Pellets For Small Scale Domestic Heating Systems Brochure

Pellets for small-scale domesticheating systemsMay 2007About pellets…………….....… 3Pellet production…….....…… 4Pellet distribution………….....6Pellet burningtechnology……………………....7Legislation and supportschemes……………...…......…9Pellet market.....……………..13Page 2www.aebiom.orgRESMAC project Supported bysource: KWBsource: KWBPellets are an important renewable energy source thatbenefits the environment, provides jobs to local and natio-nal economies and is easily manageable in small-scaledomestic systems. Domestic households cover about 27% oftotal energy consumption. The heat market related to domestichouseholds can be best addressed by using pellets as this fuelis as convenient to use as fossil fuels. This section will give anoverview on pellet structure, its advantages for domestic hea-ting systems, as well as the pellet chain starting with raw mate-rial for pellet production to the pellet delivery to small houses aswell as available technology to utilise pellets for home heating. Pellet structure Pellets are a fuel inthe form of shortcylindrical or sphe-rical units. It isusually 6-12 mm indiameter and 10-30 mm in length,with a moisturecontent of lessthan 10%. Pellets are generally produced from residues of wood proces-sing industries and mainly used for heating and electricity pro-duction purposes. Pellets are especially suitable in small heatingsystems due to their automatic heating process, easy storageas they do not degrade, relatively low cost comparing with fos-sil fuels and a very low amount of ash and other emissions relea-sed.Pellets heating technology is comparatively new, and was deve-lopped from wood chip boiler technology. At present, over 60manufactures of pellet boilers are active in the market in theEuropean Union, and the boiler technology is constantly beingimproved to reach a higher efficiency rate. From the three most commonly used types of wood (logs, woodchips and wood pellets), pellets offer major advantages for smallheating systems and together with wood chips (which, contraryto pellets, are best suited for a large-scale use) are a best alter-native to fossil fuels in the future. Pellet advantagesThis type of bioenergy is efficient, clean and reliable. In compa-rison with other solid biofuels, pellets provide the followingadvantages and disadvantages:Page 3source: REHAbout pelletsGeneral advantages Pellet advantages for domestic use DisadvantagesReduces EU dependence on oil andgas More convenient to store than any other type of woodas it doesn’t degrade due to low moisture content (less than10%). Peletizing process requiresa certain amount of energyinput and results in a higherprice comparing to woodlogs, briquettes or otherforms of wood.Sustainable source of fuel: Woodpellets are a clean, environmentallyfriendly, natural, renewable fuelresourceHigh energetic value and, therefore, cost effective product:one ton of wood pellets has the heat value of more than oneand a half tons of wood and stacks easily in one third thespace. This makes it possible to easily store fuel for the entireseason.Pellet fuel cost is not dictated byworld events; therefore cost is moreaffordable and predictableRequires less maintenance: heating process is automatic.Only minimal clearance (mainly removal of ash) is needed forappliance installation (due to the near total combustion(around 98.5%) pellet stoves produce virtually no creosote.This also allows installation of a pellet stove by direct ventwithout a chimney.In comparison with oil, thereis a need for a larger storagefacilities, regular control andremoval of ashes.Reduces waste (as it is made fromby-products of wood processingindustry) and, therefore, diminishthe cost of disposing waste.Provides employment opportunitiesas it is a native fuel Cost-efficient: high energy efficiency (due to a low moisturecontent) which results in a reduced cost.Less ash and emissions - since pel-let stove emissions are so low theycan be burned in most areas eventhose with burning restrictionsEasier to handle - easiest fuel to transport and feed into bur-ners – pellets are blown with a special pump from a truck tothe storage room and are used in automatic machinery. Compared to wood or other types of wood, less volume totransport and store (due to higher energy density)Easier to ignite due to a consistent size and low moisturecontentAir quality - clean, CO2-neutral pellet fuel enhances the airquality by substituting wood log burners and in this way redu-cing fine dust emissions. Pellets have been proven to providethe cleanest combustion of any solid fuelStandard technical characteristics and low moisture content –burns predictably and provide a consistent heat output.Further, they have around 10% moisture content, considerablyless than the 25 to 55% typical of chips, so that less energy iswasted boiling off water.Pellets are generally manufactured from sawdust – a by-product of sawmilling, shavings, grinding dust, bark andfinely reduced wood waste, some of which comes fromfurther processing of wood chips. The demand for pellets isincreasing and other biomass wastes will be considered as rawmaterials. Therefore, logging residues, energy crops and its resi-dues (ex. straw), agricultural waste, and other organic fractionsof household waste could be used for pellet production.However, these new fuels might release a higher amount ofemissions due to incomplete combustion so their use must bestudied carefully before introduction to the residential market.Furthermore, longer production process for pelletising alterna-tive raw materials such as forest wood or forest residues wherethe material has to be chipped with a mobile chipper, then grin-ded and sifted before it is dried and pelletised, results in higherinvestment costs and a higher price of pellets. Agropellets giveproblems when burned and therefore will be of interest later on. In general, wood pellets can be produced from 4 main types ofbiomass: woody biomass, herbaceous biomass, fruit biomassand peat1.Example of pellets produced from agricultural wastePellet production chainBy products from wood processing industries (sawdust, sha-vings and grindings) go through three main stages of pellet pro-duction: storing and pretreatment of raw materials, drying theraw material and actual pellet production process. The overallprocess is pictured bellow:Drying raw materialThe waste from wood processing industries is mostly driedusing the basic direct drying technique which is a simple andwell functioning high capacity technique. This technique, howe-ver, is not that good from environmental point of view and pre-sents a slightly greater fire hazard. The trend nowadays is to useindirect drying techniques where the material doesn’t havedirect contact with higher temperatures as well as flue gasses. Simple drying technique requires 0.8 MWh of heat to dry a toneof pellets to moisture content of 8-10% whereas indirect onescan significantly reduce the energy needed for the drying pro-cess. The energy is saved using a pre-dryer and a condenserwhich condenses the moist gases from the dryer directly. Thisdrying process is more energy efficient but requires higherinvestment costs.Pelletising processPellets cost more to produce than other wood-based fuels andrequire a high capital investment in plant and machinery. Pelletproduction generally requires a supply of dry sawdust of aconsistent moisture content and a uniform particle size.Therefore, it is more energy efficient to use by-products fromwood processing industry rather than to grind up and dry freshlyfelled timber. The pelletising process starts with dried sawdust being forcedor pressed through holes in a rotating die. The pressure causesthe wood to heat up, briefly liquefying the lignins which act as aglue and bind the pellets together. The extruded pellets are cutto length as they emerge from the die. The newly pressed pel-lets pass through a cooler to allow the lignin to harden. Refinedwood fuels can be stored without risk of moulding or self-igni-tion. The energy content does not change during storage. Thestorage time is unlimited, but the refined fuel must be protectedagainst rain.Pellet productionsource: KAHLsource: VTT1 Although peat is not considered as biomass by the European Commission.source: CIMAJPage 4In order to make a pellet plant eco-nomically viable, most pellets areproduced in the large-scale indus-trial pellet manufacture with integra-ted large sawmill and/or heat user. Ifthere is a supply of sawdust that isalready dry, small-scale pelletmachines are capable to producepellets with an output of around200-300 kg per hour. It is alsosometimes possible to convert anexisting animal grass-feed mill toproduce wood pellets, as the equip-ment needed is similar and manyfeed factories have facilities to drythe feedstock. Such arrangementcould bring economic benefits tothe feed mill enabling the produc-tion to continue throughout the yearespecially during the winter whenthe grass is not growing. The pro-duction of pellets with feed mills isconsiderably lower than with adedicated pellet plant but doesn’trequire high capital cost. The tendency nowadays is to pro-duce pellets in an efficient way inthe combined pellet plants thatsimultaneously produces pellets,electricity and heat. These plants,however, require a higher invest-ment cost and more attention hasto be paid to the plant managementas all the parts of the plant are inter-connected. Page 5Pellet drying process used in Vansbro pellet/cogeneration plant, Swedensource: Bioenergy International No 22 (November 2006)source: KAHLPellet distributionAfter pellets are produced, they can be delivered in 3ways to the small heating systems. Pellets can bepacked either into 15 or 20 kg bags and distributed tothe special shops where the customers can buy it at any time,packed into economy size bags of 500-1000 kg or transpor-ted loose by trucks and blown into the storage room by a spe-cial pump.Pellet delivering with a special pumping truck - Renewable Energy House, BrusselsPellet production and distributionPage 6source : ITEBEsource : VTTIn the small heating systems, houses can mainly be heatedeither by pellet stoves or pellet boilers.Pellet stoves are more efficient, cleaner burning, and easier touse than conventional wood burning appliances. Pellet stovesare usually placed in the living area and have an esthetic valuewhereas pellet boilers in the non-living area of the house.Usually, the efficiency of the pellet stoves and boilers reaches90%.Pellet stove - source : AEBIOMPellet boiler - source : AEBIOMPellet burning technologySource: Austrian Energy Agency/BLTPage 7Efficiency of wood boilers for domestic useNew technology - pellet condensing boilerThe principle is the same as a gas condensing boiler. The com-bustion gases comprise energy which is recovered in the formof steam. The vapour existing in those gases is condensed andallows to recover energy, usually 10-15% of the lower calorificvalue. The temperature of the smoke varies between 130°C –145 °C in the standard pellet boiler without a condensing sys-tem and is around 70 °C in a boiler with a condensing system.The efficiency of such a boiler can reach more than 100%.Pellet standardsThe European Committee of Standardisation (CEN) hasprepared 30 technical specifications on solid biofuels. Thestandards can be used as tools to enable both efficient tra-ding of biofuels and good understanding between sellerand buyer, as well as in communication with equipmentmanufacturers.The following specifications have been published and avai-lable from national standardisation institutions: Terminology– CEN/TS 14588; Fuel specification and classes –CEN/TS 1461; Calorific value – CEN/TS 14918; Moisturecontent – 3 different (CEN/TS14774-1, 14774-2 and 14774-3); Ash content – CEN/TS 14775.These technical specifications are pre-standards, which arein force for 3 years after publishing. At the moment, they donot invalidate national standards. After the three yearperiod it will be decided whether these technical specifica-tions will be updated to European Norms. The upgradingwork has started in autumn 2006 and will be carried outuntil 2010. In the meantime, there are various possibilities(via international biomass conferences, articles etc.) forstandard users to give their comments and further improvethe European standards. CEN committee prepared the specifications of propertiesfor Pellets that can be found on the following website:www.eubionet.net.The example for high quality wood pellets recommendedfor household usage is as follows:Source: OkofenSource: KahlPellet boiler with integrated flue gas condensation(efficiency 103%, nominal capacities 8, 10, 15 and 20 kW) Origin Chemically untreated tree without bark Moisture content M10 (Moisture < 10 w-%)Mechanical dura-bilityDU97.5 (97.5 w-% of pellet batch of 100gshall be uncrushed after testing)Percentage offinesF1.0 or F2.0 (percentage of fines amongpellets sieved through < 3.15 mm sieveshall not exceed 1 or 2 w-% at factorygate)DimensionsD06 or D08 (pellet diameter 6mm±0.5mmand length < 5x diameter or diameter8±0.5mm, and length < 4x diameter).Maximum 20 w-% of the pellets may havea length of 7.5 x Diameter. Ash content A0.7 (<0.7 w-% of dry matter)Sulphur content S0.05(<0.05 w-% of dry matter)Additives<2 w-% of dry matter may consist of bio-based chemically untreated material, thetype and amount to be given.Net calorific valueE4.7 [kWh/kg] (net calorific value > 4.7kWh/kg=16.9 MJ/kg)Source : VTTPage 8European legislation affecting the heatingsector from renewable energyEU existing legislation that already promotes renewable energyheating includes Directive 2002/91/EC on the energy perfor-mance of buildings (OJ L1/65, 4.1.2003), which for example,imposes a requirement on Member States to take necessarymeasures in order to ensure that new buildings meet the mini-mum energy performance requirements. Member states have toensure the technical, environmental and economical feasibilityfor new buildings to use renewable energy, CHP and, if availa-ble, district or block heating and cooling. Another directive 2004/8/EC on the promotion of cogeneration(OJ L52/50, 21.2.2004) also indirectly promotes RES-H as itobliges member states to establish an analysis of the nationalpotential for the application of high-efficiency cogeneration,including high-efficiency micro-cogeneration. These analyses ofnational potentials have to consider the type of fuels that arelikely to be used to realise the cogeneration potentials, includingspecific considerations on the potential for increasing the use ofrenewable energy sources in the national heat markets via coge-neration. The European Commission has published the EU BiomassAction Plan (COM(2005) 628 final) in 2005 which is directly rele-vant to RES heating and cooling and lists a number of measu-res to be taken by the European Commission from 2006onwards, including the preparation of a proposal for Communitylegislation in 2006 to encourage the use of renewable energy,including biomass, for heating and cooling. The legislative pro-posal, however, wasn’t published in 2006 but will be included inthe overall renewables directive which will be proposed by theCommission in the second half of 2007. The European Commission has presented its energy packageon 10 January 2007. The package covers various energy areasincluding a proposal for a long term Renewable EnergyRoadmap. The roadmap includes two main targets: to reducegreenhouse gas emissions by 2O% by 2020 and an overall bin-ding 20% renewable energy target with a minimum 10% targetfor transport biofuels for the EU by 2020. Even though the rene-wables roadmap didn’t set up a target for heat, the productionof heat will be necessary to reach the overall renewables targetof 20% by 2020. According to European Biomass Associationcalculations, it is possible to propose a 25% renewable heat tar-get for Europe, with a contribution of biomass for heat up to 120millions toe by 2020. National policyContrary to fossil fuels, the market of which largely depends ongeopolitical conditions, the pellet demand/supply dependsmostly on national framework conditions. In most cases biofuelsare cheaper than fossil fuels but it can become more expensiveif the country decides, for example, to apply a reduced VAT rateon electricity and natural gas instead of supporting bioenergy. Ata national level two important instruments to promote or slowdown the use of biomass for heat can be distinguished: regula-tions and financial incentives. Regulations such as “FederalBuilding Code and Federal land Utilisation Ordinance” inGermany or “Permit Procedure” in Sweden limit the bioheatdevelopment whereas regulations like “Wood Fuel programme”in France or “Energy Saving Ordinance” in Germany have apositive impact on biomass development for heat. The pelletmarket largely depends on the financial incentives the countrydecides to implement. For example, the increased sales inIreland are related to the Irish Government’s aggressively subsi-dized, Bio Heat Boiler Deployment Programme. The schemestarted with massive grants for wood fuels boilers which insome cases nearly covered total costs. As a result, the sales ofthe Irish boiler manufacturers have increased significantly (morethan 50%). Legislation and support schemesDirective/commu-nicationDate of publica-tionPurposeD i r e c t i v e2002/91/EC on theenergy perfor-mance in buildingsPublished on 16December 2002Measures on theenergy performancein buildings.Biomass Actionplan COM (2005)628 final (BAP)This Commissioncommun ica t ionwas adopted 7December 2005Designed to increasethe use of energyfrom forestry, agricul-ture and waste mate-rials in three sectors:heating, electricityand transport.D i r e c t i v e2004/8/EC (CHP)Published on 11February 2004Directive has the aimto promote cogene-ration based on aneeded heat demandin the internal energymarket.Renewables road-map (within theEnergy package)Published on 10January 2007 andaccepted by theEuropean SpringCouncil on 8-9March 2007The aim is to increasethe share of renewa-bles in the currentenergy mix to 20% by2020.Page 9Source: KahlTherefore, one of the most important criteria to develop bioheatin Europe is to make it competitive with fossil fuel systems. Itcan be done using the following measures:• High fossil fuel prices: even if barrel prices go down the pricelevel of fossil fuel should be maintained high with a help of taxa-tion policy. Directive 2003/96 is the first step towards minimumtaxation. However a minimum of 21 €/1000 litres is far too lowconsidering the fact that the EU-25 average is 128 €. • Lower biofuels cost: biofuels should be exempt from taxa-tion and VAT should be reduced to the minimum level which isnot the case in many countries. • Subsidies to biofuels conversion systems: technologies toconvert biomass to bioheat are generally more expensive butthe fuel price is lower. This higher capital cost is a barrier forinvestors which can be overcome by using subsidies as a partof the investment. • High efficiencies: efficiencies of modern automatic systemsare already comparable to the ones of fossil systems, therefore,further improvements would have only a minor impact. But thereis room for significant improvements in the case of bioheat athousehold level that is still largely produced with wood logsbased systems. Examples of national support schemesFrance – tax credit for sustainable developmentThe Finance Law from 2005 has introduced a tax credit for sus-tainable development and rational use of energy. The aim of thislaw was to favour high efficiency equipment and the use of rene-wable energy. The system applies from beginning 2005 to end2009. Biomass equipment for heating is eligible for a tax creditup to 50%. However, the minimum efficiency of 65% is requi-red and the equipments have to meet certain technical stan-dards. Germany – market incentive programme MAPThe main steering instrument for the whole RES-heat market inGermany is the Programme to Promote Renewable Energies(“Market Incentive Programme”) which supports biomass hea-ting systems as well as electricity facilities and biogas plants.Source: ITEBEPage 10Source: OKOFENImpact of subsidies-stop on boiler sales in Germany 2006France – a good example of political supportThe main focus, however, is on the small scale heating systemsin the heat sector.The MAP came into force in September 1999. Every year theGerman government decides upon the budget of MAP for thefollowing year as well as regulation behind the budget. The pro-gramme supports renewable heating systems with grants, long-term and low-interest loans and/or partial release of debts andhad a budget of 180 m € in 2005 and 2006 and will have 213 m €in 2007. The programme is very successful, however, its’ budget is limi-ted. The budget is usually emptied long time before the yearends creating an insecure basis for investments and a negativeimpact on security of demand. Small scale applicationsAs for small scale pellet heating systems, the MAP supportsautomatically operated wood pellet systems in a range of 8 to100 kWth with a grant of 24 € per kW and at least 1.000 € forsystems that reaches an efficiency of at least 90% (in 2007). Inaddition an innovation bonus was introduced in 2007: systemswhich meet particularly challenging environmental requirements(e.g. secondary measures for emission reduction) get a doubleamount of the basic grant. Administrative burdens are loweredto get the basic grant - it is already possible to invest withouthaving applied for the support in advance. However, in order toget the innovation bonus one has to apply in advance and canstart installing the RES systems only after the approval.Sweden – taxation of fossil fuelsThe Swedish energy taxation policy is aimed at encouraging theuse of biofuels whilst improving energy efficiency and creatingincentives for companies to reduce their environmental impact.Page 11Source: DEPVSource: ProPelletsPellets boiler market growth in GermanySweden – policies make a differenceIn the year 2000 it was decided to increase the taxes on energyemissions and reduce the labour tax instead. In this way, theSwedish carbon dioxide emissions are to be cut, which is in linewith the Kyoto protocol. “Energy tax” covers all taxes on fuels and electricity and can bedivided into fiscal taxes and those aiming to achieve environ-mental objectives. Carbon dioxide and Sulphur taxes (bothintroduced in 1991) are intended to achieve environmentalobjectives, while the general energy tax is essentially a fiscaltax. However there is no strict boundary between these twotypes, as both groups have an environmental effect as well as afiscal one.The general energy tax is levied on most fuels. The carbondioxide tax, is levied on the emitted quantities of CO2 from allfuels except biofuels and peat. The Sulphur tax is levied on sul-phur emissions from coal and peat. In 1992 an environmentallevy on NOx emissions was introduced. NOx emissions fromboilers, gas turbines and stationary combustion plants sup-plying at least 25 GWh per annum.Tax deduction for biofuels applianceThose who build a new house and install a biofuel appliance asthe primary energy source for heating and hot tap water, areable to receive a tax deduction. The rule applies for single familyhouses, farm units and the houses with maximum two apart-ments. One precondition is that the heat is distributed to thehouse through a central heated water pipe network. The taxdeduction is limited to maximum 15000 SEK (1613 EUR) perhouse. This scheme is directed to heating of dwellings at smallscale. It is designed to impact on the small scale wood and pel-lets applications, but can also affect briquette, wood chips andagricultural crops.Fine dust emissions Fine dust emissions of standard pellet boilers are very low com-paring to the old logwood stoves and boilers, nevertheless,various regulations limiting fine dust emissions became a majorbarrier to the market growth of pellet boilers. According to the EU regulation, the dust content in the airshould not exceed 35 days a year, therefore combined heatingsystems using solar power and pellets is a good solution tocomply with the EU laws.The solar energy and biomass is a good combination as it offersthe most economic way to realise 100 % renewable energy sup-ply for domestic heating and hot water. Combined solar-bio-mass system allows to store the solar energy in summer in orderto use it for residential heating in winter. In a way, biomass isalso a seasonal store of solar energy, but its’ heat storage den-sity is about 50 times higher than that of a water storage tank.The most economic and effective system to realise a full solarheating system for single family houses is the combination of abiomass boiler (e.g. pellets), a water tank (2-3 m3) and thermalsolar collectors. In summer the solar system provides hot waterand stores it in the tank.In autumn and spring the solar system can also provide heating(dependent on its size). In winter the biomass boiler uses theheat store, which allows full power operation of the boiler andcontinuous heat retrieval at any required load.Source: OKOFENSource: VELUX - ESTIFPage 12The market of pellets use forsmall-scale heating systemsincreases every year. Thistrend is a result of growing prices forfossil fuels. Growing fossil fuels pri-ces together with financial incenti-ves are the key factors influencingthe competitiveness of bioheat mar-ket.European Pellet MarketScandinaviaThe development of the pellet mar-kets in Scandinavia draws a surpri-singly heterogeneous picture. WhileDenmark and Sweden are big pelletmarkets – Sweden is currently thebiggest pellet market in Europe –Finland and Norway use only insi-gnificant pellet quantities for thermalenergy production. These astoni-shing differences in countries whichare similar in resources are evidenceof the big influence of the political environment on the develop-ment of the pellet industry. In Sweden and Denmark centuries ofactive energy politics together with significant taxation of fossilenergy has encouraged an early development of the pellet mar-ket. This development has taken place much faster than inFinland or Norway, where only recently first efforts have beentaken to get the market moving. In these two countries signifi-cant economic incentives are missing, as competing sources ofenergy are cheap.In Norway the thermal energy market is dominated by electricalheating systems, which makes it difficult to change to pellet bur-ners, as central heating facilities are a prerequisite. WhenNorway suffered from first shortages of electricity three yearsago in winter prices increased considerably and great demandfor pellet stoves developed rapidly, a development which wassupported by government subsidies. These subsidies, werestopped not much later, which caused a decline in the develop-ment of the market.Finland is pursuing the introduction of pellet heating facilitiesinto the thermal energy market much more consequently.Conditions are not easy, however, as Finland does not haveenergy taxation and competing sources of energy are cheap.Nevertheless, Finnish experts predict a significant growth of thepellet market.In Denmark one third of all pellets goes to district heating facili-ties, two thirds go to domestic pellet heating facilities. After arapid growth in the late 1990s triggered by generous govern-ment assistance a change in Government brought about theend of subsidies. As a result there was a sudden decline of themarket.The development in Sweden is quite different. The continuousgovernment support ensures stable market conditions. Alongwith energy taxes established many years ago, recent promo-tion programs for the implementation of pellet heating facilitieshave lead to a rapid rise in the number of domestic pellet hea-ting systems.Market development in the Atlantic climate zoneIn the past France, Irelandand England have beencountries where therehave not been any politi-cal measures to promoterenewable energy on thethermal energy market atall. This has changed inthe recent past. In 2006Ireland introduced subsi-dies for pellet heatingfacilities for the first time,and England and Francealso grant subsidies now.Against the backgroundof the mild climate inthese countries it can beexpected that especiallypellet stoves will show apositive trend in thefuture.Pellet market0000001000002000003000004000005000006DkramnenedewSdnalniFyawroN GynamreairtsuAylatI ecnarFniapStons of annual demandPage 13Source: European Pellet CentreSource: proPelletsEvolution of the number of pellets stoves andboilers in selected countriesEuropean market for residential heating systemsAt the moment, however, these markets find themselves “instatu nascendi” and will probably start to grow substantially inthe next years. Especially France is expected to offer goodchances for pellet stoves. There the thermal energy market isdominated by electrical heating systems, the implementation ofcentral heating facilities therefore is disproportionately costly.There has been a long tradition in using conventional wood sto-ves - France is the biggest firewood market in Europe. As soonas the advantages of pellet stoves in handling and comfort incomparison to conventional stoves are communicated on awider scale, a dramatic market growth can be expected.Conditions in France are especially favourable because of thehuge availability of raw material. This is not true of Ireland andEngland. But the world market can easily supply these countriesby sea.Mediterranean areaIn the Mediterranean zone Italy claims a special status. Italy isone of the biggest and fastest-growing pellet markets in Europe.Experts report sales of up to 100.000 pellet stoves this year.Because of the mild climate in wide parts of the country pelletburners play no significant role in Italy at all. The developmentof this market has definitely been supported by the good availa-bility of pellets, which to a considerable extent have been impor-ted from Austria. Decisive factors for the successful develop-ment of pellets in Italy have undoubtedly been high taxation onoil and high gas prices. There is no other Mediterranean coun-try which shows a similar development.Spain offers good opportunities, but the development is still inits beginning. So far no pellet supply infrastructure has beenestablished, and home production is very low. The situation issimilar in Portugal where there are hardly pellets on the market,although the situation with regard to the availability of resourcesis favourable. But there are good chances for a change also inthese two countries. Stronger political focus on this subject,increasingly active and growing companies together with goodavailability of raw material could lead to a major growth of theSpanish and Portuguese markets within the next couple ofyears. Even in Greece pellet production is reported. Instead ofelectric heaters pellet stoves can be an interesting and econo-mical alternative there.Central EuropeIn Central Europe the pellet markets of Germany and Austria arepredominant by far. After 8 years of dynamic market growth theAustrian pellet burner market had its peak in 2005 as a resultfrom the oil price increase. Sales went up by 45% in compari-son to the previous year. While in the years before the markethad shown an oversupply of pellets and a continuous fall in pri-ces, in autumn 2005 the situation in Austria changed suddenly.An enormous increase in the number of new facilities and a coldwinter caused shortages in the supply of timber to the saw millsand to supply difficulties. All customers could be supplied, buthad to accept partial shipments and considerable waiting timesin many cases.Since spring 2005 pellet prices in Austria have risen conti-nuously, with exorbitant increases recently. Compared toSeptember 2005 prices in September 2006 have increased by50% and were at an average of € 243 per ton.New member statesIn some of the new EU member states we can see extraordinaryraw material potentials, which could be used for pellet produc-tion. The current pellet production is mainly meant for export.Because of the high prices of heating facilities the developmentof pellet markets in these countries might take quite a while.Page 14-000.002000.004000.006000.008000.000.1000.002.1000.004.1kramneDnedewSdnalniFyawroNynamreGairtsuAylatI ecnarFniapSsdnalrehteNmuigleBadanaCASUAnnual pellet consumption (Tons)tekram taeh ni esunoitcudorp yticirtcelesnot oiM 7,2.............. tekram taeHsnot oiM 3,3...noitcudorp yticirtcelE%09......sreliob tellep fo ycneiciffE%03......stnalp rewop fo ytneiciffEComparaison of International Pellet Markets Source: proPelletsPage 15Project partners located in Renewable Energy HouseRue d’Arlon 63-651040 Brussels, BelgiumCoordinatorEREC – European Renewable Energy CouncilMs Christine LinsTel: +32 2 546 19 33Fax: +32 2 546 19 34Email: lins@erec-renewables.orgAEBIOM –European Biomass AssociationMs Edita VagonyteTel: +32 2 400 10 22Fax: +32 2 546 19 34Email: vagonyte@aebiom.orgWeb: www.aebiom.org EWEA - European Wind Energy AssociationMs Zoe WildiersTel: +32 2 546 19 88Fax: +32 2 546 19 44Email: zoe.wildiers@ewea.orgEPIA - European Photovoltaic Industry AssociationMs Eleni DespotouTel: +32 2 400 10 13Fax: +32 2 400 10 10Email: pol@epia.orgESHA – European Small Hydropower Association Ms Maria LagunaTel: + 32 2 546 19 45Fax: + 32 2 546 19 34Email: maria.laguna@esha.beEUBIA – European Biomass Industry AssociationMr Alexander AllanTel: +32 2 400 10 18Fax: +32 2 400 10 21Email: alexander.allan@eubia.orgEGEC - European Wind Energy Association Mr Philippe DumasTel: +32 2 400 10 24Fax: +32 2 546 19 34Email: p.dumas@egec.orgESTIF - European Solar Thermal Industry FederationUwe BrechlinTel: +32 2 546 19 37Fax: +32 2 546 19 39Email: uwe.brechlin@estif.orgProject partners outside REHADEME – French Environment and Energy Management AgencyMr Stéphane PouffaryTel: +33 4 93 95 79 55Fax: +33 4 93 65 31 96Email: stephane.pouffary@ademe.frNTUA – National Technical University of AthensMr Arthouros ZervosTel: + 30 210 772 1030Fax: + 30 210 772 1047Email: zervos@fluid.mech.ntua.grECB - Energy Centre BratislavaMr Roman DoubravaTel: +421 903 240 559Fax: +421 2 593 00097Email: doubrava@ecb.skGAIA - GAIA S.L. Consultores en gestion ambientalCipriano MarinTel: + 34 922 230 688Fax: + 34 922 200 951Email: cipriano.marin@islandsonline.orgFor further information, visit www.erec.org About the projectRESTMAC project ’Creating Markets for Renewable Energy Technologies - EU RES technology marketing campaign’ aims at deve-loping and implementing a concise, well-targeted and thematic approach to ensure the dissemination and uptake of selected REStechnologies in the market. In other words the consortium works towards establishing a technology marketing campaign for thedifferent RE technologies involved. So far R&D formed a good basis for the outstanding industry development in the RenewableEnergy area. Nevertheless, the market uptake of these R&D results is not always happening in the best possible way and thereforeneeds to be improved. Lack of information and limited use of synergies between various stakeholders (industries, governments,investors..) are still the key critical barriers towards Renewable Energy Technologies. The renewable energy sectors to be marketed include: PV (photovoltaic), SHP (Small Hydro Power), Biomass, Geothermal, SolarThermal and Wind Power.RESMAC project Supported byCONTACTSPage 16M urierReproduction :Printed in France