Today, in Solsona (Lleida – Spain), the Promobiomasse European cooperation project presented a management model directed at facing the challenges of the agricultural and forest biomass energy market.
This week the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Cataluña is hosting the third Promobiomasse Transnational Technical Committee, a project that aims to promote the agriculture and forest biomass energy market in the SUDOE territory (southwestern Europe). This morning, NASUVINSA, the public housing company of the Government of Navarra and project leader, presented the draft for the Integrated Model for the Sustainable Management of the Biomass Market in a Short Circuit in the SUDOE area, which is the result of six months work by the project’s technical committee. During this first workshop, the specialists attending will discuss each section of the proposal – extraction, logistics and marketing, and boosting demand – for its final validation.
63 measures to promote and professionalize the biomass market
The management model submitted comprises ten areas or lines of work, that take the form of 63 measures. These measures have been designed bearing in mind the challenges detected for the agricultural and forest biomass market for local energy use, and are based on the knowledge and experiences of the experts attending the workshops, the good practices studied and the strategic plans and documents already existing in the regions taking part in the project.
The proposal aims to promote the energy utilization of forest and agricultural biomass as an opportunity for local development, while favouring a more sustainable energy model that does not compromise future forest resources and helps combat climate change.
Some of the measures included in the model are directed at cataloguing and improving the knowledge of the forest resources of each region through geographical information systems and new technologies; to achieving the sustainable management of the regional forest resources from an environmental, economic and social point of view; to increasing the social acceptance of forest and biomass development for energy production; and to facilitating access to, and the deployment of forest resources through investment in infrastructures, legislative amendments and technological innovations.
Other measures aim to support the forestry business sector and to combat the fragmentation of ownership through the formation of associations and cooperation between public and private forest ownership. The model focusses on the professionalization of the entire value chain, right from forest and crop management and the introduction of modern farming methods, up to an exacting demand for certified wood chips. It also proposes the creation of a network of biomass operators for the SUDOE region, in order to bring together all the activities to promote forest management and development, including biomass, and offering training and advice for projects for both the supply and demand sides. The model also includes measures to promote model facilities from the public sector and for the Administration to provide incentives for the supply of biomass based energy to private, residential and industrial facilities.
Based on this integrated model, a local action plan will be defined for each region taking part in the project, taking account of the actual situation of the forests, the regulations and the administrative organisation of each territory. The pilot schemes that will serve to test and optimise the proposed model will be defined in these plans.
Good practices in Berguedà and Vallés Occidental
Tomorrow the experts and members taking part in the Solsona meeting are to visit two good practices related to the efficient use of biomass energy. In the morning, they will visit Berga (Barcelona) to see the operation of the project of the Mancomunitat de Municipis Berguedans, an integrated forest management model based on the valorization of the local natural resources and their utilization in 13 municipal biomass boilers and a heating network operating with thermal oil. During the afternoon, they wilL gain first-hand knowledge of the Bosques del Vallès project, promoted by the District Public Service for Forest Biomass for the prevention of fires and the improvement of the condition of the woodlands through the promotion of the forest biomass market. For this purpose, they will visit the logistics centre of the District Public Service for Forest Biomass located in Terrassa (Barcelona) with a production capacity of 6,650 tons of chips a year
Probiomasse Project
The project partners include the Centre Tecnològic Forestal de Catalunya (CTFC); the public society of the Navarra Government – Navarra de Suelo y Vivienda, SA (NASUVINSA); the Agencia Extremeña de la Energía (AGENEX); the Agência Regional de Energia e Ambiente do Interior (ENERAREA), of Región Norte Portugal; the Communauté de Communes du Plateau de Lannemezan (CCPL), of the French department Hautes-Pyrénées; and the Association des Communes Forestières des Pyrénées Atlantiques (COFOR64) of the Pyrénées Atlantiques, as well as 19 associated entities. The total budget for the project amounts to EUR 1.4 million, of which the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is providing 1 million.
