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PROFORBIOMED
PROMOTION OF RESIDUAL FORESTRY BIOMASS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN
Newsletter 5
(Summer 2014)
Newsletter n°5 2
Summary
1. PROFORBIOMED’s activities ....................................................................................................................3
2. Events ..............................................................................................................................................................5
2.1. PROFORBIOMED’s events......................................................................................................................5
2.2. Other events...............................................................................................................................................7
3. General latest news and publication on biomass & forests...........................................................9
4. Agenda / next related events...................................................................................................................9
5. Keep in touch with the project!...............................................................................................................9
Disclaimer ..............................................................................................................................................................9
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1. PROFORBIOMED’s activities
PROFORBIOMED capitalisation processes The aim of the capitalisation Work Package is to ensure the use of the project results and the implementation of long lasting measures triggered by the project activities in MED territories. Agreements with public administrations and private owners associations have been done to strengthen the forest biomass chain and foster interventions and new modalities of cooperation. The DGMA of Murcia Region provided support for a MED partnership agreement model used for six agreements with public administrations and four with forest owners associations. A good example is the Collaboration Agreement signed on July 4th, in Loulé (Portugal) among research centres, public administrations, private owners associations, energy agencies and enterprises, being the basis for establishing a cluster in Algarve Region.
Signing of the Collaboration Agreement on July 4th in Portugal (Loulé)
Another important issue is the collaboration with other similar projects. In this sense, synergies have been found with projects such as WOODE3, Biomass TRADECENTRE II, FOROPA or STEP. Besides, a clear relationship between Bioenergy and Energy Efficiency has been established throughout the Ljubljana Declaration signed in Lisbon on October 23rd, 2013 among three strategic projects of the MED Program: ELIH-‐MED, MARIE and PROFORBIOMED. Finally, clusters can be highlighted as one of the main milestones. Some examples are the Valencian Forest Platform in Spain, the North Primorska Region and Spodnje Podravje Region consortiums in Slovenia, or the Bioenergy cluster in Western Macedonia Region in Greece. Moreover, in order to favor the development of clusters, PROFORBIOMED focuses on facilitating the transfer of know-‐how and assistance from the more advanced to the less experienced partners, in order to support them to proceed with their clustering efforts. Namely, University of Western Macedonia is providing support to MED partners interested in developing clusters in their Regions. For more information contact: [email protected] Capitalisation deliverables will be available at: www.proforbiomed.eu/publications/project-‐deliverables
Wood products’ fall The debate on forestry and bioenergy is influenced by a new principle defined in the recent Forest Strategy of the European Union: the “cascade” principle which implies the use of wood material according to a priority based on the added value that can potentially be generated along the wood value chain. In other words, wood from forests should preferably be used for building, furniture and other products with long life span, while bioenergy should be preferably derived from waste wood, wood residues or recycled products. Within the context of the PROFORBIOMED activities, ISPRA with TeSAF (Land and Agro-‐forestry Systems) Department of University of Padua, elaborated a position paper to discuss how the adoption of a “cascade” principle can influence the supply of biomass and other ecosystem services, with special reference to the Mediterranean context. A more efficient wood supply organisation (e.g. the creation of biomass trade centres) could facilitate the best use of raw material, reducing the problems of supply fragmentation and low market power of forest owners and managers. In the forest sector, resource efficiency means using forest resources in a way that minimizes impact on the environment and climate, and prioritising the forest outputs that have higher added value, create more jobs and contribute to a better carbon balance. The position paper, titled “A new principle of the European Union Forest policy: the cascading use of wood products”, suggests some operational recommendations to policy makers and stakeholders involved in the wood supply chain, including:
-‐ implementation of new socio-‐economic and policy formulas to foster stakeholders to increase social awareness of the importance of a cascade use of wood;
-‐ promotion of principle of efficient use of resources, as part of a comprehensive approach under the guidance of local and regional authorities;
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-‐ promotion of technical knowledge of professional which leads to the best use of the resources; -‐ establishment of a territorial platform (cluster) or a local network of enterprises that produce different wood products; -‐ promotion of research and development sector to develop and to optimise new technologies.
For more information, contact: [email protected] and [email protected] Co-fir ing woody biomass and lignite Public Power Corporation (PPC) produces electricity in the Region of Western Macedonia through its thermal power stations, based on lignite, locally extracted in the regional mines. In an effort to reduce fossil fuels use, UoWM proposed to co-‐fire woody biomass with lignite, in order to test its feasibility and also promote co-‐firing towards local society. The Kardia Plant (300 MWe) was chosen for the pilot test because its staff has previous experience with co-‐firing (cardoon, kernel, etc), while its waste heat feeds the district heating grids of the nearby cities Kozani and Ptolemaida. UoWM made a procurement for 500 t of woody biomass, which was delivered in wood chips, mixed with lignite and co-‐fired during an entire day in Kardia Power Plant at a 2-‐3% per weight ratio. As a conclusion, co-‐firing of woody biomass with lignite is feasible at low percentage and, according to the power station, one of the best materials co-‐fired with lignite, due to its easy handling and favourable fuel properties (high LHV, low ash, moisture). However, the size of the regional power stations would demand enormous amounts of biomass for co-‐firing; on the other hand, smaller units for the production of heat for district heating are highly visible. For more information, contact: [email protected]
The new protocol to trace biomass in MED areas The Lombardy Foundation for the Environment has led the Pilot Action 1.5. “Development of a system of traceability of the forest biomass” (WP 4). The main aim of the P.A is to develop and test a new protocol setting principles and technical requirements for the traceability of forestry biomass along the entire supply chain. By promoting traceability, the system intends to contribute to the implementation of responsible use of forest resources. The Protocol builds on existing experiences and initiatives in the biomass sector and aims to get as much integrated as possible with existing best practices. The protocol is a very operational and useful tool for enterprises (also SMEs), it’s structured into three main sections:
-‐ Introduction: Provides general information about the nature, aims, scope and structure of the document as well as key terms and definitions;
-‐ Part 1: Requirements for organisations operating in the forestry biomass supply chain. Requirements include: 1. traceability requirements; and 2. additional requirements;
-‐ Part 2: Auditing requirements and procedures, that includes rules to be followed by independent bodies in charge of controlling the implementation of the Protocol.
This traceability system aims at producing different positive impacts as to give assurance to all the stakeholders (suppliers, clients, consumers etc.) on the quality of biomass and solid bio-‐fuels, to promote and improve transparency and legality in the actions related with the management and production of biomass, and to provide instructions and information for local stakeholders that operate and trade in the bio-‐energy sector. The protocol was tested by PROFORBIOMED partners in different areas (Italy, Slovenia, Spain) in order to facilitate the involvement of local stakeholders. For more information, contact: [email protected] or [email protected]
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2. Events
2.1. PROFORBIOMED’s events
PROFORBIOMED’s 7th steering group meeting and international conference PROFORBIOMED 7th steering group meeting was held back to back with the final international conference of the project in Marseille (France), from June 17th to June 20th, 2014. During the first two days, representatives of the whole partnership and coming from each of the six countries discussed the progress made since the last meeting, as well as the last step to be taken before the end of the project, which is schedule for the end of November 2014.
Then, on Thursday and Friday, partners welcomed national and international participants to discuss on the themes of development of biomass, its impacts and its future in the Mediterranean basin. During the field trip, two stops were made on the pilot sites of the CRPF. The first stop of the day has been in Rognac, to visit a experimentation site of grouping of private forest owners to produce biomass. Olivier Chandioux, from ALCINA, presented the main ecological characteristics of the site, and the work done to group the 5 private forest owners. On the 22 ha of the pilot site, more than 1.000 cubic meters have been cut, corresponding to 1/3 of the growing stock. The wood has been valorised as woodchips, but also as pulp. The visit brought out many questions, on the work done, on the type of forest, but also on the future of the biomass supply chain in the Mediterranean basin. None all
of them received an answer, but all the audience left the terrain with a clearer vision of the specificity of Mediterranean forests. After that, the bus headed for the local biomass platform, managed by the Cooperative Provence Forêt, and located in Lambesc. This platform is currently dealing with more than 5.000 tons of biomass per year and is hoping to develop it to 15.000 tons in 2015. With this tool, Provence Forêt aims to become one of the strongest actor of the biomass sector in the PACA region. All the technical aspects of such an important tool in the development of a local supply chain have been approached. The outdoor session ended with a visit to the wood energy platform of the cooperative Provence Forest before joining the auditorium Gilbert Pauril, on the site of the "Entente pour la Forêt méditerranéenne" in Valabre where presentations offered the opportunity to present the work carried out by the Community of Pays d'Aix around the forest theme, as well as two local discussion forums, the Regional Mission wood energy and the Regional biomass committee. The afternoon was particularly marked by the presentation of the projects of biomass plant in Gardanne (E.on) and Brignoles (Innova) and the presence of the collectives opposing these projects, PROFORBIOMED becoming a neutral place of exchange between the two camps. On Friday, June 20th, 2014, the international conference, hosted by the Provence-‐Alpes-‐Côte d'Azur Region and opened by Mr. Charles Laugier, delegate to the forest in the name of President Michel Vauzelle, brought together nearly 70 people around the problematic of the use of biomass in the Mediterranean area. Participants, local and international actors of biomass and forest in the Mediterranean region gathered around the partners, had to answer, through two workshops, to two major questions: where and how to mobilize biomass? and which technologies and organizations should be put in place? Presentations of project actions (pilot projects, capitalisation and communication activities) deliverered tangible insights to the issues raised and supported the discussions. Ultimately, a final discussion led to the synthesis of the various exchanges, and draw paths for the future of forest biomass in the Mediterranean area.
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The participants of the Final international conference
For more information contact: [email protected] and [email protected]
Biomass for energy pact – conference of the consortium of the Slovenian Local Energy Agencies In June 2013 all seven Slovenian Local Energy Agencies (LEAs) signed the agreement “Biomass for Energy Pact”. Within this agreement, Slovenian LEAs agreed to cooperate in capitalisation actions such as to ensure the sustainable development of the biomass production chain through the transnational capitalization and promotion of woody biomass, the setting up of political agreements, the identification of financing mechanism, etc. In this sense, the Slovenian LEAs organized in March 2014 the conference in Krsko “Open day of the Local Energy Agency for Posavje and Bela Krajina – LEAD. In the frame of the one-‐day conference, Krsko Municipality, the Ministry of the Infrastructure and Spatial Planning and Local Energy Agencies presented their activities as the results of the signed Biomass for Energy Pact.
Local Energy Agency for Posavje and Bela Krajina (LEAD) presented their activities in the sustainable energy development: energy renovation of the public buildings and apartment blocks, capitalisation activities in energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, CHP plants. LEAD also presented the project regarding the utilisation of the waste wooden biomass on the municipal waste collection plant Stari Grad. The former heating system with the electricity was changed to biomass heating system and the municipality saved 15.8 MWh/a of electricity and decreased 7.9 t/a of CO2 emission.
Biomass boiler house in the municipal waste collection center Stari Grad.
On the basis of the PROFORBIOMED project, Local Energy Agency Spodnje Podravje (LEA SP) issued two new projects co-‐financed by the cross border program Slovenia-‐Croatia: EUpeR (Energy Efficiency against Energy Poverty) and BIOHeatLocal (Biomass for Regional development). LEA SP presented the activities in Kidricevo municipality: possibility for decreasing of the energy poverty of the households. LEA SP will carry out the energy audit of the apartment block and district heating system. The project for the renovation of the district heating system is to be prepared considering the possibility to implement a 6 MW biomass boiler house.
GEN energija presented the possibility of the district heating system to be powered by the waste heat form Nuclear Power plant Krsko, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Spatial Planning presented the new Energy Law and problems related with the energy certification of the buildings. An interesting project was presented by the ESCO Company Eltec Petrol particularly the number of the biomass boilers and district heating installed through private – public partnerships and energy contracting. Within this project LEA SP with the other partners will explore possibilities for the establishment of the biomass production chains in Slovenia and Croatia and possibilities for biomass heating of 4 representative buildings in both countries. For more information, contact: janez.petek@steng-‐nccp.si
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Workshop: The importance of biomass in local thermal recovery systems. On April 11th ALGAR conducted a workshop on "The importance of biomass in local thermal recovery system", which took place in the premises of the Center of Arts and Crafts, in São Brás de Alportel. The main objective was to present some of PROFORBIOMED results, in this case the replacement of a diesel boiler by a biomass boiler for the heating of São Brás de Alportel Municipal Swimming Pools. What started as a technical-‐economic and environmental viability study could now be validated with actual operational data,
particularly in terms of saving on fuel costs. Thus, bearing in mind some of the assumptions considered when conducting this study, it was shown that consumption and annual costs related with the use of pellets were, more or less, 60% lower than the one’s related with diesel. In addition to the economic advantage, there are also environmental benefits, since the CO2 emissions associated with the combustion of biomass are considered null. The workshop ended with a visit to the new thermal recovery system of the Municipal Pools.
For more information, contact: [email protected] or [email protected]
Seminar: Applicabil ity of the results in the region CICAE organized the PROFORBIOMED Seminar “Applicability of the results in the region", on July 3rd and 4th, 2014, within the headquarters of INUAF in Loulé. This event was dedicated to the presentation of the PROFORBIOMED project pilot actions results. The Portuguese final results of the Pilot action 1.1 -‐ Assessment of the structural diversity of forest habitats, and Pilot action 1.4 Assessment of the environmental impact of forest biomass harvesting or extraction were presented. The seminar was the occasion to discuss topics related with the characterization impacts in soils, biodiversity and fire risk from extracting residual forest biomass, the extraction and identification of valuable compounds on residual forest biomass and the feasibility studies of energetic valorization of forest biomass in the Algarve Region. Apart from activities in the Algarve region, we had the presence of partners from Italy, Greece and Spain, who presented the work undertaken in their regions. The event closed with a formal signing ceremony with stakeholders, the first step to the cluster of Biomass for Energy. An agreement was signed with companies and associations involved in the exploration and forest management, as well as several municipalities, with a view to create a cluster for the management and use of forest biomass and its transformation into materials in the Algarve region for energy purposes.
2.2. Other events
PROFORBIOMED key player of Bioenergy in rural areas at the European Energy Days 2014
In the framework of the European Sustainable Energy Week, the Region of Puglia (Italy) organised in Brussels an event on Bioenergy focusing on rural areas. The seminar was focused on Regional policies for Bioenergy development in Rural Areas, in the perspective of the drafting of the EU Regional Rural Development Programmes 2014-‐2020. The Development Agency of the Region of Murcia represented PROFORBIOMED Project with the best practices for woody biomass exploitation in the Mediterranean basin, performed by the expert Mr. José Pablo Delgado. His presentation explained the works carried out in the Region of Murcia related to different Pilot Actions.
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The first one was on the woody biomass inventory developed in the Region of Murcia, including not only those coming from the forest but also from the fruit trees farms (both pruning and trees renewal). More than 500.000 tonnes of this biomass is produced in the region every year as in many MED territories, the event’s attendants were very impressed about the high regional potentials in local biomass. The second pilot action mentioned was focused on the specific study for collecting twigs (thin branches) in an efficient way. The study shows a high potential in the biomass collection and pre-‐treatments for reducing the processes’ costs. The third work dealt with energy crops. The Region of Murcia has developed in PROFORBIOMED a trial for testing the use of dry conditions adapted species to evaluate water consumption and costs. The selected species was robinia pseudoacacia. The results permit to obtain up to 20 dry tons for 250 mm of irrigation and 27 dry tons for 500 mm of irrigation, both two years after planting, estimating a double amount in one more year. A solution to be implemented in MED areas and in other dry areas of Europe, in particular within abandoned lands. The event was closed with several interventions about the territorial complementarities and funding synergies, focused on future cooperation opportunities for regions and regional stakeholders and possible synergies in the framework of the Smart Specialisation, the Expert Innovation Partnership, H2020 and Interreg IVC. II Sustainabil ity Valencian Agroforestry Meeting The Directorate-‐General for the Environment of the Region of Valencia (GOV partner) attended the II Sustainability Valencian Agroforestry: Towards a new economic model based on the promotion of biomass held in Valencia (Spain) on June 4th and 5th, 2014. In this second meeting, the main stakeholders involved in the value chain of agro-‐forestry biomass have discussed topics such as the support of the public administration and the activation of demand in different sectors (residential, industrial, hotel, etc.) to foster the implementation of a consolidated market around the agro-‐forestry biomass. 15 companies and professionals on biomass in the field of energy purposes in the Valencia Region showed products and biomass technology next to the conferences. During the conference, the new association of biomass professionals, Aprobi–CV, was presented and the organization of a biomass fair next year has been announced. Also, as a novelty compared to last year a technical visit to the province of Castellon has been organized. The attendees visited a biomass heating system and some companies dedicated to the production of solid biofuels. For more information and to download presentations go to: www.sinergiabiomasa.com/inicio.html
3rd Fair of forestry biomass of Catalonia
With more than 150 stands, 115 expositors and each time more professional public, the 3rd edition of “Fira de la Biomassa Forestal de Catalunya” (Fair of forestry biomass of Catalonia) is consolidated in 2014 as a reference event in bioenergy in Catalonia.
Parallel presentations were done with 239 inscriptions of professionals and interested public. Isart Gaspà presented the wood chip quality brand “DBOSQ”, promoted by the Forest Science Centre of Catalonia (CTFC), and explained that one biomass producer was using already this brand and two more companies were in process to obtain the certification. For further information visit: http://afib.ctfc.cat/dbosq. More presentations about wood quality chips and traceability were done this day. On February 21st, presentations about the use of biomass in the Europe were done; in these presentations five partners of PROFORBIOMED were involved. First at all Dr. Yannis G. Fallas (University of Western Macedonia – Greece) gave a speech about different European clusters (see the photo below). The following speech was done by Janez Petek (Local Energy Agency Spodnje Podravje – Slovenia), who presented a practical case on a cluster change to a biomass consortium. Pere Navarro (CTFC) presented the prospections for a potential forestry biomass cluster in Catalonia, the results of the strategic study of the forestry sector and wood transformation in Catalonia. In the next bloc presentations were done concerning uses and technologies in the forest, were given by Nicolas Joly (Centre for Private forest owner of PACA – France) and Ignacio Lopez (CTFC). Demonstrations of machinery were done during the fair and 98% of the public evaluated the fair with a good or very good review.
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3. General latest news and publication on biomass & forests The project’s deliverables will be available in the publications section of the project website: www.proforbiomed.eu/publications/project-‐deliverables
4. Agenda / next related events 1st Valencia forestry congress, October 23rd-‐24th, Alcublas (Spain) 8th PROFORBIOMED’s steering group meeting, October, Solsona (Spain) MEDLAND 2020 final international conference, September 18th-‐19th, Marseille (France) MEDLAND 2020 Policy brief conference, October 6th, Brussels (Belgium) More events and details are available on the agenda section of project website: www.proforbiomed.eu/events
5. Keep in touch with the project! You can follow us: • on the project website: www.proforbiomed.eu • on Facebook:
o www.facebook.com/PROFORBIOMED o Proforbiomed Sicily: www.facebook.com/proforbiomed.sicily o Proforbiomed Patras Biomass Office: www.facebook.com/biomass.office o Proforbiomed Murcia Region: www.facebook.com/proforbiomedregiondemurcia
• on LinkedIn: group “PROFORBIOMED (Mediterranean Forest Biomass for Energy)” And don’t forget to spread the word around you and invite people to subscribe to our newsletter: www.proforbiomed.eu/publications/newsletter
Next issue at the end of 2014 If you want to contact us: Roque Pérez Palazón, Project Manager – [email protected] Marine LOVERO, Communication Manager – [email protected], [email protected]
Disclaimer This publication is co-‐financed with ERDF within the Project “PROFORBIOMED, Promotion of Forest Biomass in the Mediterra-‐nean Basin” No. Ref. (1S-‐MED 10-‐009) The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Communities or the MED Programme. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
