Local Cooperation in Rural Romania to Increase Biomass Market Uptake

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A local cooperation in rural Romania has the goal to increase the biomass market update to produce heat in the agricultural sector.

As part of the EU-funded project AgroBioHeat, this example showcases the benefits of locally available renewable energy sources in rural areas!

Sfântu Gheorghe is the main town in Covasna county, located in the Carpathian Mountain region of Romania and one of the smallest counties in Romania. In the 2000s the area had an abundance of sawmill dust, which caused multiple users to develop biomass-based heating systems for greenhouses, bakeries, meat factories, etc. However, from 2015 onwards there was increased demand from board industries, and therefore supply decreased.

At Dalia Ltd. (the largest greenhouse in Covasna county), the turning point was a subsidy project from the pre-accession fund SAPARD. In 2007 the project built new greenhouses, including a 4 MW biomass-based heating system, initially fed with sawmill biomass.

After the shortage of sawmill dust, Dalia Ltd. promoted actions to trigger new biomass value chains in the region, taking advantage of two opportunities. One was the availability of productive agricultural land, leading farmers to start new activity on willow energy crop plantations. Another was the woody biomass that can be obtained from green areas in Sfântu Gheorghe town or from environmental works to preserve the extensive pastures of local mountain ranges. These works are carried out by small, local companies of environmental works, which now became Dalia Ltd. Suppliers.

The new value chains started to supply biomass to Dalia Ltd. after the biomass boiler was installed in Valea Crișului, 5km away from Sfântu Gheorghe, in 2008 and it continues with a supply of up to 2,000 t/yron on a commercial basis today. The business is sound and able to supply woody biomass at 65 €/t (competitive with fossil fuels).

Through this model all actors benefit. Dalia Ltd. saves in energy costs and contributes to rural growth (with a new company established in 2019), while farmers get an additional income from biomass. The Green Energy Innovative Biomass Cluster is engaged in promoting the replication of the project.

Download the factsheet here.

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Challenges

- - Achieve sound business model and effective collection of biomass
  - Put into operation several medium-sized boilers able to heat more than 1 ha greenhouse
  - Expand capacity beyond initial facilities. Sustainable operation after the ending of EU-funding

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Keys to Success

- - Good framework conditions & interest of all actors
  - Competitive technological solution; dynamization to create new supply through a SAPARD project
  - Incorporating new competences/expertise in heating energy supply at Dalia Ltd.

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Technology

- - Engineering to install 6 Biosistem boilers with a total of 4,100 kW capacity at Dalia Ltd.
  - Local biomass boiler producer developing innovative boilers with efficiency >85% and dust emissions capture (patented with Politehnica University of Bucharest)
  - Unique design of storage and feeding systems for biomass

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Economics

- - Initial investment in feeding system, storage and Biosistem boiler partly covered by SAPARD project
  - Non-subsidised reduction in Dalia’s heating costs (20% reduction)
  - Valorization of biomass materials from mountain pasture cleaning

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Community

- - All relevant actors of the local agricultural community are represented and receive positive dividends thanks to the initiative
  - All participants help promote the image of the initiative in local and national media
  - Project awarded at EU and national levels

About AgroBioHeat

The Horizon 2020 funded project AgroBioHeat “Promoting the penetration of agrobiomass heating solutions in European rural areas” aims to produce a mass deployment of improved and market-ready agrobiomass heating solutions in Europe. Agrobiomass is a large, underexploited, and indigenous resource, which can support the achievement of the European Energy and Climate targets while promoting rural development and circular economy.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 818369.

About the campaign

The campaign is powered by Bioenergy Europe and relayed across Europe by both national and international partners supporting the belief that bioenergy is more than a renewable energy source, it is also a reliable path that will lead Europe to achieve its renewable energy transition in the shortest span of time.

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Solid Biomass Conversion Processes

Logging, grinding, screening and drying operations are mechanical processes for enhancing solid biomass fuels. These operations help transform biomass into homogeneous fuel that is easy to handle, with a higher energy recovery (eg. woodchips, wood logs, agrofuel). In general, moisture content in woodchips used for energy generation in municipal or industrial plants ranges between 20-30%.

Densification is another popular way to transform woody material into an advanced fuel with high calorific value. This process involves compressing biomass and lowering moisture levels to a range of 8-10%, allowing for an homogenous fuel – either in the form of pellets or briquettes. The heat during compression fuses the lignin in the biomass, naturally binding the biomass together in a new, enhanced shape. Thanks to densification, the homogenous biomass fuel is easier to transport and can be used in automated biomass installations, such as pellet stoves and boilers.

Thermo-chemical conversions are now used to produce fuel with even higher calorific value, utilising torrefaction or steam explosion technologies. During the torrefaction process, wood is subjected to temperatures of 230°C-300°C at atmospheric pressure without oxygen. Comparable to some extent to coffee torrefaction, this method creates a fuel with unique characteristics. As compared to conventional wood, torrefied wood has very low (>5%) moisture content, is easily grindable and is relatively hydrophobic.

Thanks to advanced technologies, woody biomass can also produce liquid and gaseous fuels. Pyrolysis, for instance, is a thermal-chemical conversion that requires a high temperature (>400°C) and little oxygen to convert solid biomass into gas, liquid fuels (pyrolysis oil) and/or biochar. Gasification is another thermo-chemical conversion that takes place at high temperatures (>800°C), with limited oxygen and/or steam, and converts solid biomass into synthesis gas, known as syngas – which contains carbon and hydrogen and can be used to produce liquid fuels such as biodiesel.

Wet Biomass Conversion Processes

Wet biomass is present in high volume across Europe (manure, agricultural waste and by-products). As it contains too much moisture to be converted efficiently into energy via a direct combustion process, other conversion pathways and energy outputs have been developed by the biogas (eg. anaerobic digestion) and biofuel sectors (eg. fermentation). Anaerobic digestion and fermentation are the two main conversion pathways used for converting wet biomass feedstock into advanced fuel.

Anaerobic digestion is the microbiological process of decomposition of organic matter, in the absence of oxygen, and is common to many natural environments; it is largely applied today in order to produce biogas in airproof reactor tanks, commonly referred to as digesters. A wide range of micro-organisms are involved in the anaerobic process which has two main end products: biogas and digestate. Biogas is a combustible gas consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and small amounts of other gases and trace elements. Biogas can be used in direct combustion to produce heat, but also power if converted within a cogeneration plant or in adapted gas motors. Biogas can also be upgraded via purification processes to a biomethane that can be injected into the existing natural gas networks, used as a chemical product and/or vehicle fuel. Digestate is the decomposed substrate, rich in macro- and micro-nutrients and therefore suitable for use as plant fertiliser.

Fermentation is a biochemical conversion whereby microorganisms, including yeast and bacteria, convert matter into products such as ethanol and liquid transport fuel (biodiesel). This process is done in several stages. First, sugary and starchy feedstock such as corn must be crushed and combined with water, allowing enzymes to convert this starch into sugar. This ferments along with the addition of yeast and is distilled into bioethanol. Bioethanol can also be produced from cellulosic biomass, such as grass, wood and stalks, via fermentation; however, this process is more complex and involves a mechanical pre-treatment and the addition of enzymes, or the breakdown of the lignocellulose into sugar through hydrolysis, followed by the same procedure.

Solid bioenergy feedstock

Renewables represent 8,0% of EU-27 total energy consumption (22.473 kilotonnes of oil equivalent) in transportation, of which 68% is provided by biofuels in 2018. It is rather challenging to foresee how biofuels (in particular first-generation biofuels) will continue to develop, since recent EU legislation established a quota for these biofuels. EU statistics on renewables in transportation can also be misleading regarding the actual level of production, because multiple counting rules are applied in accordance with the EU renewable energy directive. Looking at it in more detail, the biofuel market is driven by biodiesel and bioethanol. Biodiesel was the first biofuel developed and used in the EU in the transport sector in the 1990s. EU-27 remains the world’s largest biodiesel producer and it consumed 13,303 Ktoe in 2018. By comparison, bioethanol consumption in 2018 reached 2,620 Ktoe for an actual production of 2,365 Ktoe (Biofuels Report, 2020).

Bioenergy comes in all shapes and sizes

Within our close environment, a great source of organic materials such as plants, algae, or organic wastes, can be valuable fuels as soon as a technology makes it possible to efficiently extract all of its energy potential. Bioenergy players traditionally refer to biomass to describe those usable feedstocks. Biomass currently used in Europe includes wood from forests, agricultural crops and residues, by-products from the wood and agricultural industry, herbaceous and woody energy crops, municipal organic wastes and manure, and could potentially integrate algae and marine biomass in the future.

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