This International Standard specifies principles, criteria and indicators for the bioenergy supply chain to facilitate assessment of environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainability. It is intended to facilitate comparability of various bioenergy processes or products. It can also be used to facilitate comparability of bioenergy and other energy options.

This Standard is applicable to the whole supply chain, parts of a supply chain or a single process in the supply chain. It applies to all forms of bioenergy, irrespective of raw material, geographical location, technology or end use. It does not establish thresholds or limits and does not describe specific bioenergy processes and production methods.