The meeting was opened by the Minister of Environment, Universities, Research and Mar Menor of the Region of Murcia, Juan María Vázquez, and featured the institutional support of the president of CROEM, Miguel López Abad. The following speakers participated in the section dedicated to the challenges and opportunities of the sector. Ana Belén Noriega (PEFC Spain), Arantxa Pérez Oleaga (Official Association of Forestry Engineers / ASPAPEL) and Pablo Rodero, responsible for certification at AVEBIOM.
During his speech, Pablo Rodero He highlighted the advantages of all forms of bioenergy and emphasized that “Biomass is the cheapest energy source for heating, generates 13 times more employment than natural gas, and provides stability in emergency situations such as floods or power outages.”. In this sense, he emphasized that it is the only manageable renewable energy, capable of producing energy when the system needs it, reinforcing security of supply.
Rodero defended a biomass sustainable and certified, based on planning and traceability, and demanded a simplification of the regulatory and administrative framework that allows for the orderly use of a currently underutilized resource, key to reducing CO₂ emissions, preventing forest fires, and generating economic activity in rural areas. AVEBIOM brings together nearly 170 companies from across the biomass value chain in Spain and is the national support organization in Spain of the SURE biomass sustainability certification scheme.
Ana Belén Noriega emphasized certification and traceability as essential conditions for ensuring the credibility of the forest bioeconomy, noting that the new European directive against the greenwashing It demands verifiable guarantees for consumers and markets; while Arantza Pérez Oleaga warned of the low utilization of the annual growth of forests in Spain (around 30 % compared to more than 60 % in other European countries), a situation that increases the risk of fires as biomass accumulates in the forest and limits the development of the sector.
The day also included concrete examples of Energy use of biomass in large public infrastructures. David Saura, responsible for the Environment of Virgen de la Arrixaca University Hospital, He explained how a large hospital can integrate bioenergy into its daily operations, reducing emissions, improving energy efficiency, and strengthening security of supply. Ultimately, biomass is a viable alternative even in complex, high-energy-demand facilities.
From the regional administration, Roque Pérez Palazón, technician from the General Directorate of Natural Heritage and Climate Action, highlighted that “There is no project that better unites the social, the economic and the environmental than the treatment of biomass”.