Reports published by Task 40 between 2007-2012

Global Wood Pellet Industry Market and Trade Study

This report [6.186 KB] presents the wood pellet industry and market in Europe and North America. It also includes perspectives of domestic use and trade of wood pellets in emerging markets (Asia and Latin America) and the challenges to ensure a sustainable pellet trade.

Development of a tool to model European biomass trade - Report for IEA Bioenergy Task 40

This report [4.736 KB] presents the results of an effort for IEA Bioenergy Task 40 to develop a modelling tool for international biomass trade. Part of this work has also been done in the frame of the RE-Shaping project, and parts of the methodology and the results have also been published as a RE-Shaping deliverable (Hoefnagels, Junginger et al. 2011). In addition, the scenarios for International solid biomass imports were originally developed for the European Commission (Junginger, 2011).

The main aim of this report is to illustrate the approach to include logistic cost of biomass in an energy model and implications to supply and demand of biomass for bioenergy. The costs, as presented in this report, are not intended to and do not always reflect actual (fluctuating) prices of feedstocks, pre-processing and transport of bulk freight.

Summary, synthesis and conclusions from IEA Bioenergy Task 40 country reports on international bioenergy trade

Based on the experiences in the Task 40 member countries, this report [252 KB] shows how bioenergy trade has developed during the past 6 years in the member countries, and how it has contributed to increasing bioenergy production and utilisation. Between 2004 and 2007, the absolute amount and share of bioenergy in the total primary energy supply has increased in all countries except for Canada, the US and Norway. In some countries, the increase has been substantial, e.g. doubling in Belgium and Germany. International bioenergy trade has played an important role in this increase: summed up over all Task 40 countries, the total trade volume of both imports and exports has increased by about a factor of 2 between 2004 and 2007. The increase was mainly due to a strongly rising trade in liquid biofuels (164% increase in total imports, 172% increase in exports), while the trade in solid biomass increased more moderately but still significantly (51% and 16%). More details, including policy and market drivers and concise descriptions of the developments in each member country are also included in the report.


Opportunities and barriers for international bioenergy trade

The aim of this report [643 KB] is to provide up-to-date overview of what market actors currently perceive as major opportunities and barriers for the current and future development of international bioenergy trade. The work focuses on three internationally traded bioenergy commodities: bioethanol, biodiesel and wood pellets. Data was collected through an internet-based questionnaire, which was completed by 141 respondents. Results show that import tariffs and sustainability criteria are perceived as major barriers for the trade of bioethanol (and to a lesser extend of biodiesel), while logistics are seen as an obstacle mainly for wood pellets. Development of technical standards was deemed more as an opportunity than as a barrier for all three commodities. Phytosanitary measures were not an issue for any of the investigated commodities, but may prevent the trade of other (mainly solid and unrefined) biomass, such as wood chips. Most important drivers were high fossil fuel prices and climate change mitigation policies. Concluding, some barriers for bioenergy trader are commodity specific, and will need specific actions to overcome. As a first step, import tariffs for biofuels could be reduced or abolished, linked to multi-national trade agreements and harmonization (including provisions on technical standards and sustainability requirements) which might provide the necessary preconditions for further sustained growth of international bioenergy trade.

A shortened version of this report has been published by Energy Policy. This background report contains additional information, including the original survey and all answers provided by the respondents. Preferably, please use the following reference for citation:

Junginger, M., van Dam, J., Marchal, D., Faaij, A., Zarrilli, S., Ali Mohamed, F., (2011) Barriers and opportunities for global bioenergy trade, Energy Policy 39 (2011) 2028–2042, doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2011.01.040.

Updated overview of bioenergy sustainability certification initiatives published

The report [1.812 KB] includes an extensive overview and update on relevant certification initiatives and systems for biomass and bioenergy certification, based on the year of 2009. Examples of included initiatives are the roundtable initiatives (RSB, RTRS, BSI, etc), forestry standards (FSC, PEFC), agricultural standards (SAN, GlobalGAP) and specific voluntary standards for bioenergy (ISCC, NTA8080). Every initiative gives a description of the context, status and organization structure. This is followed by a description of its principles, criteria and indicators. The report is the background document from the paper Dam et al (2010), From the global efforts on certification of bioenergy towards an integrated approach based on sustainable land use planning (submitted to the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews). This article provides a comparison between the systems, followed by an overview of current bottlenecks, and required activities, to come to a harmonized, efficient system to guarantee the sustainability of biomass and bioenergy.


World Bio-trade Equity Fund Study

Investing in bioenergy (and especially in bioenergytrade) is not generally well understood in the investment community. The objective of this study [273 KB] was to explore the possibility for the creation of a Bio-trade Equity Fund. Such a fund could be to invest in projects that promote world trade in biomass while yielding a rate of return commensurate with risk. Projects could include: improving ground-based biomass feedstock supply systems, such as advanced chipping systems and inland ships; building biomass conversion plants, such as for pellets, BioOil, 2nd generation ethanol and torrefied wood; and enhancing bio-product transportation systems, such as port improvements, purpose built loaders, and specialized biofuel ships. The study concludes that such a fund could be feasible, and outlines a possible business plan, including the setup of the fund, a time schedule and example projects a fund could invest in. It is anticipated that such a fund could result in meaningful volumes of biomass transported where they are needed most in the next 10 years to achieve renewable fuel targets. It in turn would result in the creation of jobs in developing nations, commercialization of new technologies, and ultimately reduction in worldwide GHG emissions. In case you would like to receive more information, please contact the main author of the study, Doug Bradley.