VISION AND GOALS | HISTORY | OBJECTIVES | MEMBERS

VISION AND GOALS

The Council for Sustainable Biomass Production (CSBP) was initiated to develop a voluntary sustainability standard for biomass growers and bioenergy producers. After 18 months of work, CSBP agreed to develop a formal certification program and corresponding mechanism for verifying performance according to the sustainability standard - providing market recognition for biomass feedstocks and the bioenergy products they produce (fuel and electricity) that meet the standard - and guiding participants towards higher performance levels through continuous improvement.

CSBP has undertaken the unique challenge of promulgating a sustainability standard prior to the commercial-scale development of the biomass-based bioenergy industry. This ambitious objective sets CSBP apart from other standards organizations, which arose to improve production or management systems in a developed industry or to reward the best producers of a developed industry. This is particularly challenging because the science is still evolving best practices to produce biomass while protecting biodiversity, preventing undesirable land use change, and ensuring that soil and water quality are maintained or enhanced. The CSBP’s ambition in meeting this challenge is captured in the vision and goal statements below.

• Vision: To ensure that in the United States biomass feedstocks and bioenergy (both fuel and electricity) are produced in a sustainable manner, balancing economic, environmental and social imperatives.

• Goal: Generate broad multi-stakeholder consensus on guidelines for sustainability to set this emerging industry on a course of continuous improvement with full support from growers, germplasm providers, social and environmental interests, and refineries.

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HISTORY

Early in 2007, a group of companies, conservation organizations, academics, government agencies and growers met to discuss the fledgling biomass-based bioenergy industry and to consider how to ensure that biomass-based bioenergy would be produced sustainably. The companies included major international energy companies, companies developing cellulose to bioenergy conversion technologies, major developers of feedstocks for biomass-based bioenergy, early adopter growers of dedicated energy crops, and major environmental groups. Academics and representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy rounded out participants in that first meeting.

The group agreed that it would be worth the time and energy to build consensus on sustainable practices, set this emerging industry on a course of continuous improvement, and avoid disputes over large-scale growing and harvesting of energy crops that will serve as feedstock for bioenergy facilities. To accomplish this, the organizations involved established the Council on Sustainable Biomass Production (CSBP) to develop a voluntary standard that would provide guidance to biomass producers and bioenergy companies on sustainable production methods for biomass-based bioenergy in the United States. Click here for a list of CSBP members.

CSBP currently is managed by the Meridian Institute and Heissenbuttel Natural Resource Consulting. Meridian Institute designs and facilitates collaborative processes that help diverse parties identify critical issues, build relationships and trust, construct innovative solutions, and implement durable decisions (see http://www.merid.org). Heissenbuttel Natural Resource Consulting (HNRC) is a public affairs firm specializing in assisting organizations of all types to integrate the concept of sustainability into their strategic thinking and practices (http://phoenixstrategicsolutions.com). CSBP intends to establish itself as an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation in 2010.

CSBP intends to release a voluntary standard and establish a certification system that guides sustainable bioenergy production, meaning biomass production for liquid transportation fuel and biopower, in the U.S. The production of biomass for conversion into energy is the first step in this process, and the initial focus for CSBP. This portion of the draft standard focuses entirely on the feedstock side of the full production cycle. The Council will publish a CSBP Provisional Standard for Sustainable Production of Agricultural Biomass in early 2010. Recognizing the biomass production systems are still very much under development, CSBP will assess the Provisional Standard after the 2010 and 2011 growing seasons, assuming sufficient acreage has been enrolled, to determine what, if any, adjustments need to be made on the basis of grower experience to ensure that the criteria and indicators of standard are consistent with the objectives of the standard.

CSBP will begin development of a standard for bioenergy facilities in 2010, and will adopt a final CSBP Standard for Sustainable Bioenergy Production, including both biomass production and biofuel/biopower production, by December, 2012. Thereafter, the standard will be reviewed and updated every three to five years.

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OBJECTIVES

CSBP has identified the following objectives for its program: 

•    Develop and promote a voluntary certification system and corresponding verification mechanism for the sustainable production of biomass and bioenergy from the farm to the bioenergy facility.

•    Work to ensure that biomass and bioenergy production systems maintain and enhance social, economic, and environmental well being. Establish and maintain a rigorous threshold for the sustainable production of biomass.

•    Promote production of energy from biomass produced with a low carbon cost, including dedicated energy crops, crop residues,  and native vegetation.

•    Ensure that the expansion of biomass production is consistent with the protection of ecosystem services and biological diversity.

•    From the launch of the program, certify as many acres of land that are in biomass production as possible that meet an entry level threshold for sustainable biomass production.


•    Maintain a credible program in which growers achieve and are recognized in the market for environmental, social and economic sustainability through a certification regime that incorporates verification and reporting mechanisms.

•    Establish a science-based standard for sustainable production of biomass and bioenergy that considers all relevant land use, water use, climate change, feedstock, biological diversity, and socioeconomic impacts.

•    Encourage the practice of continuous improvement by program participants, as technological improvements allow and while maintaining the economic viability of the industry. The Council will also seek to continuously improve the standard, the certification program, and its own operations.

•    Ensure that the standard is feasible and auditable and that all requirements are clearly linked to demonstrating the sustainability of biomass production and are not overly costly to meet.

•    Include all relevant and affected stakeholders in development and implementation of the standard and certification system using consensus based decision-making. All members must support the goals and objectives of the CSBP program.

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 MEMBERS

Several government agencies provide technical support to CSBP:

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