European Bio-Energy Projects

Introduction
Renewable energy sources will play an important role in the
sustainable development in the future, protection of the
environment and the security of energy supply being the main
driving forces in the short term.
Amongst the Johannesburg conclusions there was an agreement
to “urgently and substantially increase the share of renewable
energy sources” while the Kyoto protocol implies for the EU a
reduction of 8% of the greenhouse gas emissions (corresponding
to around 600 million tons of CO2-equivalent) between 2008
and 2012 (compared to 1990 level).
Figure 1 presents the energy sources used in the EU in 2000.
Renewable energy share is 6%, the biggest contributions coming
from biomass and large hydropower.
Figure 1: Energy sources utilized in the EU in 2000.
To reach the European Union’s objective of increasing the share
of renewable energy sources to 12% in 2010 (Council resolution
on renewable energies of May 1998), all the different
technologies, including geothermal, solar and ocean, have to be
supported. Further increasing the use of biomass will be
necessary, and biomass is expected to cover as much as 8%
of the energy supply in 2010.
Today, energy from biomass already contributes to about 4% of
the EU energy supply, predominantly in heat and, to a lesser
extent, in combined heat and power (CHP) applications. Biomass
accounts for 98% of total renewable heat production. Furthermore,
biomass is the only renewable energy source that can produce
competitively priced liquid fuels for transport. Reduced need to
import oil (67% of oil is for road transport purposes), increased
security of supply, reduction of emissions, improved local
environment and new jobs are the primary benefits.
Biomass based energy systems can be built on a wide variety
of feedstocks and use many different conversion technologies
to produce solid, liquid or gaseous fuels. These fuels can then
be used to provide heat, electricity or to power vehicles. It is
possible to upgrade biomass to obtain fuels that are identical
to or have properties close to those of fossil fuels. This
minimises the need to adapt end-use technologies.
Research and technological development are crucial for the
development of bio-energy. In the Fifth Framework Programme
(1998-2002) bio-energy was dealt with in two parts of the
programme “Energy, environment and sustainable development”
and “Cleaner energy systems and economic and efficient energy
for a competitive Europe.”
The research efforts covered the whole chain from production
of feedstock to the end-use. Priority was given to proposals, which
employ an innovative approach to the large-scale production and
use of bioelectricity including CHP applications, and to innovative
technologies that result in gains in conversion efficiency.
For projects focused on technology development, priority areas
were co-combustion of biomass in coal fired electricity plants,
development and optimisation of conversion technologies such
as combustion, gasification and pyrolysis. Furthermore, emphasis
was put on biomass operated gas turbines and co-generation.
New and improved technologies for production of biofuels
was an important part of the efforts as well as development
of cost efficient methods for cleaning of biofuels to be used in
combustion engines and fuel cells. Socio-economic and
prenormative research topics were also covered.
This synopsis presents 100 projects supported by the European
Union in the Fifth Framework Programme. The publication
demonstrates the many possible fields of utilisation of bioenergy
and shows the breadth of the Union’s research and
demonstration efforts and its commitment to develop bio-energy
for the future.
Günther Hanreich Pablo Fernández Ruiz
Director Director
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