The role of biomass in the European Green Deal policies

This article examines the expectations toward biomass in European Green Deal (EGD) policies. Using a qualitative content analysis approach, it analyzes 18 biomass-related policies in detail. The article provides insights into how biomass is referred to in the policies. It also summarizes in which EGD thematic areas biomass is expected to contribute. The findings confirm a “blanket-pulling” phenomenon, where biomass should fulfil different and often conflicting roles. Biomass is being “pulled” in 2 directions. On the one hand, policies advocate for the enhancement and protection of biomass-producing systems, for example, to capture carbon and support biodiversity. On the other hand, some policies promote biomass use, for example, for material or energetic purposes. The policies advocating biomass use do so by deploying a win-win discourse, presenting the economy and the environment as beneficiaries of biomass use. The potential trade-offs and tensions regarding the uses of biomass are acknowledged in EGD policies and were most present in a policy with a strong stakeholder involvement. The repeated use of biomass, to solve problems its use also contributes to, creates a circular logic that challenges policy coherence. As a result, biomass becomes both a solution and a source of new challenges, reinforcing its centrality while complicating the overall contribution to EGD objectives. Furthermore, our findings reveal 2 latent roles: the social dimension of biomass and quantifiable limits to its use. These gaps highlight the need for a more integrated policy approach. Without addressing these points, the EGD’s reliance on biomass may potentially hinder rather than help the transition to a sustainable future.

ZEPHAROVICH Elena;  GARCIAS CASAÑAS Cristina;  BRIEM Kathrin;  MUBAREKA Sarah; 

2025-12-12

UNIV CALIFORNIA PRESS

JRC140886

2325-1026 (online),   

https://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article/13/1/00015/213985/The-role-of-biomass-in-the-European-Green-Deal,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC140886,   

10.1525/elementa.2025.00015 (online),