According to preliminary project results of the European Climate and Energy Modeling Forum (ECEMF), electricity will cover up to half of the final energy supply in the EU by 2040. “The energy transition is necessary. For example, electricity demand of the city of Wels will double by 2040. Expanding the grid is costly, and there is a lack of storage systems. At the same time, we must remain very flexible when it comes to the forms of energy we use and when, where and for how long we use them. To achieve this, we need open technology systems, courage, and innovative strength,” Paul Hammerl, Member of the City and National Council, emphasized in his opening speech at the 33rd European Pellet Conference on March 5.
Exploiting the high exergy of pellets
“Carbon emissions in the electricity sector have fallen by 50% since 2007. All ECEMF models predict negative emissions for the EU and Great Britain by 2040. In order to further reduce the use of fossil fuels, we need all renewable energy sources with their specific characteristics and use them efficiently and in combination,” Dr. Lukas Kranzl from the Institute of Energy Systems and Electrical Drives at the Vienna University of Technology (TU) explained.
In Kranzl’s opinion, pellets should be used primarily for high-temperature applications in the industrial sector due to their high exergy. In the DACH region, up to 80% of wood pellets are currently used for heat generation by end customers. For Kranzl, pellets are particularly useful for peak load coverage and in combined heat and power (CHP) plants during times of high electricity prices. However, he considers the impact of standalone boilers for heat generation – especially in new private buildings – to be very limited.
“In the DACH region, using pellets for heating is a reality in thousands of households and in many areas,” Dina Bacovsky of BEST (Bioenergy and Sustainable Technologies), Vienna, noted. Given the high pellet prices, though, private households often switch to firewood, boiler manufacturers emphasized at the Webuild trade fair in Wels, promoting, at the same time, their combined and hybrid systems. “Especially in the transition phase leading up to potential climate neutrality, we need feasible and realistic solutions. As basic models of a circular economy, pellet heating systems meet those requirements,” Stefan Ortner, managing director of the Niederkappel-based boiler specialist Ökofen, said.
Uncertainty does not help anyone
“In Germany, 50,000 new oil-fired boilers were installed last year – not least because both end users and installers were uncertain about where things were headed. Overanalyzing ultimately leads to an inability to act – or to oil-fired boilers instead of renewable energy solutions,” Ortner said, summing up the sentiment of the panelists. The role that wood biomass, especially pellets, will play in 20 or 30 years – i.e., over the lifetime of a boiler – should be decided at a later time. The panelists agreed that determining this now would only result in lock-in effects.
Decarbonizing the industry
Dr. Hubert Röder, Professor of Business Administration of Renewable Resources at the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, is convinced that BECCS technology will play a greater role than it has so far in the decarbonization of the technosphere, that is, all human-made technological systems and infrastructures. BECCS is the capture and storage of biogenic carbon from flue gases from the energetic use of biomass. Gordon Murray of the Canadian Pellets Association agreed that carbon pricing is essential.
From forest set-asides to storage facilities
Furthermore, well-known positions and demands of the industry were presented. Pellet storage facilities are sensible and help avoid pellet price increases like the ones this winter in Germany. Subsidies such as the “Get out of oil and gas” campaign in Austria are only effective if they are predictable and are in effect over a longer period of time. Due to its natural decay, deadwood is hardly useful for carbon storage, and even forest set-asides are only helpful temporarily. Forestry use is said to always be the better option for the forest. “Activation through adaptation,” as Röder summarized.
