On 2 June, Bioenergy Europe organized the final event of the Horizon2020 project AgroBioHeat, presenting the achieved result as well as discussing the state of play and outlook for the agrobiomass sector.

The final event of the AgroBioHeat EU-funded project took place last Thursday, both at the Scotland House (Brussels) and online. The hybrid event was a great success, with more than 70 participants joining the debate and discussing challenges and opportunities for agrobiomass applications.  

The session was opened by Elsi Katainen, Member of the European Parliament and Vice-chair of the Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) committee. She touched upon the different aspects of the agricultural sector and stressed how we will need renewable solutions like biomass from the agricultural sector to be part of the EU future energy mix.

Given that AgroBioHeat is coming to an end, it was timely to look more specifically at the achievements of the project. Manolis Karampinis, the project coordinator from CERTH – Centre for Research and Technology Hellas – explained the overall approach and activities. He went into detail on several emerging agrobiomass initiatives that were supported by the project in Croatia, France, Greece, Romania, and Spain, and the general prospects for the development of agrobiomass.

Georgiy Geletukha, Head of the Board of UABIO, the Ukrainian Bioenergy Association, joined the conference remotely to give a presentation on the Ukrainian context. He showed results from the project from a national perspective, stressing how agrobiomass has the capacity to substitute vast amounts of fossil fuels in the future efforts for restructuring the Ukrainian economy.

The event then moved on to a broader dimension with the panel discussion, featuring experts from different EU regions and active in several sectors: Barbara Pokrzywa, Sales Director, ASKET – a family owned company from Poland offering mobile solutions for straw briquetting; Tajana Radic, Head of Division at EIP-AGRI – a network that aims to facilitate knowledge transfer and promotion of best examples in the EU agricultural sector; Tihamér-Tibor Sebestyén, from Green Energy Innovative Biomass Cluster – a  Romanian organization supporting the development of solid biomass heating and partner of AgroBioHeat; Eric Nederhand, Director for EU Government Relations at Olam Food Ingredients (Ofi) – a global leader in the agro-food sector with several biomass installations that use food residues to cover process energy demands on-site.

The conversation touched upon examples from industry, barriers to residential applications, as well as solutions and best practices from research. The potential of agrobiomass was thoroughly debated and speakers presented several solutions to overcome possible challenges and barriers. Some of the key phrases included words like “raising awareness” and “knowledge sharing”, highlighting that there are many feasible options to use residues that are already available (like straw, agricultural prunings, agro-industrial residues or other fractions) to produce clean energy and diversify farmers’ income.

Another crucial aspect is the local dimension. These projects showed the synergies that exist when local actors are able to tap into their own local resources.   In order to fully benefit from these success cases, they need to be widely promoted and further replicated. In this context, a stable and predictable policy framework recognizing the potential of agrobiomass, and the right financial incentives are still needed.

In his concluding remarks, Manolis Karampinis highlighted the huge potential the sector has and that it should be further exploited.

“We don’t only need to look at the future but also at the past. We should be inspired by the circular economy principles our ancestors applied, not letting any local resource going to waste. But today, we have the possibility of exploiting those local resources with modern and more efficient technologies”.

This event will provide an overview of the potential of agrobiomass in rural areas highlighted from different perspectives from policy makers, industry experts, national associations and other stakeholders with a focus on the best practices to be shared and discussed with the audience.

Additionally, as the event marks the final conference of the AgroBioHeat project, it will also touch upon how the achievements of the project can be applied to benefit future policies related to the EU Green Deal.

The event will introduce the topic with an overview of the policy framework and the role of biomass in the agricultural context as well as being part of the solution to achieve the EU Green Deal’s objectives. Followed by a roundtable discussion where a panel with distinguished guests will assess the potential of agrobiomass, the role of the current and future policy framework, and present success stories and initiatives to further develop this sector.

Speakers are:

• Elsi Katainen, Member of the European Parliament, AGRI Committee
• Manolis Karampinis, AgroBioHeat Project Coordinator, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH)
• Georgiy Geletukha, Head of the Board, Ukraine Bioenergy Association (UABIO)
• Tihamér-Tibor Sebestyén, Researcher, Green Energy Cluster
• Tajana Radic, Head of Division, EU Innovation Partnership, Agriculture & Innovation (EIP-AGRI)
• Eric Nederhand, Director Government Relations Europe, Olam Food Ingredients (Ofi)
• Barbara Pokrzywa, Sales Director, ASKET

Moderator: Irene di Padua, Policy Director, Bioenergy Europe

This event will be taking place online and in Brussels. Participants attending in person are invited to join a networking cocktail after the event. 

For registration, please go to: https://form.jotform.com/221222785656358

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 2^nd 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 –

The Horizon2020 project AgroBioHeat is organising a webinar to discuss the review of the Ecodesign Regulation for solid fuel boilers and the possible inclusion of emission limits for non-woody biomass boilers in its scope.

The event will present an overview on the current legislative developments on the Ecodesign revision and the recommendations by AgroBioHeat on the possible inclusion of agrobiomass (e.g. olive stones, miscanthus, straw prunings, etc.) in the scope. During a roundtable discussion, industry experts and representatives of national associations will discuss together with policy makers about the potential of agrobiomass and its limitations within the context of the revision of the Ecodesign Regulation 2015/1189.

The event is open to companies, national associations, policy makers and other actors interested in agrobiomass developments.

Participation in the webinar is free of charge.

For registration, please go to: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7bgdPsrYT1mZYtQ34juUFg

Matchmaking Event: May 11th, 2022

This is the third edition of the international virtual matchmaking event Bringing VALUE to AGROBIOMASS that has introduced actors interested in smart utilization of bio-resources from agroculture and food production to each other to start collaborations, sell or buy products, or exchange knowledge. Read more here.

Sign up for:

Webinar 

April 20 at 10:00-12:00 CEST

We put spotlight on real cases that show how various agrobiomass types are utilised intelligently for the production of energy or various bio-based products – in other words how companies throughout Europe are bringing value to agrobiomass. Click here to see the programme – join to us be inspired!

Matchmaking Meetings (online)

May 11 at 09:00-19:00 CEST

The online matchmaking event brings together companies and other organisations (buyers as well as suppliers) from all over Europe and beyond.
From the 2nd edition of the event, 90% of the 199 participants from 40 countries indicated that they would participate in a 3rd edition. 13% of the rated meetings had resulted in a cooperation, and 44% of the rated meetings had possibilities for cooperation.
This is a unique opportunity to generate new business contacts and contracts.
The meetings will take place online and will be arranged in advance by means of the website. Please register here.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to obtain new knowledge, generate new business contacts, meet potential cooperation partners, customers or technology providers. Register now!

Participation in the event is free of charge. For more information and registration, please go to:

Date:  Friday, 29 April 2022

Time: 11:00 – 12:30 (EET) / 10:00 – 11:30 (CET)

Venue: Online (Zoom)

Languages: Romanian & English

Attendance is free for all registered participants. Register at this link: 
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Mk1q2jesS_WcZ0d0FwX0pg. All registered participants will receive a link to join the online event.

The Romanian Green Energy Cluster is pleased to invite you to a virtual site visit to heat production facilities on agrobiomass. The aim of the event is to present some of the good practices in the field of agrobiomass heating and to raise the awareness about these type of solutions.

The visit will include presentations from the following examples:

• Agroindustrial facilities and an industrial facility heated with agrobiomass
• A business incubator heated with agrobiomass
• A city waste management company that uses green waste to heat its own facilities
• 2 Bioenergy villages from the “One village – 1 MW” initiative
• Visit to a village where an NGO aims to sustainably manage green waste
• Visit to a boiler manufacturing company Biosistem – to speak about experiences, achievements, opportunities, and barriers

About AgroBioHeat

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.

The project has received financing from the Horizon 2020 EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under Grant Agreement No 818369.

About Green Energy Cluster

The Green Energy Cluster has been founded with the aim to raise the interest toward the production and utilization of the biomass, the most important renewable energy source in Romania. 

The Cluster ensures the frame to develop solutions in the field of the biomass by putting emphasis on the ecological and social innovations. Its main aim is to advance the use of community-scale biomass heating solutions by providing technical consulting services, biomass energy program design and delivery, education and outreach on best practices, and by promoting the “One village – 1 MW” concept.

Maize is one of the most important crops in the world. The total area under maize was almost 14.5% of arable lands in the EU, and above 18.5% in Ukraine. Since the 2018/2019 harvesting period, the annual global production of corn has exceeded 1.1 billion tons.

For every ton of corn grain that is produced, typically one or more tons of plant residues are produced: stalks, cobs, leaves, husks and others. Part of this huge volume of maize residues can be mobilized and used as a carbon neutral fuel for the production of heat and/or electricity, reducing dependence on imported fossil energy sources.

Using maize residues for energy can be challenging for various reasons: difficult fuel properties, lack on appropriate harvesting implements, considerations needed to maintain soil sustainability and others. Lack of knowledge on what is the current state-of-the-art, potential limiting – and enabling – factors can be a hindrance for new attempts to mobilize this biomass resource. The Guide “Maize Residues to Energy” aims to systematize the available knowledge and assist farmers, project developers, policy makers and any other interested party in implementing successful initiatives.

The “Maize Residues to Energy ” Guide is already available in English and, in collaboration with the national AgroBioHeat partners, it will be translated and will be soon made available in Croatian, French, Greek, Romanian, Spanish, and Ukrainian languages.

The AgroBioHeat project has already released the 2^nd edition of the publication “Straw to Energy – Technologies, policy and innovation in Denmark”, while two more guides on agro-industrial residues (olive stones, sunflower husks, etc.), and woody biomass from agricultural (prunings, uprootings, etc.) are in preparation. If you want to be notified upon their launch, please follow the AgroBioHeat project on our social media – Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn – or visit our webpage www.agrobioheat.eu.

For more information, please contact:

Georgii Geletukha
Head of Board
Bioenergy Association of Ukraine
T: +38 (044) 453-28-56
E: info@uabio.org

Manolis Karampinis
Research Associate, AgroBioHeat Project Coordinator
Centre for Research and Technology Hellas  / Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute
T: +30 211 1069500
E: karampinis@certh.gr

Photo: Strudstrup Power Station, Denmark (Source: Torben Skøtt, Biopress)

Date: Monday, 28 February 2022

Time: 17:00 – 18:00 (CET) / 11:00 – 12:00 (EST) / 08:00 – 09:00 (PST)

Venue: Online (Zoom)

Registration link: here

Languages: English

Globally, using bioenergy from locally produced forest and agricultural biomass has been at the forefront of decreasing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in rural communities– from space heating in rural households and buildings to commercial and industrial operations such as grain drying and food and animal production. This has largely been accomplished through the adoption of biomass burners/boilers. Although the capital cost, efficiency and utilization rate of bioenergy technologies are usually considered the key factors for the technical and economic viability of bioenergy projects in rural communities, there are other enabling factors that contribute to the successful development and deployment of bioenergy projects over their lifetimes such as the supply security of affordable biomass with consistent quality, biomass pricing, incentives and policy supports, air emissions regulations, annual energy demand, availability of other alternative energy sources, etc.

For this webinar, Biomass Canada Cluster and the AgroBioHeat Project have invited panel members with the demonstrated experience in bioenergy project management to discuss how to evaluate, build and maintain a “bioenergy project” in a systematic approach over its expected lifetime by identifying the enabling factors and their contribution to the success of bioenergy projects in rural communities.

To register for the free webinar, please click here. More information on the panelists and moderators is available on the event flyer.

About AgroBioHeat

The AgroBioHeat Project aims to promote modern, cost-effective and low-emission heating solutions using agricultural biomass for rural Europe. The project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 818369.

About BioMass Canada Cluster (BMC)

BMC’s mandate is to mobilize Canada’s agricultural biomass resources for bioenergy and bioproducts production by de-risking and commoditizing agricultural biomass in all regions of Canada, while mitigating and adapting to a changing climate. BMC is led by the BioFuelNet Canada Network and funded in part by the Government of Canada under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s AgriScience Program, a federal, provincial, territorial initiative, as well as industry partners.

Date: Monday, 31 January 2022

Time: 11:00 – 13:30 (EET) / 10:00 – 12:30 (CET)

Venue: Online (Zoom)

Languages: English & simultaneous translation into Ukrainian

Attendance is free for all registered participants. Register at this link: https://forms.gle/eeHNeus3pru4L1rQ7. All registered participants will receive a link to join the online seminar on the eve of the event.

The Bioenergy Association of Ukraine within the AgroBioHeat project together with the project “Ukraine Agri-Food Value Chain TA Project (UAFATA)” invites you to visit an online seminar with a virtual site visit to Ukrainian and Danish heat production facilities on agrobiomass.

The purpose of the virtual Ukrainian-Danish Site Visit to Agrobiomass Heat Production Facilities is to acquaint Ukrainian stakeholders with the successful experience of straw energy production in Denmark and to demonstrate modern technologies and equipment for agrobiomass energy conversion.

Danish experts and leading domestic manufacturers of boiler equipment will share their best practices and practical experience in implementing projects for the production of thermal energy from agrobiomass with the Ukrainian audience for the sustainable implementation of modern bioenergy systems and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. 

About AgroBioHeat

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.

The project received financing from the Horizon 2020 EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under Grant Agreement No 818369

Denmark is a world leader in the production of energy from straw through the implementation of a targeted energy policy. In addition, today Denmark is a demonstration site, where the leading manufacturers of equipment operating on agrobiomass are concentrated, as well as a large number of facilities with a variety of technological solutions and parameters.

About Ukraine Agri-Food Value Chain TA Project (UAFATA)

Technical assistance of the Ukraine Agri-Food Value Chain TA Project (UAFATA) is aimed at companies (small and medium enterprises and companies with an average capital of up to 3,000 employees) working in the target sectors (cereals, oilseeds, aquaculture/fisheries), investment planning, and preparation of loan applications for financing potential projects by the European Investment Bank. The assistance consists in preparing an application for credit resources, supporting applications from partner banks, and implementing relevant investment projects.

The first online “Bringing Value to Agrobiomass” matchmaking event brought value to international connections and established cooperations. Therefore, AgroBioHeat decided to follow up on the February event, and to promote and share more knowledge of how you can bring value to agrobiomass, a webinar was organised. The event did not only focus on heating, but on all beneficial uses of agrobiomass and side streams from food production in a circular bioeconomy.

The expansion of the event was a great success, as 90+ attended the fully packed webinar on October 27. A week later, 199 companies, technology providers, scientists, clusters, and biomass organisations from 40 different countries met online for 145 one-to-one meetings. The EU-funded project AgroBioHeat, together with Enterprise Europe Network and several other EU and national projects, organised the three-day event.

On November 3-4, the online matchmaking platform was again buzzling with activities, as the participants met online to display their technology, express their technological or material needs, or brought attention to their excess biomass resources to find cooperation partners to help utilise them. The aim was to facilitate cooperation on sustainable utilisation of biomass from agriculture and side streams from food production. A true match to meet potential cooperation partners.

The feedback from the second edition shows that there were less meetings than the 1^st edition, but 45% said that there was an increase in the number of meetings leading to a cooperation and a considerable increase in the number of meetings that proved to be very interesting. And 84% said that the event met their expectations. 85 % said the webinar was excellent or good and the feedback gave new themes for the possible new webinars. All in all, very satisfying feedback and with 90 % stating they would participate in a third edition in the 2022, the project partners have decided that a third edition will take place in the Spring of 2022.

Using new and cost-effective biomass feedstocks is an important part of our company’s progress towards decarbonization. In this sense, Bringing Value to Agrobiomass is really helpful, since it enables us to identify and connect with potential suppliers of sustainable biomass feedstock.

– Michael Tsoukatos, Head of Procurement, Grecian Magnesite.

Our participation in the first virtual biomass event in February was very successful with the many engaging and fruitful one-to-one meetings, which have led to business cooperation with three companies. Therefore, we were very pleased to participate in the second edition of the virtual biomass event and with the addition of a webinar, the event showcased interesting business cases and gave added value. At the moment we are following up on our meetings from the second edition and it looks promising.

– Ion Bautista, Sales Manager, FLSmidth A/S

Again, the Bringing Value to Agrobiomass matchmaking event has proven to cover the demands and expectations of several actors in the bioenergy and the wider bioeconomy sector: from researchers and consultants, to biomass producers and traders, to final end-users for the production of bioenergy and various bio-based products. The online format allows us to transcend limitations in physical events and facilitate connections from all corners of Europe – in fact, from all over the world. The webinar was also a very good addition in the overall programme, since it allows us to share inspirational, successful cases of companies that are indeed doing what the event is all about – they bring value to agrobiomass.

– Manolis Karampinis, Research Associate Centre for Research and Technology Hellas & AgroBioHeat project coordinator

The AgroBioHeat project organised the free, virtual webinar and matchmaking event – Bringing Value to Agrobiomass – 2nd edition – on October 27th and  November 3rd -4th , 2021. To download the presentations of the Webinar, please click here.

Following the success of the last event, the AgroBioHeat project partners have started planning for a 3rd edition of “Bringing Value to Agrobiomass” for the first half of 2022.