Reclaim Finance is not in favor of the development of bioenergy in the energy sector, and specifically for power and large-scale heat generation. Bioenergy comes at the expense of agricultural land, human health, natural ecosystems, and biodiversity, with no gains in terms of climate change mitigation.

Although it could be possible to limit the negative impacts associated with some types of bioenergy supply under certain conditions, in practice it is very difficult to guarantee compliance with these conditions. This is the case especially if we want to produce enough bioenergy to meet the massive demand some climate scenarios project.

Regarding power, bioenergy competes with solar or wind for financing. Financial institutions should support truly sustainable power sources as a priority, such as solar and wind, and not include bioenergy in their energy transition financial and capacity targets, or in their energy transition frameworks.

The inclusion of carbon capture and storage technologies does not justify bioenergy use. The conversion of coal plants to bioenergy plants for power or heat must not be supported. Similarly, new fossil gas infrastructure should not be developed on the pretext that it will be used for biogas or syngas in the future.