DutchNews.nl, March 13, 2015
Environmental organisations have reached
agreement on the origins of biomass used in coal-fired power stations after two
years of talks, the economic affairs ministry is quoted as saying on Friday.
The agreement ends deadlock over the use of biomass – plant and vegetable
matter – as an additional fuel in Dutch power stations.
The use of biomass has
gone down sharply because it is no longer subsidised pending the end of the
dispute and this is threatening Dutch sustainable energy targets, website nu.nl reports.
Organisations such as Greenpeace have been divided over the definition
of sustainable biomass and its sources amid concerns not all plantations are
fully sustainable. They say wood waste should only be used which comes from FSC
certified forestry.
Ed Nijpels, VVD stalwart and in charge of monitoring the
energy agreement, says the Netherlands has the strictest biomass definition in
the world. However, he has welcomed the breakthrough, nu.nl reportsed.
Economic
affairs minister Henk Kamp says the agreement will increase the share of
sustainable energy used in the Netherlands from 4.5% to 5.7%. However, this is
still a long way below the 2020 target of 14%.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.