The AgroBioHeat “Agro-industrial residues to energy” Guide is released
Spanish Biomass Association (AVEBIOM) and Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), just published the Guide “Agro-industrial residues to energy”. The Guide was performed in the frame of the AgroBioHeat project (funded with the Horizon H2020 program under G.A. 818369) which objective is to promote the development of agrobiomass in European rural areas.
The agro-industrial solid biofuels are obtained as different processing residues of agriculture products in agro-industries (olive oil production, vegetable oil production, dry nut processing facilities, and others). Despite some local use in old traditional appliances, many of them were considered an environmental problem not so many years ago because huge quantities were accumulated without a proper treatment or destination. Nowadays, the potential as shown in this guide is large and agro-industrial solid biofuels could support the energy transition and assist the European Union in achieving the objectives of decarbonisation for 2030 and 2050 in a cost-effective way. However, it is essential to use them with appropriate, modern technologies, adapted to the fuel peculiarities, in order to avoid operational issues or excessive emissions.
The range of agro-industrial residues is broad as well as their characteristics as solid biofuels, from some suitable for residential applications – such as olive stones – to others which are more suited for industrial use. Moreover, the development of the markets for these residues are different depending on the country and the residue. The goal of this Guide is to share part of the knowledge and state-of-the-art in the valorisation of these residues, based on the experiences of the countries with more advanced markets and of specific, exemplary cases.
The Guide was elaborated with the knowledge acquired in several former projects (Biomasud, BIOmasud Plus), the experience of the mentioned leading entities – AVEBIOM and CERTH – as well as new information systematically obtained and presented through the AgroBioHeat project. The Bioenergy Association of Ukraine (UABIO) also contributed their experience with the sunflower husk residues available in Eastern European markets.
The “Agro-industrial residues to energy” Guide is already available in English, Spanish and Ukranian and, in collaboration with the national AgroBioHeat partners, it will be translated and will be soon made available in Croatian, French, Greek and Romanian languages.
The AgroBioHeat project has already released the 2nd edition of the publication “Straw to Energy – Technologies, policy and innovation in Denmark” and the “Maize Residues to Energy ” Guide, while one more guide on woody biomass from agriculture (prunings, uprootings, etc.) is in preparation. If you want to be notified upon their launch, please follow the AgroBioHeat project on our social media – Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn –