FOREST FUEL - RENEWABLE ENERGY

Renewable energyToday, renewable energy is an

important part of the Swedish energy budget. With its share in the energy budget close to 50% (compared to 18% for the EU as a whole) Sweden has a unique position among other industrialized countries.

In 2009, the total amount of energy supplied to the Swedish consumers was 564TWh. Renew-ables dominated also in the domestic consumption of energy.

Gross inland consumption of energy in the EU and Sweden in

2009, TWhhttp://www.energy.eu

Wood fuel for energyWood fuel is chosen as a source of

energy for a variety of reasons - technical, environmental, social, cultural, and economic. Wood has a number of environmental and economic advantages over fossil fuels:

it is a renewable resource; it is readily available via

dependable supplies from sustainably managed forests;

compared to fossil fuels, the amount of CO2 gas emitted in burning is by about 90% less;

because of insignificant amount of sulphur and heavy metals in wood fuel it does not add to the pollution causing acid rains, and the particulate emissions are controllable;

normally, the energy recovered from woody biomass is significantly cheaper than that of fossil fuels.

Energy consumption

129

119 60

51 24

14 3 3

BionergyOilHydro powerNuclear powerCoalFossil gasWind powerHeat pumps

2009 figures for Sweden: biofuels 123TWh or 22%; for district heating wood fuel has generated 28TWh. In 2010 this figure increased to 31.7TWh. In district heating, out of all biofuels the share of forest fuels was 67%; the current annual use of wood for heating detached houses is estimated at approx. 7 million m3 (stacked volume).

Energy consumption in Sweden in 2012, TWh

European energy policy EUWhite Paper for future strategies

and action plans in energy and environment. Climate Change Package (2008)

adopted by the European Parliament in order to achieve by 2020 the following EU climate targets :- 20% increase in energy

efficiency (compared to projections);

- 20% less greenhouse gas emissions (compared to 1990);

- 20% share of renewables in the energy mix.

Renewable Energy Directive (2009) lays down mandatory national targets to be achieved by EU-27 to ensure that by 2020 the energy from renewable sources makes up at least 20% of the total energy consumption. Treaty of Lisbon (2009) places

energy at the heart of European activity. The policy aims are supported by market-based tools, novel energy technologies, using for it the Community financial instruments.European Renewable Energy Council (EREC)

- www.erec.org

Energy plans of Sweden National allocation plans are

replaced by EU-wide allocations: emission reductions by 21% by 2020 compared to 2005. The Sweden’s energy policy seeks

to combine ecological sustainability, competitiveness, and security of supply. The policy goals to be reached by 2020 are:

- 50% renewable energy;-10% renewable energy in the transport sector;- 20% more efficient energy use;- 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

The Swedish law on municipal energy planning provides that starting with 2012 each municipality is supposed to have a current plan for the energy supply, distribution and use. Sweden is determined to take the

biggest step forward compared to any other advanced western economy by trying in 15 years to completely give up oil without building a new generation of nuclear power stations.

An Integrated Climate and Energy Policy of Sweden - www.sweden.gov.se

MAIN ARGUMENTSForest represents locally available

natural resource and wood is a product that can be recovered from sustainably managed forests. Besides, there are a lot of arguments in favour of wood fuel for heating:

wood is a CO2 neutral source of energy that constantly regenerates itself;

as fuelwood we use only the wood assortments that have no other uses;

transportation distances are rather short with no danger to the environment;

storage of wood fuel causes no problems; processing and use of wood fuel creates added value for the region and thus secures jobs; modern wood heating systems meet the required air pollution control standards; it is possible to use ash as a fertiliser in forest.

Forest energy frameworkProduction of wood energy is

relatively simple compared with the processes behind it like planning, implementing and promoting the use of wood for energy.

You are part of wood energy framework. We need your

proposals how to save energy and make our energy use more

sustainable!

CalculationsCalculating the most advantageous

type of fuel is quite simple. For each type of fuel we need to:

find out thermal efficiency; calculate the necessary

amount of fuel; investigate the price situation in

market. Choice of fuel type will depend also

on a variety of factors other than price. Note: in making estimates be cautious about different measurement units used! Conversion factors1m3 loose (50% moisture content) =

0.340 raw tonnes = 0.82MWh = 0.33–0.4m3

Calorific values in MWh per1 tonne of different fuels

Fuel MWhWood chips 2.00-4.00Pellets, briquettes 4.50-5.00Coal 7.56Coke 7.79Petroleum coke 9.67Light virgin oil 8.74