Phytoremediation and Environmental Law: Harnessing Biomass and Microbes to Restore Soils and Advance Biofuel Innovation

Aneta Kowalska () and Robert Biczak ()
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Aneta Kowalska: Department of Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Ecotoxicology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa, 42-200 Czestochowa, Poland
Robert Biczak: Department of Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Ecotoxicology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa, 42-200 Czestochowa, Poland

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 7, 1-27

Abstract: Progressing soil degradation worldwide is a complex socio-environmental threat. Implementing environmental policies and actions such as the Sustainable Development Goals, the European Green Deal, and the Renewable Energy Directive III regarding environmental protection aims to protect, conserve, and enhance the EU’s natural capital, focusing on soil protection. As assumed in the Green Deal, the European economy has to be turned into a resource-efficient and green economy with zero net emission of greenhouse gases. Since soil quality strongly influences all ecosystem elements, soil remediation is increasingly promoted as a sustainable option to enhance soil quality and, at the same time, help achieve overarching goals set out in European climate law. Biomass in phytoremediation is particularly important in regenerative agriculture, as it emphasizes improving soil quality, increasing biodiversity, and sequestering carbon. Selected plants and microbes can clean degraded agricultural areas, removing heavy metals and pesticides, thus lowering soil toxicity and improving food and feed security. Moreover, the post-phytoremediation biomass can be processed into biofuels or bioproducts, supporting the circular economy. This article summarizes the role of plants and microbial biomass in the struggle to achieve EU environmental goals, enabling the regeneration of degraded ecosystems while supporting sustainable development in agriculture.

Keywords: phytoremediation; environmental policy; plant biomass; microorganisms; assisted phytoremediation; soil degradation; European Green Deal; sustainable development; regenerative agriculture; circular economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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