Woody biomass is the leading energy source in the EU
For the SAF platform, we have prepared a translation of an article by Bioenergy Europe on the distribution of biomass types by end use and the significant role of wood.
Bioenergy’s flexibility also makes it important to Europe’s energy mix as it is the only renewable energy source capable of providing heating and cooling, electricity and transport fuel. Currently, most biomass used for bioenergy in Europe comes from wood and forests, but most growth is forecasted to come from the increased use of agricultural biomass and residues, and waste streams.
Wood biomass
Of all bioenergy feedstocks, wood has always been the most common in Europe. Over the past decades, biomass combustion has become a safe and high-tech process. The market offers automated boilers with high performance and minimal emissions at different price ranges.
The residential sector retains the largest share of solid wood energy consumption (27%), followed by the industrial use of wood chips, in installations above 1 megawatt (22%) and the small-scale use of woodchips at 14%. Pellet consumption in modern appliances is also growing fast, representing 6% of the EU’s total wood energy consumption.
Bioenergy does not threaten forests. While some parts of the world have experienced dangerous deforestation over the past three decades, most notably in Africa and South America; European forests have represented a success story of revitalizing a key natural ecosystem through sustainable forest management.
Annual forest area net change, by decade and region,
1990-2020 (million ha per year)
In previous centuries, Europe’s forests were very poorly managed, and many areas where completely deforested. In the years since, Europe has fundamentally changed its approach to forestry but as most trees live for a hundred years or more, it can take decades before the results of different management decisions can be seen. Both the areas of forests in Europe and the number of trees in the forest have been steadily increasing for the past 30 years.
Read the full material with the dynamics of the total area and available forest stock on the SAF platform.
We remind you that UABIO is a partner of the Sustainable agribusiness platform (SAF).
SAF is a communication platform that brings together agribusiness stakeholders and aims to establish strong links between market players and introduce sustainable approaches in agriculture. For this platform, our team prepares verified professional content on the bioenergy sector.
