FORBIO (Fostering Sustainable Production of Biofuels on Underutilized Lands in Europe)
FORBIO (Fostering Sustainable Production of Biofuels on Underutilized Lands in Europe) assessed the feasibility of using underutilized lands in Italy, Germany and Ukraine for biomass production without interfering with the production of food or feed, or with land currently used for recreational and/or conservational purposes. Romania, Poland, Ireland, UK and Hungary are outreach countries.
Objectives
Competition with other uses of the land is only one component of bioenergy sustainability and a number of cross-cutting environmental, social and economic aspects may present challenges while ensuring that sustainability standards are met.
The overall objective was to demonstrate the viability of using land in EU Member States for sustainable bioenergy feedstock production that does not affect the supply of food and feed, in addition to not interfering with land currently used for recreational and/or conservation purposes.
Activities
FORBIO developed a methodology to assess sustainable bioenergy production potential on available “under-utilized lands” in Europe (contaminated, abandoned, fallow land etc.) at national and local level
The project involved three case studies in Italy, Ukraine and Germany. Agronomic and technoeconomic feasibility studies were carried out for each of the case studies. Potential value chains of bioenergy production on underutilised land were identified and sustainability assessments of the most promising value chains were carried out.
