Although regulation is not yet in place, market parties in the energy sector are searching for biomass that is genuinely sustainable.

In a 2009 Directive, the European Commission designed sustainability criteria for biofuels and bioliquids. These criteria included a minimum for GHG emission reductions for bioenergy compared to fossil fuels and the stipulation that its production should not cause any additional deforestation.

Currently, the EU criteria only apply to biomass sources for transport fuels. The European Commission is still considering whether to apply similar criteria to solid biomass used for heat or bioenergy production.

Vattenfall has voluntarily committed itself to identifying measures that guarantee the sustainability of its solid biomass sources.