Agricultural biomass used in the production of power, heating & cooling via a range of materials such as straw, bagasse, corn, short rotation coppices and other energy crops, must be produced in line with the principles of SURE for sustainable agricultural practices.
Forest owners, who deliver forest biomass for energy must verify sustainable forest management as well as verifying the maintenance and or improvement of the forest carbon balance according to SURE’s criteria.
Waste or residues such as those used for post-consumer wood, processing residues, sawing by products, food wastes and leftovers used as biomass fuel must also adhere to the requirements of SURE. This in turn must be clearly identified and the eligibility of their use must be verified with the traceability to their origin guaranteed
Economic Operators processing forest biomass, agricultural biomass or waste and residues to biomass fuels are obliged to run a reliable mass balance system and to account for GHG emissions.
Within the SURE-System there are requirements defined for the mass balance, GHG calculation and reliable documentation for biomass and biomass fuel traders, forwarding companies and other logistic operators.
Biomass and biogas plants who produce, heat or cool power from biomass must prove a minimum conversion efficiency and a GHG mitigation of at least 70 percent against their fossil comparators, in addition, the origin of the biomass fuel used must be documented.