work will be presented in connection with Autoliv's Capital Markets Day in November. (Dagens Industri)

Shell, BKK and Lyse join forces on offshore wind

Shell, BKK, a renewables developer, and Lyse, which provides energy distribution, will join forces to develop offshore wind. The three companies plan to apply for licenses for both fields that the Norwegian authorities have opened up for development, Sørlige Nordsjø II and Utsira Nord. (Metal Supply)

Hynion expands in Sweden

Hynion, which operates and develops filling stations for hydrogen, has entered into an agreement to take over operation and ownership of the hydrogen station at Arlanda Airport in Stockholm from Linde. The station currently serves a small fleet of taxis and hydrogen cars in the region. (DN Investor)

What we’re reading

• UK in talks with six companies over battery ‘gigafactories’ for electric cars (Financial Times, paywall)

 

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