RE: Sweden's biomass market

["Weststeijn, Andries" <Andries.Weststeijn@essent.nl>]

Dear Anouk,

Two comments re your questions to Folke:

Your question:
"For instance, how have wood fuels from British Columbia in Western Canada
become an economically viable option for Sweden's energy industry given the
local availability of forestry residue?"

My comment:
Indeed amazing how wood pellets can go all the way around through the Panama
Canal and cross the Atlantic and still pay. 
These overseas shipments -from the Pacific- can compete with indigenous
collecting and trucking of local (Swedish) wood residues! Some countries,
like Denmark and Holland, as mentioned by Folke lack the indigenous wood
supply, but Sweden...
It proves in fact how high the costs of purposefully collecting and trucking
local forest waste wood must be!

Your question as to Folke's comment:
"There has also been a knowledge development on
measuring.......(snip)....even though it's very often on a company basis.
This knowledge is crucial if international trade should be possible, that
you have ways of determining ...(snip)....how to measure it, the traditional
volume measures are very inadequate for these issues."

My comment:
Adequate sampling techniques and frequencies need increased attention, both
for commercial purposes as well as for (green) tax rebate purposes.
When annual tonnage handled goes up, so does the impact on financial results
of correct sampling techniques(for calorific value, moisture, ash and chem.
composition).
Is especially true for bulk biomass fuels of non-uniform composition, like
assorted forest waste wood, municipal green clippings, mixed young and old
waste wood collected from MSW, paper+plastic mixtures etc.
Easy enough to think in terms of averages, not easy to appropriately sample
to a representative mix and keep costs of this sampling + laboratory tests
cycle within reason. 

best regards,
Andries


Anouk

----- Original Message -----
From: "Folke Bohlin" <folke.bohlin@sh.slu.se>
To: "Anouk Kendall" <anouk@shaw.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 2:26 AM
Subject: Re: Research Topics


Hi Anouk!

I'm not sure exactly what you're after, must have missed your earlier
e-mail, but your question is thought provoking in a general sense.

There is a growing international market in bioenergy.  For a few years a
Swedish district heating plant has imported wood pellets all the way from
British Columbia. We have also imported very significant quantities of
forest fuels from the Baltic countries and recycled wood from other
European countries.  All driven by our CO2 tax of course.

There has also been a knowledge development on measuring, writing up
contracts and other transaction cost decreasing activities, even though
it's very often on a company basis. This knowledge is crucial if
international trade should be possible, that you have ways of determining
just what you're dealing with and how to measure it, the traditional volume
measures are very inadequate for these issues.

Denmark and the Netherlands are following suit, increasing their bioenergy
use and imports.  - I think these examples are important also for providing
"reality" for bioenergy, which is really what is needed for new investments
to take place, i.e. that this energy form is taken seriously and not
considered "an alternative for the future".  And investments are needed to
use bioenergy, even if they need perhaps not be that large.

Still, there is a long way to go, and one thing is to have bioenergy
recognised as a RESOURCE.  It's all too common that it is classified as
waste, and I believe this is standard EU practice.  Regardless of its
origin, bioenergy is a product or by product in itself, c.f. forest fuels
which is made up of branches and tops left after a clear cut and rotted
wood which is not fit for the fibre industry's needs.

My two bits' worth, folke

---------------------------------------
Folke Bohlin, SkogD, Forskare
Institutionen för Skogens Produkter och Marknader
SLU
Box 7060
75007 Uppsala

E-mail Folke Bohlin@sh.slu.se
Tel.   018-673521
Fax.   018-673522



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