In response to the demands of the European market, there is a need for ecological certification of biofuel production, which should support the desire of our producers to be more active in export.
One of the most important conditions imposed by external markets on biofuels is their quality and sustainability, environmental friendliness of production, which does not cause negative social and environmental impacts, including not contributing to climate change.
Voluntary certification schemes
At the national level the EU and the USA provide for mandatory regular reporting of compliance with sustainability requirements: legislative mechanisms for greenhouse gas emission reductions and confirmation of the legality of the origin of imported raw materials. Compliance with environmental and social requirements is realized through voluntary certification schemes on which national control systems can rely. All externally sourced biofuels must also comply with EU regulations.
Types of Voluntary Bioenergy Certification Schemes
A number of voluntary certification schemes for sustainable use of biomass and biofuels are currently being developed and implemented by various private and public organisations. These schemes are implemented at national and international levels and are applicable to different sources of raw materials (forests, crops), bioenergy products (chips, pellets, ethanol, biodiesel, electricity), entire supply chains or their individual segments.
Of the numerous initiatives in relation to biofuels, the following types of voluntary certification schemes relevant to Russian business can be identified.
Basic biofuel certification schemes. There is a number of different certification schemes for biofuel – ISCC (covers all types of biofuel, Germany), RSB, REDCert, 2BSvs (all types of biofuel, France) and others. Most of them are designed to confirm compliance with the EU RED. These are common standards, covering various sources of raw materials for biofuel production.
Certification schemes for pellets. The first private standards for wood pellets for energy were the Green Gold Label (GGL) and Laborelec System, which are designed to confirm compliance with legal requirements and customer expectations. These are mostly supply chain standards, but they also provide for other certification schemes to confirm compliance with various sustainability criteria – e.g. FSC, PEFC including CSA, SFI and others.
