EU "has big nature-friendly biomass potential"

Europe could produce very large quantities of biomass energy without destroying its environment, according to the European environment agency. There is enough "environmentally compatible" bioenergy capacity easily to support ambitious new renewable energy targets for 2020 or beyond, it concludes.

The EEA has released preliminary findings of a study on the issue ahead of a biomass energy action plan due from the European commission next month. The study could also influence a growing debate in Europe over the implications of large-scale conversion of farmland to energy crops.