Seminar “Energy crops, biomass and biofuels” ENERSILVA ...

Seminar “Energy crops, biomass and biofuels”Auditorium of the Espírito Santo CollegeENERSILVAPromotion of the use of forest biomass for energy purposes in thesouthwest of EuropeFrancisco Dans del Valle, Manuel Pazos Lamoso

The projectProgramme: Interreg III B SudoeField: 6 regions of Spain, France and Portugal with the cultivatedforest more productive of Europe, 90% forest private propertyObject: promotion of the energy use of primary forest biomassInitiative: forest owners of the south of EuropeTerm: two years and a half 2004-2007Budget: 1.000.000 €FEDER: 623.000 €

Enersilva partnersForest owners organizationsAsociación Forestal de GaliciaConfederación de Forestalistas del País VascoAssociação Florestal de Portugal-ForestisUnion des Syndicats de Sylviculteurs d’AquitaineForest AdministrationsConsellería Medio Rural. Dirección Xeral de Montes de GaliciaCentre Régional de la Propriété Forestière d’AquitaineEnergy Agencies and R&D CentreInstituto Enerxético de GaliciaCentre Tecnològic Forestal de CatalunyaCentro da Biomassa para a Energia de Portugal

Enersilva partners

Objectives and activitiesForest owners’ dinamization: PFB circuit, identification of forestowners’ organizational models and PFB mobilizationSupport of local initiatives: promotion and mentoring of forest owners’local initiatives.PFB uses: techniques and elaboration of production costsRules and energy and forest policies: countries-regions comparedanalysis, collaboration with relevant authorities, proposal ofincentivesPlanning: regional possibilities of plants and energy installations’developmentSocial and environmental impact: quantifying of generatedemployment and impact in the decrease of forest firesFormation: forest owners and professionalsCommunication and broadcasting: Enersilva web, presence inevents, press and technical articles

Primary forest biomass BFPDefinitionNeed of defining PFB properly and of using a common terminology.PFB: Biodegradable fraction of the products generated in the forests and thatare processed for energy purposes.In the case of cultivated forests of the south of Europe, the primary forestbiomass consist mainly of vegetal materials from cultural treatments andfrom wood residues.Origin of primary forest biomass– Pruning, thinning, shoot selection,….– Residues from cuttings: branches and end pieces– Fuelwood– Forest energy crops– (Brushing out of brushwood)

PFB Pinus pinaster, Galicia

PFB eucalyptus, Galicia

PFB pine, Catalonia

PFB chestnut, Dordogne

PFB eucalyptus, Portugal

Forest energy crops, Galicia

Current situation- 6 mill of tonnes of PFB in the area without valorisation- 1 electric power plant, Mortágua-Portugal- Low development of the pellets market- Very scarce implementation of heating networks- Absence of data and information on the resource- Absence of specific subsidies for the resource’smobilization- Dissuasive campaign of the wood industry- Lack of objective information for the decision makersand the general public- Scarce communication between the energy and forestpolicies’ responsible persons

Problems in the forests of SW Europe• overproduction of forest biomass in the forests• low consume of forest products• high costs of cultural treatments• high risk of forest fire• increasing impact of pathologies• deficient forest infrastructures• increasing social demands on forests• low incomes of the foresters• desertification of the rural environment

PFB costs estimationCOSTSCOUNTRIES€/t a 35% humiditySpainFrancePortugalSW UEPFB generation12-2618-3012-2212-30PFB Handling In the forest13-6035-6013-4013-60PFB Transport to the plant11-178-207-187-20Commercial profit (15%)5-159-175-125-17PFB cost in plant41-11870-12737-9237-127PFB generation: costs for the forest owner in order to produce biomass. It includes % of reforestation costsand of forest management expensesPFB use in the forest: costs assigned to the labours of PFB harvest and splinteringPFB transport: transport costs, mainly splinter, from the forest to the plant, average distance 30 km

PFB costs estimationConclusionsOnce analysed the theoretical PFB costs in the different regions, they werecompared with the prices that nowadays are paid in the consumer center.From this comparison, one can establish the following remarks:• The PFB current prices only cover the handling costs –exploitation +transport-, they do not cover the costs of generation that, nonetheless, areassumed by the forest owner.• The PFB price assigned to electric energy generation is 50% cheaper thanthe price of wood assigned to cellulose paste for paper and 35% cheaperthan the price assigned to industrial fibreboard.• The PFB current price assigned to heat production in the SW Europe isvery competitive in front of the conventional fossil fuels.• In some forest areas with difficult orography conditions, the biomass pricesthe operators can pay will not cover the BFP costs and, consequently, thereshould exist public subsidies for its mobilization.

Electric power plants of PFBSCENARY 2012 SW EUROPECurrentplantsPlants beingcarried outPlants inprospect2012/plants2012/MWGalicia1-111270BasqueCountry0-2220Catalonia01128,5Aquitaine0-2222Portugal121114260Other regions017890Total SW EU243440470,5

Electricity production from PFB in SWEuropeElectric MW50045040035030025020015010050010 1265470,52000 2005 2007 2012MW eléctricos

PFB consume for electric power plantsin SW EuropeBFP in tonnes of green matterx10 6 tonnes54,5432Mill. toneladas11,10,180,202000 2005 2007 2012

Collaboration in rulesRoyal Decree on production of electric energy in special regime, staterule that regulates in Spain the prices of green electricity generatedfrom PFB and the requirements of the electric power plantsRural Development Plan of Portugal, strategic measures for the forests ofPortugalRural Development Plan of Galicia, strategic measures for the GalicianforestsRegulation of the installations of electricity production from PFB inGaliciaTechnical Plan on the energetic use of forest biomass of Galicia

Formation• Three international seminars: 350 experts.Forest biomass, energy and rural development. Porto (Portugal)Heating networks and forest biomass. Périgueux (France)Forest biomass and green electricity. Vigo (Spain)• Speeches and communications in congresses, scientific forum,36 speeches or communications in scientific forum of Spain, Franceand Portugal.• Twenty courses and local seminars, more than 700 forest ownersinvolved.• Nine technical meetings: 280 participants, experts and forest owners

Communication and broadcasting• www.enersilva.org:12.000 visits• Fairs and events:• Expobioenergía. Valladolid,Spain• Green Week. Brussels, Belgium• International Fair Semana Verdede Galicia. Lalín, Spain.• Fimapa-Ferralia, Exponor.Oporto, Portugal.• Expoflorestal. Aveiro, Portugal.• Enersilva leafletPresentation of the project infour languages. 30.000 units• Publication of the projectEnersilva in three languages.10.000 units

Conclusions on the PFB mobilization(I)• There is plenty of resource in SW Europe and its exploitation is verynecessary in order to ensure the forest sustainability• The prices of the PFB for the forest owner should cover the costs ofproduction plus a business benefit. This will allow to invert inorganization and logistics in order to reduce the exploitation costs• In some territories of SW Europe the market will not be able to cover thegeneration PFB exploitation costs. It will be necessary to turn to publicsubsidies. This is very frequent in zones of high risk of forest fire• It is compulsory and urgent to handle a clear and common terminologyon biomass and also to use precise and objective measure unities

Conclusions on the PFB mobilization(II)• There is plenty of resource in SW Europe and its exploitation is verynecessary in order to ensure the forest sustainability• The prices of the PFB for the forest owner should cover the costs ofproduction plus a business benefit• Plants and centres de supply very close to the forests• Adaptation of the structure of the woodland in the forests• Optimization of the cultural treatments• Adaptation of the systems of clear cutting and timber extraction• Infrastructures of storage and timber extraction in the forests• Methods and installations of measurement and control of the origin andtraceability of PFB• Instruments of information and market monitoring• R+D+i in order to improve the energetic efficiency• R+D+i in order to adapt the forest energetic crops

ASOCIACIÓN FORESTAL DE GALICIARúa do Vilar nº 33 1º. CP 15.705. Santiago de Compostela. Galicia. SpainTelf. 0034.981.564.011asforgal@iies.esThanks for your attentionFrancisco Dans del Valle(fdans@selga.es)Manuel Pazos Lamoso(mpazos@selga.es)