BIOMASS STRENGTHENS SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY

Biomass is often painted as the climate villain of Europe’s energy mix – accused of driving deforestation and greenwashing the fossil past. But that story misses the point. No one cuts down trees to make heat. District heating uses the leftovers – branches, thinning wood, and production scraps that would otherwise decay or be burned without purpose. Those residues keep the forest economy alive, replace coal and natural gas, and finance the very forests critics claim to protect. If Europe abandons sustainable biomass, it risks weakening both its climate goals and its forests.

By Anders Frandsen, CEO, and Klara Brockstedt, Policy Advisor, at the Danish Forest Association

Published in Hot Cool, edition no. 8/2025 | ISSN 0904 9681 |

Biomass has played a decisive role in phasing out coal and other fossil fuels in the energy sector. At the same time, biomass has supported the development of more productive and well-managed forests.

Additionally, the use of sustainable biomass is essential for achieving national and EU climate objectives, including large-scale afforestation targets such as Denmark’s 250,000-hectare forest plan set out in the Green Tripartite Agreement. Therefore, biomass continues to hold a central place in Europe’s future energy mix.

Forests are always good

Regardless of management form, forests and forestry contribute positively. This applies to CO₂ uptake and climate, renewable resources, groundwater protection, nitrogen reduction, outdoor recreation, and nature and biodiversity. From a societal perspective, forests are always good.

You can compare the forest to a Swiss army knife. It can be used for many purposes, but it cannot solve everything at once by unfolding all the tools simultaneously.

Biomass for energy comes from sustainable forestry, where new trees are always planted when others are cut down. The purpose is to produce timber for construction, furniture, and products that would otherwise be made of plastic, steel, concrete, and other non-renewable resources.

In practice, wood is always sold according to a market-based cascading principle. The best logs become furniture and building materials, while lower qualities become veneer, packaging wood, and chipboard. Residual products, such as thinning wood, damaged or decayed wood, etc., that cannot be sold otherwise are used as biomass in the energy sector. Here, it serves as a renewable energy source that has replaced coal, oil and natural gas and can deliver negative emissions.

The market-based cascading principle applies naturally, since wood for energy simply pays the least. Therefore, forest owners always have an interest in selling wood for anything other than energy. This applies across Europe, since all biomass traded within the EU must meet uniform sustainability requirements – regardless of its origin.

When something becomes economically viable, more of it tends to appear. And income from biomass thus contributes to long-term, sustainable forestry worldwide.

Biomass creates more and better forests – and is a prerequisite for green goals

Across Europe, sustainable forestry and biomass use are closely linked to climate strategies and afforestation targets. As part of the Green Tripartite Agreement, for example, Denmark has decided to plant 250,000 hectares of new forest by 2045 . Similar ambitions for afforestation and carbon storage exist at the EU level and in many member states.

For this to succeed, forestry must be economically attractive. It is difficult to see what would motivate landowners to convert agricultural land with annual income into new forest areas if their only potential early income, such as thinning wood used for biomass during the first decades, were removed.

Public debate often oversimplifies biomass energy as if entire forests were cut and burned. That is factually wrong and, as mentioned, makes no economic sense for forest owners.

Harvesting biomass for products and energy does not destroy forests. On the contrary, it is a significant driver of healthy forestry investment and new planting. Experience from Denmark shows that, during the past 15–20 years of increased biomass use in the energy sector, several positive trends have emerged:

• Forest area has increased
• Standing wood mass in forests has increased
• Dead wood, benefiting biodiversity, has increased
• Valuable timber used for the green transition has increased

If biomass use were truly harmful to forests, it would be remarkable that all key indicators point upward.

Critics often claim imported biomass causes deforestation or environmental damage. However, the majority of biomass used in Europe originates from sustainably managed forests within the EU, where similar positive developments are documented.

According to the European Forest Institute, Europe’s total forest stock increases year by year . Forests cover approximately 39% of the EU’s land area. This represents an increase of about 8.3 million hectares or 5.5% since 2000 and 2.6 million hectares or 1.7% since 2010.

In total, an estimated 66% of the net annual increment of wood in EU forests was harvested 2022 and used for products and energy. We simply cut less than we plant. Biomass helps ensure the economic viability of forestry, leading to improved forest management and more effective handling of climate challenges.

In connection with criticism of imported biomass, it is worth noting that Denmark imports about 80% of the valuable timber it uses. It is difficult to understand the logic in welcoming imported high-quality timber while rejecting the residual product, which helps finance sustainable forestry elsewhere in the world, especially when those residues are efficiently used in district heating and combined heat and power systems that replace fossil fuels.

Sustainable biomass is a prerequisite for achieving climate goals

Denmark – like many other European countries – has some of the world’s most ambitious climate targets, requiring a 70% reduction by 2030 and a path toward climate neutrality or even net negative emissions by mid-century.

Achieving these goals is not possible without sustainable biomass. The long-term targets likewise depend on biomass combined with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) to deliver negative emissions.

Biomass will thus remain vital in the future energy system, where all renewable energy sources in the mix will be needed. A real green transition naturally involves rapid expansion of solar, wind, and other renewables, but this alone does not solve the task. We will increasingly need additional sources of sustainable biogenic carbon from agriculture and forestry residues to enable a true circular bioeconomy.

LULUCF – A transparent, global accounting method

A frequent claim is that Denmark artificially “hides” its CO₂ emissions by importing biomass, since the emissions from biomass are accounted for in the country of production and thus counted as emission-neutral in the Danish energy sector to avoid double-counting.

This principle follows the UN’s internationally recognized accounting system for land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF). It is not fundamentally different from all other goods, which are also accounted for in the country of production.

A good example is electric cars, which are more CO₂-intensive to produce than conventional combustion-engine cars. The extra CO₂ emissions must also be settled in the country of production, e.g., after which the consumer country subsequently gets a “free” reduction in CO₂ emissions from the transport sector.

The LULUCF accounting method is used globally and ensures that everyone reports using the same transparent, uniform criteria. In practical terms, it means that when a forest in one country has a net CO₂ uptake, the use of biomass from that forest does not cause additional climate impact in another country. The EU’s latest Renewable Energy Directive (REDIII) enforces this rule.

Furthermore, since most biomass used within the EU is traded among member states that share collective CO₂ reduction targets, it makes little difference where production or consumption takes place – the overall climate balance is still accounted for within the same framework.

Biomass must be sustainably produced

Biomass – like so many other things – is a scarce resource. Therefore, it must be produced and used responsibly and sustainably. This is a prerequisite for it to contribute positively to the energy supply. All actors should therefore ensure that sustainability criteria are met.

It is, however, curious that the use of wood, a renewable resource, apparently must be subject to requirements for correct cascade use, while, for example, oil — a non-renewable and irreplaceable resource — can be used arbitrarily for all sorts of products and gadgets.

The REDIII directive sets clear rules that biomass may only come from forests that are managed responsibly and replanted after harvesting. It is a fundamental requirement that biomass must not come from areas with high biodiversity value, such as old-growth forests, protected natural areas, or wetlands.

In addition to EU legislation, most European energy and forest-sector companies apply independent certification schemes such as FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification), and SBP (Sustainable Biomass Program). These schemes require traceability throughout the value chain – from forest to energy plant – and ensure that forests are managed with respect for the environment, climate, and social considerations.

At the same time, the EU’s sustainability frameworks ensure that biomass remains an integrated part of climate efforts and continues to contribute to energy supply, negative emissions, and the substitution of fossil fuels – all without compromising biodiversity or forests’ future carbon stocks.

Finally, it should also be mentioned that the majority of Europe’s energy consumption still relies on fossil fuels — around 70% across the EU, and roughly 60% in Denmark. The EU has paid more money to Russia than to Ukraine over the past 3.5 years to buy natural gas. If you want to do something for the climate and strengthen security, the focus should be on reducing consumption of fossil fuels.

Nature and biodiversity considerations

As mentioned at the outset, the forest is a Swiss army knife that can contribute to many purposes but cannot solve them all at the same time.

A real green transition requires that we stop using non-renewable and fossil resources and, to a much greater extent, switch to renewable resources produced on the earth’s surface. This applies to both solar and wind energy, as well as biogenic carbon from agricultural and forestry by-products.

Forests planted and managed for timber production will play a central role in this transition. But it is also clear that these forest areas, which deliver a product, cannot fulfill all wishes and considerations. Therefore, areas are set aside for untouched forest, and primary and old-growth forests are protected.

For the same reason, these challenges cannot be solved by imposing a number of production-limiting requirements on forestry areas, which will never fulfill biodiversity goals anyway. Instead, positive incentives should support forest owners who actively promote biodiversity. Biomass and biogenic carbon use in the future are not obstacles to this – they are prerequisites.

Conclusion

The choice is not between forests or biomass – it’s about using every part of the tree wisely. When wood residues from sustainable production forests replace fossil fuels, they deliver double value: supporting forest management and cutting carbon emissions.

The key is responsible sourcing – certified, traceable, and transparent. Biomass done right turns waste into climate action and helps keep both local economies and heating systems resilient. Europe’s real energy challenge is not using too much biomass – it’s still using too much fossil fuel.

For further information please contact: af@danskskovforening.dk