Frequently Asked Questions

No, the NTA 8080 is a voluntary agreement.

The directive only applies to liquid biomass ('biofuels' and 'bioliquids')

Concerning sustainability of biomass, the EU has only legal sustainability criteria for biofuel and bioliquids (see Renewable Energy Directive (RED), 2009/28/EC). No legal sustainability criteria will be applied to solid and gaseous biomass (at the moment).

To demonstrate compliance with the RED, standards and certification schemes can be used, among which NTA 8080 and NTA 8081. The European Committee will assess the various existing certification schemes for compliance with RED; certification schemes may have a broader scope (e.g. not only biofuels & bioliquids, but also solid biomass and biogas; not only RED-criteria, but also additional sustainability criteria). Standards and certification schemes recognized by the EC shall also be recognized by each EU Member State.

Please note that NTA 8080 applies to all types of biomass (solid, liquid, gaseous).

Looking at the ISO procedures of standards development, it will take at least three years before the first ISO standards in this field will be published. Development of national standards will enable us to coordinate our input in the ISO development.

NTA 8080 applies to all types of biomass vor energy application (transportation, electricity, heath and cooling), so also to bio-ethanol.

For Greenhouse gas calculation, NTA 8080 refers to the calculation methodology as applied in the SenterNovem CO2-tool. There are two CO2-tools:

- for biofuels:

http://www.senternovem.nl/gave/bkg_tool/index.asp

- for bio-energy (elektricity and heathing): http://www.senternovem.nl/duurzameenergie/infotheek/publicaties/publicaties_bio-energie/co2_tool.asp