The agricultural and bioenergy sectors are closely related.
Agricultural residues, as well as energy crops, are used to produce electricity, fuels, and biomass. The truth is that biomass from agricultural produce remains largely untapped. It has bigger potential than the 20% that it is currently contributing to the sector.
The current underutilization of agricultural biomass is mainly due to a lack of enough mobilization of agricultural resources. Nevertheless, agricultural biomass is one of the areas that have the potential to accelerate the region’s decarbonization efforts.
Our Position
We do believe that the EU should come up with policies that promote the production of agricultural biomass and dedicated energy crops. The European Union has what it takes to tackle the challenges that are facing the generation of agricultural biomass. Some of these issues such as lack of mobilization of resources and lack of adequate information can be addressed with target programs.
It is important that governments acknowledge the positive role played by energy crops besides the production of bioenergy. For example, they help in the enhancement of biodiversity, improving the quality of water, mitigating climate change, and preventing soil erosion.
These are some of the reasons why concrete measures need to be taken to promote the development of bioenergy from forestry and agricultural resources. These programs will especially work well in the rural areas where there are large tracks of land available for the production of the required energy crops. There is also abundant agricultural residue from the harvest of crops in these rural areas.