During the EXPOBIOMASA fair (September28th) a Biomasud Plus project (H2020 program) dissemination workshop took place with the aim of informing about the latest activities and results of the project as well as the BIOmasud® certification itself.
The main objective of the Horizon 2020 Biomasud Plus project is to improve the BIOmasud® quality and sustainability certification system for Mediterranean biomasses. For this purpose, various market studies of these solid biofuels are being carried out.
In addition, a couple of weeks later, on October 17th and 18th, it took place the 4th follow-up meeting of the project organized by the Italian Association of Agroforestry Energies (AIEL) in Mestre. During the meeting, the main works already carried out were presented, most of which coincide with those presented at the EXPOBIOMASA workshop: Study of the Mediterranean biofuel markets in the consortium countries, characterization and study of the quality of Mediterranean solid biofuels, state of the art of combustion systems for Mediterranean biomasses, review of sustainability criteria, etc. In addition, the consortium worked on administrative issues and planning the following months in which the most important topic will be introducing the results of these studies in the new BIOmasud® certification manual and conduct two pilot audits in each country.
After a productive meeting, the consortium members visited a pioneer company that is using vineyards by-products (vineyard prunnings). Agriviternergy is a company with 10 years of experience in the field of energy supply. What they do basically is to valorise the vineyards prunings for which they first collect them in bales, transport them to their logistic center and dry them for 5 months. Then, they acting as an Energy Services Company, supplying this crushed material in boilers that they have installed. This service is offered to farmers in the area in order to avoid the burning of stubbles that worsen air quality. A complete article about this logistics center has been published in the Bioenergy International magazine (Spanish Ed.)
During the workshop at EXPOBIOMASA the following presentations were made, which can be downloaded by clicking on the respective links (in Spanish):
- Mediterranean biomass market (AVEBIOM). During task 2.1, a market study was carried out in Croatia, Slovenia, Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Turkey. In addition, a SWOT analysis of the Mediterranean biomasses was made in each country and then consolidated with the common conclusions.
- Quality of the Mediterranean solid biofuels (CIEMAT). A total of 347 Mediterranean biomass samples were collected and characterized for standardization and inclusion in the certification system.
- Sustainability Criteria in the BIOmasud®System (PEFC). The consortium already concluded the review of the sustainability requirements for the system. Depending on the origins of the different Mediterranean biomasses, they must meet certain requirements.
- Methodology of calculation of the GHG emissions and Energy Balance in the solid biofuels valorisation (CIEMAT). During the first half of the project the methodology for calculating the carbon footprint of the different biofuels has been revised. Now it is in line with the one proposed by the European Commission in its proposal for a sustainability directive published in the “winter package”.
- BIOmasud® certification system (AVEBIOM). Created during the previous BIOmasud project, the system has been running for about 3 years. In this presentation it was explained in what it consists, how it works and what the advantages are.
- BIOmasud platform (TFS). The calculation of the carbon footprint will be made in a simple and intuitive way with the online platform created by the project.
For more information about the BIOmasud® certification system or about the Biomasud Plus project, please contact coordinator@biomasudplus.eu