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The European Bioenergy Future (EBF) conference was organized by European Biomass Association (AEBIOM) in Brussels during 21 – 22 November 2017. More than 300 delegates in the bioenergy sector participated in the event.

On the 22^nd November 2017, World Bioenergy Association (WBA) organized a session on: ‘Exporting Bioenergy Globally: Foreign Demand for European Technology’. Bioenergy is going global. The aim of the session was to gather bioenergy experts from non-EU countries to inform the audience about the bioenergy development focussing on the potential of European biomass technologies in their respective regions.

The speakers of the session included: Aikawa Takanobu (Japan), Georgiy Geletukha (Ukraine), Hong Hao (China), Geraldin Kutas (Brazil), Andrey Novolokin (Russia) and Douglas Bradley (Canada). The session was moderated by Remigijus Lapinskas, President, WBA.

Remigijus Lapinskas opened the session focussing on the potential of biomass in Europe and the need for more ambitious renewable energy targets in Europe. The focus was on the immense challenge of decarbonizing the heating and especially transport sector.

Summary:

Japan has about 70% of its area covered in forests which are severely underutilized. The opportunities for EU technologies are in small scale heating, conversion of fossil fuel plants to biomass and forestry sector management. Ukraine has great potential of development of bioenergy – especially in the agricultural sector. The government is initiating favourable policies for sustainable biomass implementation. However, it is important to develop a competitive biofuel market. The major issue in China is the use of coal and the environmental problems associated with it. The government, especially in the Northern region, is pushing for use of biomass which is cheaper than coal and cleaner than natural gas in most of the situations. The main market for China is the heating sector and there is a great need for EU technology in China. The focus for Brazilian success story in renewable energy is the sugarcane or energy cane sector. Many EU companies are already investing in Brazil. However, there are certain challenges in policy, e.g. high import tariffs which are hindering the investment. Russia is one of the largest producer of biomass and has great potential to utilize, especially in the forestry sector. Finally, Canada is Biomass. Millions of tons of biomass are available for sustainable utilization. Positive policy framework and funding is available to support investment in bioenergy. Key sectors include biomass heating in forestry towns, remote dwellings, improved residue collection logistics and expansion of large heat and power plants.

The agenda for the session is accessible here: Link

The link to the event here: Link

Download the news item here: Doc, Pdf

For more information, please contact:

World Bioenergy Association (info@worldbioenergy.org)