A3-0229/94

Resolution on a new future for biomass

The European Parliament,

-having regard to its resolution of 19 January 1993 on the promotion of renewable forms of energy,

-having regard to Title XV of the EC Treaty, and particularly Articles 130f, 130g and 130i thereof,

-having regard to Rule 148 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Energy, Research and Technology and the opinion of the Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development (A3-0229/94),

A.whereas the European Union is heavily dependent on external supplies of raw materials for energy production,

B.whereas CAP reform has led to massive unemployment in rural areas,

C.whereas in the European Union the biomass sector creates 11 jobs per MW installed and in the US, 9.5,

D.whereas, if properly managed, biomass sources have a positive environmental impact,

E.whereas coordination of R&TD in the European Union and the developing countries is of primary importance,

F.having regard to the increasing efficiency of plants producing electricity from biomass, which is at present 30-36% and can be increased to 40-45%,

G.whereas fluidized bed combustion, fast pyrolysis and diesel generation have reached cost levels which put these technologies on the market at a price of between ECU 0.057 and 0.065 per Kwh for plants with a capacity of around 10 MW,

1.Reaffirms that, if properly used, biomass contributes towards the protection of the environment, job creation and self-sufficiency in energy;

2.Believes that biomass should be used principally in the production of electricity by gasification and pyrolytic conversion;

3.Believes that energy crops should first and foremost be grown on barren land and land not used for food production and that extensive and environmentally friendly rather than intensive methods should be used;

4.Proposes that a European research and demonstration programme on the use of energy crops be set up in the context of the new CAP;

5.Is convinced that research and industrial development should be concentrated solely on processes which can guarantee a very positive energy balance;

6.Expresses the deepest concern at the rapid advance of Japanese and US technology which is already starting to make its presence felt in this sector and could force European industry into a subordinate role on the world market;

7.Reiterates the views set out in its opinion of 8 February 1994 on the proposal for a Council directive on excise duties on motor fuels from agricultural sources (COM(92)0036);

8.Believes that, in view of the biomass's potential, the EIB should undertake to grant soft loans for electricity generating stations;

9.Congratulates those undertakings which have set up joint 'agricultural/electricity production' ventures, since this is the best way of guaranteeing farmers' income for at least the next ten years together with security of supply for electricity producers;

10.Believes that EUREC should operate as a European Renewable Energy Agency with the aim of:

-stimulating response from the market,

-facilitating achievement of the objectives of penetration of the ALTENER programme,

-coordinating advanced technology projects,

-testing and certification of technologies,

-managing databases,

-providing advice for the penetration of technologies on a regional scale,

-promoting the transfer of technology, on the basis of a specific budget to be drawn up,

-organizing exhibitions and demonstration fields in order to remove market constraints;

11.Believes that special regional energy plans should be drawn up for the production of electricity from biomass, based on plants with a high thermodynamic efficiency using advanced turbine technologies; for this purpose a pilot project for the Union should be envisaged, a project for self-sufficiency in electricity based on biomass, a regional project capable of making industrial and financial instruments operational for the transfer of technologies, technical and scientific research, training, cooperation, environmental impact control and the demonstration of energy systems from agricultural sources;

12.Calls on the Commission to incorporate into its invitations to tender regional energy plans based on high-efficiency plants for the production of electricity from biomass;

13.Calls on the Commission to focus research into biomass inter alia on the production of electricity from algae, taking up again the microalgae and macroalgae projects already developed by DG XII in the early 1980s, which could lead to the mapping out of the production potential of lagoons and coastal areas in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic and the development of experiments on pyrolitic conversion;

14.Reaffirms that, in order to ensure that the biomass initiative has a proper impact, it is essential for DG XII to re-establish without delay the 'biomass unit' which was unaccountably abolished last year;

15.Calls on the Commission to make arrangements for R&D programmes in this field with non-European third countries;

16.Deplores the fact that management of the agro-industrial research programme has been tied too closely to the requirements of DG VI;

17.Calls on the administrations of the European institutions to use paper made from annual-crop biomass, developed as a result of the project co-financed by the Commission two years ago;

18.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the members of the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly and Eurosolar, Eurec and the FEER (European Federation for Renewable Energy).