Andreas Gumbert DG Agriculture and Rural Development, Unit H4

European Commission

Biogas: EU legal framework and support possibilities under the

Common Agricultural Policy

Content

•  EU legal framework for renewable energy

•  Support for biogas under the CAP 2014-2020

EU Renewable Energy Directive •  20% renewable energy by 2020 (EU average)

•  Choice of type of RE and support mechanism lies with MS

•  Sustainability requirements for liquid biofuels and bioliquids

0% 5%

10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

National 2020 RE targets

EU Common Agricultural Policy 2014-2020

Pillar I: Direct support Market measures 277.85 billion EUR (2014-20)

•  No direct support for biomass or bioenergy production

•  Cross-compliance

•  Greening obligations

Pillar II: Rural Development 84.94 billion EUR (2014-20)

•  RD Policy remains the key policy for renewable energy under the CAP

•  National/regional RD plans

Common Agricultural Policy

What is new?

Pillar I

The new greening architecture of the CAP

6

Agricultural area (eligible for direct payments)

Cross compliance

Greening

Rural development

Cu

mu

lati

ve

envi

ron

men

tal

ben

efit

s

Regulatory (Statutory

Management Requirements and Good Agricultural

Environmental Conditions)

Mandatory with financial

support (decoupled “green”

payment per hectare)

Voluntary with compensation

for cost incurred and income forgone

Implementation mechanism

Agricultural

Research

European

Innovation

Partnership Farm

Advisory

System

The green direct payment

7

•  30% of direct payment envelope

•  Conditions: Maintaining permanent grassland, crop diversification and ecological focus areas (EFA)

•  EFA (5% of arable surface):

•  May include: field margins, buffer strips, fallow land, landscape features, afforested area, terraces, areas with catch crops, green cover and nitrogen fixing crops, short rotation coppices, agro-forestry, strips of land along forest edges – conversion/weighting factors

•  Member States to choose permitted uses from this list •  Additional incentive to grow biogas feedstocks is rather small

What is new?

Pillar II

Focus areas

6. Social inclusion, poverty reduction

and economic development in rural areas

2. Farm viability, competitiveness, innovative farm

technologies, sustainable forest

management

3. Food chain organisation, incl.

processing/marketing, animal welfare and risk management

4. Restoring, preserving and

enhancing ecosystems

5. Resource efficiency and shift towards a

low carbon and climate resilient

economy

1. Knowledge transfer and Innovation

Rural development priorities

Inn

ovation, C

limate C

han

ge and

Environ

men

t

Cross-cutting objectives

(a) innovation, cooperation, and the development of the knowledge base; (b) links between agriculture, food production and forestry and research and innovation; (c) lifelong learning and vocational training.

(a) economic performance of all farms and farm restructuring and modernisation, notably to increase market participation/orientation and diversification; (b) facilitating entry of adequately skilled farmers and generational renewal.

(a) integration of primary producers into the agri-food chain: quality schemes, adding value, promotion in local markets and short supply circuits, producer groups/ organisations; (b) farm risk prevention and management.

(a) biodiversity, including in Natura 2000 areas, areas facing natural or other specific constraints and high nature value farming, and the state of European landscapes; (b) water management, including fertiliser and pesticide management; (c) prevention of soil erosion and soil management.

(a) efficiency in water use (b) efficiency in energy use (c) renewable sources of energy, by products, wastes and non-food raw material for the bio-economy (d) reduction of greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions (e) carbon conservation and sequestration

(a) diversification, creation and development of small enterprises and job creation (b) local development in rural areas (c) information and communication technologies (ICT) in rural areas

Strategic programming

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30% minimal spending

What type of support is possible under Rural Development?

Investments in agricultural holdings •  Examples: •  Agricultural holdings: Production of bio-energy for on-farm use •  Processing/marketing/development: Processing of agricultural biomass for RE (by actors

other than agricultural holdings) •  Infrastructure: Installations/infrastructure for distribution of RE using biomass and

other RE sources (solar, wind, geothermal)

•  Conditions (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 639/2014):

•  Maximum proportions of cereals and other starch rich crops, sugars and oil crops used for bioenergy production, including biofuels

•  Minimum utilization of heat in installations for electricity production from biomass (level to be determined by the MS)

•  Minimum energy efficiency standards for investments into energy infrastructure •  Sustainability criteria, including Article 17(2) to (6) of Directive 2009/28/EC

11

General State Aid rules apply for marketing of RE ouside the farm

Farm and business development

•  Examples: •  Business start-up for RE producers and inter-linked activities •  Creation & development of non-agricultural activities: RE production

•  Different RE activities (e.g. biomass, wind, solar, geothermal) •  RE production as part of non-agricultural diversification activities, if the

production exceeds the annual energy consumption on the holding

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Basic services and village renewal in rural areas

•  Examples: •  Distribution networks for heat/electric power/gas from biomass or other renewable

sources •  Facilities to produce and use RE in rural municipalities (e.g. district heating networks to

use process heat of bio-energy plants)

•  Support of RE infrastructure possible without any size limitation (i.e. large-scale projects are covered)

13

Co-operation and

Setting up of producer groups and organisations

•  Examples cooperation: •  Pilot and demonstration projects for RE •  Development of new products, practices, processes and technologies for RE

•  Horizontal and vertical co-operation among supply chain actors in the sustainable provision of biomass for use in food and energy production and industrial processes.

•  Examples producer groups: •  Jointly placing on the market of biomass; joint supply to bulk buyers

Conclusions

•  Biogas important for EU renewable energy objectives

•  EU RE policy main driver •  CAP provides important support options under

Rural Development Policy •  Assessment of RDPs ongoing

Thank you