FOREST FUEL - RENEWABLE ENERGY

Renewable energy Today, 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, TWh

Wood fuel for energy Wood 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 CO 2 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 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 m 3 (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) -

Energy plans of Sweden National allocation plans are replaced by EU- wide allocations: emission reductions by 21% by 2020 compared to 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 -

MAIN ARGUMENTS Forest 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 CO 2 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 framework Production 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!

Calculations Calculating 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 factors 1m 3 loose (50% moisture content) = raw tonnes = 0.82MWh = 0.33–0.4m 3 Calorific values in MWh per1 tonne of different fuels FuelMWh Wood chips Pellets, briquettes Coal7.56 Coke7.79 Petroleum coke9.67 Light virgin oil8.74