IEA Bioenergy Task 40: Sustainable International Bioenergy Trade - Securing Supply and Demand (Working Period 2010 - 2012)

Summary

IEA Bioenergy Task 40 deals with the dynamics of bio-energy markets, with international bio-energy trade and the opportunities, but also the potential problems and barriers associated with the international trade of bioenergy. The core objective of Task 40 is: "to support the develop­ment of sustainable, international bioenergy markets and international trade, recognising the diversity in resources and biomass applications"

The main objective of the Austrian contribution in Task 40 is to prepare and provide high quality information and analyses about bioenergy trade in Austria, to document an overview of the developments in Austria, to monitor the impacts and effects of sustainability certification on the Austrian bioenergy markets and the international trade of bioenergy commodities, as well as to participate in the Task 40 meetings and in international Workshops. International collaboration and being a linking pin between different stakeholders by organising workshops and targeted dissemination activities is core part of the project. Several joint collaborations have been undertaken during the reporting period.

Working Period 2010 - 2012

In early 2011, a workshop on torrefaction technologies, their develop­ment and potential effects on the biomass markets has been organized jointly by IEA Bioenergy Task 40 with IEA Bioenergy Task 32 in Graz. In September 2011 a workshop on "Quantifying and managing land use effects of bioenergy" of IEA Bioenergy Task 40 was held jointly with IEA Bioenergy Task 38 and Task 43 in Campinas, Brazil.

The organizational structure of the IEA Bioenergy Implementing Agree­ment allows the workgroup to flexibly respond to current problems. In the context of the work program repeatedly smaller working groups are formed, that deal with current scientific developments and publish actual reports. Cooperation, especially with regard to the the current situation in Austria, has taken place in the "Survey on the implemen­tation of sustainability requirements for biofuels and bio-energy in the different member countries of Task 40", in the course of the project "BioBench - Sustainability criteria for solid and gaseous biomass", to the collect data on sustainability criteria for solid biomass as well as for the T40 Wood chips Study. A project funded by IEA Task 40 that has the goal to develop a tool for modeling the European biomass trade ("Development of a tool to model european biomass trade"), was com­pleted in cooperation with the University of Utrecht.

Furthermore, a joint project lead by EEG/TUW under participation of Utrecht University and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences of Life Sciences "Future perspectives of bioenergy trade" was carried out. This provides fundamental insights into the possible future importance of international biomass trade, its potential barriers and trade modeling. A corresponding contribution is published in mid-2013 in the "Bioenergy Trade Handbook"

The IEA T40 Country Report for Austria gives valuable insights on the use of bioenergy and the import and export activities with bioenergy products, including background information on the bioenergy system in Austria, a description of policies, data on traded biomass and information on drivers and barriers for biomass trade specific to Austria.

Further monitoring of impacts and effects from certification of sustain­ability on the Austrian bioenergy system and trade with bioenergy products is a central content of the Task 40 work. The participation in Task 40 allows for a closer look on the international developments and to benefit from international knowledge exchange. The flexible organi­zation of Task 40 allows being responsive to actual development and adjusting content and reports on current issues.

Throughout the project support to and collaboration with national and international stakeholders such as policy makers, industry, producers and suppliers of biomass for energy, NGO's and the scientific community is an important part. This is done by discussing actual issues at the internal Task 40 meetings and the related workshops and also by hosting the international community of Task 40 in Austria at workshops meetings and by the disseminating results from Task projects. Publications can be downloaded on the IEA Bioenergy Task 40 Website.

All relevant publications are available on the Website of the current working period.

Belgium, Brasil, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Finland, Italy, Canady, Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Sweden, South Afrika

Vienna University of Technology
Institute of Energy Systems and Electrical Drives
Energy Economics Group (EEG)
Dr. Lukas Kranzl
Gusshausstrasse 25-29/373-2
A-1040 Wien
Tel.: +43 (1) 58801-37351
Fax: +43 (1) 58801-37397
E-Mail: kranzl@eeg.tuwien.ac.at
Web: eeg.tuwien.ac.at