A new project launched:
PromoBio helps new bioenergy initiatives underway in Eastern Europe
Through the Promobio project, Metla's international forestry research group is expanding its networks inEastern Europe. The three-year project focuses on helping companies and regional decision-makers in Eastern Europe to increase the use of biomass for energy. The project aims to provide concrete support to local companies in establishing new business projects and support the development of regional policy framework related to bioenergy.
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In Slovakia, regular tractors are commonly used for timber harvesting (above). The lowermost photo shows windthrow crushing in Upper Tatra. Photos: Metla/Juha Laitila. |
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Long way to reach the EU targets
The European Union has set ambitious targets to fight climate change by increasing the use of renewable energy. Renewable energy sources should represent 20 percent of Europe’s final energy consumption by 2020. One of the potential sources of bioenergy in Europe is biomass, however, the pace in developing its use has been slow: the current growth rate of heat and power production from biomass is only about one third of what is expected in EU scenarios.
Particularly in Eastern Europe there is a big potential to increase the use of biomass for energy, but this will require both changes in current policy framework as well as concrete support to new bioenergy projects in terms of consulting and capacity building.
Concrete support to regional initiatives
The Promobio project provides consulting services and training for bioenergy entrepreneurs and teachers in Gostynin Lake District in Poland, Banska Bystricá in Slovakia and Centru Region in Romania. Good practices are searched from all target countries as well as from Finland and Austria which are considered as benchmarks of well-developed bioenergy markets. Particular focus in the project will be given to energy from forest biomass.
The project also seeks to promote the development and implementation of regional bioenergy programmes in the selected target regions. In addition, it aims to initiate pilot projects in the field of bioenergy and to identify and communicate good practices among participant countries.
The project will include policy development workshops, consulting and one-to-one company meetings to establish new business projects, international and local training, preparation of training material and a quidebook on bioenergy success stories to decision-makers and other stakeholders.
As part of the extensive Intelligent Energy Europe Programme (IEE)
For the first time Metla is coordinating a project under the European Commission Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) programme. This entire programme is primarily focused on large-scale cross-border bioenergy projects, in order to attain EU climate and energy targets to be met by 2020.
Metla is partnering with the Technical Research Centre of Finland VTT, Bioenergy 2020 in Austria, the Polish National Energy Conservation Agency KAPE, the Institute for Studies and Power Engineering ISPE in Romania, the Centru Region Development Agency in Romania, and the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra. The project will be pursued until May 2014.
Further information
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- Researcher Elina Välkky, phone: +358 29 532 5188, elina.valkky @ metla.fi
- Website www.promobio.eu will be launched in October
Promobio is supported by the European Commission under the Intelligent Energy – Europe Program. The sole responsibility for the content of this website lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the EACI nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.