Assessing Biomass Feasibility

Sweden

Key Statistics:
Area:
449,964 km²
Forest Cover:
227,000 km² (50.5%)
Population:
9,110,972
Biomass Utilisation:
14% of primary energy use.
89 TWh in 2002.
Biomass Applications:
The utilisation of biomass as a fuel source within the forestry industry accounts for 57% total biomass use. District heating is 30% with individual small scale domestic heating 13%. There is thought to be approximately 200 district heating plants in Sweden with a total capacity of 24GW. Between 1990 and 1999 there was a 44% increase in the utilisation of biomass as a fuel source.
Type of Biomass Predominantly Used:
Forestry by-products such as bark and woodchips.
Economics:
Biomass fuels have been stable since the mid 1980’s. This equates to a drop in real terms.
Government Support:
The energy tax reform of 1991 introduced a carbon and energy tax. This instantly made biomass the preferred fuel for district heating applications since the cost of using fossil fuels rose from between 30 -60%. In 2004 the carbon tax was 100€/tonne CO2. Eleven percent of R&D funding since 1975 directed at bio-energy.

Biomass Growth Analysis:

Contributing factors to high biomass infiltration are: -

• Existing presence of district heating networks.
• In response to new demand commercial sector rapidly developed new technologies for biomass combustion, harvesting, residue extraction etc, and therefore the capacity to handle large biomass flows efficiently.
• District heating networks are publicly owned and therefore more sensitive to achieving local political environmental conditions.
• Development of competition between different biomass suppliers.

References:

Johansson, B., 2004. ‘Biomass in Sweden – Historic Development and Future Potential Under New Policy Regimes.’ Lund University.
Kagionnas, A.G., Patilizionas, K.D., Doukas, X., 2003. ‘EU Best Practice in RES: Biomass Power in Sweden.’ National Technical University of Athens.
Wikipedia, 2007. ‘Sweden’ [online].
Map (Royalty Free Image)

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