Towards a global standard with sustainability criteria for bioenergy – The development of

ISO 13065 and relation with other initiatives

Jarno Dakhorst1, Ortwin Costenoble1

20th European Biomass Conference, Milano, 19 June 2012

1 NEN – Netherlands Standardization Institute

ISO and International Standards (1)

• ISO derived from the Greek isos, meaning "equal"

• ISO is the international standardization organization:

‒ world's largest developer and publisher of International Standards

‒ network of national standards institutes of 164 countries

‒ non-governmental organization forming bridge between public

and private sectors

‒ enables consensus to be reached on solutions that meet both

requirements of business and broader needs of society

• Currently more than 15 000 International Standards on

products, services, processes, conformity assessment,

management systems

ISO and International Standards (2)

• Some characteristics of International Standards:

‒ developed by technical committees consisting of experts (working

group level) and delegates (management level) of ISO countries

showing interest in topic concerned

‒ default timeframe standards development 3 years

‒ six stages (increasing maturity of standard):

• proposals stage (NP)

• preparatory stage (WD)

• committee stage (CD)

• enquiry stage (DIS)

• approval stage (FDIS)

• publication stage (IS)

Consensus

The consensus principle:

General agreement, characterized by the absence of

sustained opposition to substantial issues by any

important part of the concerned interests and by a

process that involves seeking to take into account the

views of all parties concerned and to reconcile any

conflicting arguments

NOTE Consensus need not imply unanimity.

[Source: ISO/IEC Guide 2:2004]

ISO 13065 – Background

• July 2008: Brazil (ABNT) and Germany (DIN) proposed

new work item “Sustainability criteria for biofuels”:

‒ majority of voting ISO members agreed with proposal, but

suggested to start as preliminary project

• June 2009: preliminary meeting in Berlin:

‒ title: “Sustainability criteria for bioenergy”

‒ scope: “Standardization in the field of sustainability criteria for

production, supply chain and application of bioenergy. This

includes terminology and aspects related to the sustainability (e.g.

environmental, social and economic) of bioenergy.”

• April 2010: kick-off meeting of newly established

ISO/PC 248 in Rio de Janeiro

ISO 13065 – Organization

• ISO/PC 248 leadership:

‒ Chairman: Humberto Brandi (Brazil)

‒ Vice-Chairman: Birger Kerckow (Germany)

‒ Secretariat: Reiner Hager/Cláudio Guerreiro (DIN/ABNT)

• ISO/PC 248 working groups:

‒ WG 1: Cross-cutting issues (The Netherlands)

‒ WG 2: Greenhouse gases (United States of America)

‒ WG 3: Environmental, economic and social aspects

(Sweden/Brazil)

‒ WG 4: Indirect effects (Canada/Argentina)

ISO 13065 – Participation

• 30 participating countries

• 14 observing countries

• 7 liaison organizations (e.g., FAO, IUCN)

• Over 100 experts from both developed and developing

countries and from all continents:

‒ 1735 comments on first working draft (March 2011)

‒ 1057 comments on second working draft (February 2012)

ISO 13065 – Objectives

1. Comply with national and/or regional legislation

2. Respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

3. Use natural resources in a rational and sustainable way

4. Bioenergy from production and up to use should be

sustainable in relation to biological diversity

5. Reduce GHG emissions in relation to the fossil energy

source it substitutes

6. Promote economic and social development where the

production up to use of bioenergy occurs

7. Bioenergy production should be economically and

financially viable in the long term

ISO 13065 – Content

• ISO 13065 provides sustainability principles, criteria and

measurable indicators for processes involved throughout

the bioenergy supply chain to provide objective

information for assessing sustainability aspects

• ISO 13065 does not establish threshold values or limits

and does not describe specific processes and production

methods

Conformity with ISO 13065 does not imply sustainability

• ISO 13065 is intended to facilitate comparison between

various bioenergy processes or products; it can also

facilitate comparing with other energy options

ISO 13065 – Structure (WD stage)

Introduction

1.Scope

2.Normative references

3.Terms and definitions

4.Guiding clause

5.General requirements

6.Principles, criteria and

indicators (social,

environmental, and

economic aspects)

7. GHG methodologies,

assessments and

comparison

8. Traceability

9. Pathways for verification

Annexes (informative)

ISO 13065 – “Scorecard” (draft)

ISO 13065 provides objective information that enables

assessment of sustainability aspects

ISO 13065 – “Scorecard” (draft)

Other parties judge this information based own thresholds/

limits to determine whether bioenergy is considered

sustainable acc. to own defined sustainability requirements

Relationship with other initiatives

• Many other initiatives/developments related to

sustainability criteria for bioenergy:

‒ National and European standards

‒ Round tables (often commodity related)

‒ Legislation

‒ …

• ISO/PC 248 uses available information as input in

standard setting

• ISO 13065 can be used as umbrella or stepping stone

by other initiatives (e.g., as part of “scorecard” concept)

ISO 13065 – Outlook

Further planning:

• September 2012: release of committee draft (3 months

ballot under P members)

• January 2013: 4th meeting to resolve comments

• April 2013: publication of draft International standard

(3 months public enquiry)

• October 2013: 5th meeting to resolve comments

• January 2014: release of formal draft International

standard (2 months voting)

• April 2014: publication of ISO 13065

Questions?

Thank you for your attention

NEN Energy Resources

energy@nen.nl

+31 15 2 690 326

www.sustainable-biomass.org

www.solidstandards.eu