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Crown Jakarta Management Nacogdoches is one of the world's largest purpose-built biomass-fuelled power generation plants Credit: Southern Company In the UK, biomass electricity generators have been required to report annually on their performance against sustainability criteria for the biomass feedstocks they use. The reporting was intended to develop knowledge ahead of the introduction of European sustainability standards, which have yet to materialise. The two sustainability criteria are: a minimum 60-per-cent greenhouse gas lifecycle emission saving for electricity generation, using solid biomass or biogas relative to fossil fuel restrictions on using materials sourced from land with high biodiversity value or high carbon stock (primary forest, protected areas, peatland and wetlands) From April 2013, generators are required to meet the sustainability criteria in order to receive support under renewable obligations. The UK government says that further work is underway to include sustainable forest management criteria in future. Calculating emissions The RSPB report says that the payback period for electricity generated from using whole conifer trees is 80 years, but other studies come up with lower figures. The difference lies in the assumptions used in making life-cycle assessments. Establishing the life-cycle emissions of biomass fuel is a complex calculation. It must take into account such factors as: location of the source, location of combustion, the type and derivation of the source material, treatment or preparation, and transport of the material. If the biomass comes from an energy crop planted specifically to produce biomass fuel, then the calculation may need to incorporate a calculation of the indirect land-use change impact of the biofuel if net carbon loss occurs when forests and