Issues of solid wood biomass development for bioenergy in Latvia

Melece, L., Latvian State Inst. of Agrarian Economics, Riga; Krievina, A., Latvian State Inst. of Agrarian Economics, Riga

Issues of solid wood biomass development for bioenergy in Latvia

2015

Melece, L., Latvian State Inst. of Agrarian Economics, Riga (Latvia) | Krievina, A., Latvian State Inst. of Agrarian Economics, Riga (Latvia)

Nowadays, seeking to replace fossil energy with renewable sources of energy, wood biomass emerges as the oldest renewable energy source, an important substitute for fossils used for heating purposes and to generate electricity. The aim of the study was to evaluate issues of the development of solid wood biomass or fuelwood in Latvia, taking into account limitation restrictions, which may affect the future development. Wood biomass can be used to produce heat or electricity separately or in combined heat and power (CHP) plants. Latvia is among the EU countries with large share of forest area that offers a great potential to develop the production of bioenergy and to meet the ambitious renewable energy targets. Moreover, Latvia also possesses the largest growing stock of forests among the Baltic countries, with growing increment in forests available for wood supply each year. There has been fast development of the production of different solid wood biomass or fuelwood (pellets, briquettes and chips) in Latvia in recent years, but the majority of fuelwood products were exported. Latvia exported 95.8 % of its produced pellets, 77.1 % of briquettes, and 25.4 % of chips in 2013, which makes the country one of the leading exporters of fuelwood in Europe and the world. Despite the rapid development of the production of bioenergy, including fuelwood, the total renewable consumption in Latvia is still below the interim target; thus achieving the set national targets is at the risk. Some negative effects (e.g., losses of GDP; decreasing of biodiversity of birds etc.) have been observed.

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