| 1. |
- Ericsson, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Assessment of the potential biomass supply in Europe using a resource-focused approach
- 2006
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Ingår i: Biomass & Bioenergy. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-2909 .- 0961-9534. ; 30:1, s. 1-15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper analyses the potential biomass Supply in the 15 EU countries (EU15), 8 new member states and 2 candidate countries (ACC10), plus Belarus and the Ukraine. The objective of this study is to make a more detailed assessment of the potential in Europe than previously undertaken. For this purpose five scenarios were designed to describe the short-, medium- and long-term potential of biomass for energy. The scenarios are based on assumptions regarding residue harvests, energy-crop yields and Surplus agricultural land. Energy-crop yields are correlated with the national wheat yields, a methodology we have not seen used in biomass assessments before. Our assessments show that under certain restrictions on land availability, the potential supply of biomass energy amounts to up to 11.7 EJy(-1) in the EU15 and 5.5 EJy(-1) in the ACC10. For comparison, the overall energy supply in the EU15 totalled 62.6 EJy(-1) in 2001. Consequently, there are no important resource limitations in meeting the biomass target, 5.6E Jy(-1) in the EU15 by 2010, which was set by the European Commission in the 1997 White paper on renewable energy sources (RES). However, given the slow implementation of the RES policy it is very unlikely that the biomass targets will be met. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 2. |
- Ericsson, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Energy crop production costs in the EU
- 2009
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Ingår i: Biomass & Bioenergy. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-2909 .- 0961-9534. ; 33:11, s. 1577-1586
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective of this study was to calculate indicative ranges of production costs and assess the main sources of cost for a number of energy crops, both annual and perennial, on a regional level in Europe. The production costs were calculated in terms of the economic compensation required by the farmer in order to grow the crop, and therefore include not only the cost of cultivation, but also the costs of land and risk, which are often omitted in production cost calculations. The cost of land was calculated as the opportunity cost based on the production of cereals. Thus, higher food prices lead to higher land costs, which in turn lead to higher energy crop production costs. The analysis was performed for three cases with different assumptions concerning yields and production cost reductions resulting from scale (total cultivation area in the region), and learning effects. The calculated energy crop production costs were found to be consistently lowest for short-rotation coppice (SRC) crops and highest for annual straw crops. The production costs of SRC crops were calculated to be about 4–5 € GJ−1 under present conditions and 3–4 € GJ−1 under improved future conditions. The production costs for perennial grasses were calculated to be about 6–7 € GJ−1 and 5–6 € GJ−1 under present and improved future conditions, respectively. The production costs for annual straw crops were estimated to be 6–8 € GJ−1 under present conditions with small potential for cost reductions in the future.
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| 3. |
- Ericsson, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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International Biofuel Trade - A Study of the Swedish Import
- 2004
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Ingår i: Biomass & Bioenergy. - 1873-2909. ; 26:3, s. 205-220
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Following the development of large-scale use of biomass energy in the EU, international biofuel trade is a plausible scenario and something that is already taking place in Northern Europe. This paper focuses on Swedish biofuel imports, both direct and indirect imports, the latter which derive from the fact that part of the imported pulpwood and timber end up as fuel. The objective is to describe the biomass import flows, the actors involved and analyse the fundamental drivers for the trade flows. The rapid expansion of biomass energy, that has taken place in district heating since the early 1990s in Sweden, has been met partly by imports. The direct biofuel import was estimated to 18 PJ for 2000, which corresponded to 26% of the biofuel supply in district heating. The total indirect biofuel import was estimated to 9 PJ of which 5.5 PJ is consumed in the district heating sector. Sawmill wood chips, decay-damaged stemwood and pellets are imported from Estonia and Latvia, whereas used wood and solid recovered fuels are imported from Germany and the Netherlands. Tall oil and pellets are imported from North America. Key factors related to the Swedish biofuel import are analysed, both from the view of Swedish demand and from the view of supply in the Baltic countries as well as supply from Germany or the Netherlands. National differences in energy policy are perhaps the most important driving force behind the seemingly strange trade flows. Structures in the different national energy systems are also discussed as well as the transformation process that has taken place in the forest sector in the Baltic countries.
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