PellCert

Highlights of the Industrial pellets workshop 15th of November in Laborelec - Linkebeek

Contract number: IEE/10/463/SI2.592427

Project duration: May 2011 – April 2014

Date of creation: July 2011

www.aebiom.orgwww.pelletcouncil.eu

39 PARTICIPANTS

•Mainly Associations•EU + US + CA•European Commission

representatives•Little heat users answers

(industrial)

PROGRAM 9.15- 9.30 am :Laborelec introduction - safety

ENplus pellets certification for worldwide trade Jean_Marc Jossart (AEBIOM) – Christian Rakos (European Pellets Council)

Feedback from Initiative Wood Pellet Buyers + Presentation of the sustainability criteria

draft proposal Yves Ryckmans (LABORELEC)

Participants will present their views on the sustainability principles and criteria to be included in ENplus green by the end of the workshop – Roundtables organized by topics All participants divided in groups : roundtables + plenary

12.30 : Sandwich Lunch

Presentation of the wood pellets specifications draft proposal Yves Ryckmans (LABORELEC)

Working groups will define which are the specifications that fulfill their needs/hinder the trading or purchase of wood pellets All participants divided in groups : roundtables + plenary

17.00 : End of workshop

17.00 – 18.00 : EXCLUSIVE visit of the biomass laboratory (ONLY ON REGISTRATION – divided in groups of max 10 participants)

9.45 am : Workshop on sustainability criteria needed for wood pellets trade

13.30 : Workshop on technical specifications needed for wood pellets trade

9.30 am : Short introduction to the IEE programme by Silvia VIVARELLI

SUSTAINABILITY

Interaction between the different sectors

•Users•Traders•Producers•Associations•European Commission

Much reflexion – no definitive answers

Approach was to discuss the proposal for sustainability principles from IWPB according to specific topics

•FORESTRY•PLANTATIONS•GHG Accounting•RESIDUES•COMPETITION•CROSS-COMPLIANCE

WILL

Principle 1: GREENHOUSE GAS BALANCE (GHG) The GHG balance of the production, processing and transport supply chain and

application of the biomass is lower than 130 kgCO2/MWhp, insuring that GHG savings taking into account the whole chain of custody are at least 60% with respect to

reference fossil fuels for the end use.

WILL Principle 2: CARBON STOCK

Biomass production does not take place at the expense of significant carbon reservoirs in vegetation and in the soil.

WILL

Principle 3: BIODIVERSITY Biomass production may not take place in areas with high biodiversity value, unless

evidence is provided that the production of that raw material did not interfere with those nature protection purposes

AIM TO Principle 4: PROTECTION OF SOIL QUALITY Biomass production and processing should maintain or improve the soil quality

AIM TO

Principle 5: PROTECTION OF WATER QUALITY With the production and processing of biomass, ground and surface water should not be

exhausted and the water should be managed such as to avoid negative impact or to significantly reduce impact on water

AIM TO Principle 6: PROTECTION OF AIR QUALITY

Production and processing of biomass should avoid negative impact or significantly reduce impact on air quality

AIM TO Principle 7: COMPETITION WITH LOCAL FOOD AND WATER SUPPLY

Biomass production for energy should not endanger food and water supply for communities where the use of this specific biomass is essential for subsistence

AIM TO Principle 8: LOCAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE

Biomass production should respect property rights and contribute to local prosperity and to the welfare of the employees and the local population

COVERED SEPARATELY

Principle 9: CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY Generic sustainability principles not directly related to biomass are covered by the Code

of Conduct or Policies of the utilities participating to IWPB covering all types of commodities

Forestry and Plantations

FORESTRY PLANTATIONS

No minimal percentage left-over – no common rule

No Go Areas : no exclusion of specific biomes but rather specific practices needed

No return of the ashes to soil

Biannual basis verification of the management

LUC should be verified against the criteria principles carbon stocks, … but difference between the principles with which we agree and the criteria and

principles

FSC PEFC should be usedBiodiversity – no definition dedicated to

Enplus Very difficult to measure the indicators of biodiversity a certain percentage of the plantation should be dedicated to

biodiversity

Difficult topic for assessing the conflicts with other communities

GHG Accounting

Considered as an important topic : choice of references Basic ref retained : MAX 130 kg CO2/MWhp at FACTORY GATE

OBJECTIVE :MIN 60% reduction emissions – GHG balance for END USE

REFERENCES?ANNEX V REDFossil fuel = 91 g CO2/MJ = 328 g CO2/MWhp Bonus should be considered for degraded land (as for liquid) but NO MALUS

NO specific calculator in PELLERT BUT need for methodology & key parameters for collection of data and calculation

FERTILIZERS & CHEMICALSTo be considered for the GHG accountingShould refer to existing studies (not yet considered by EC)

Residues

RESIDUES AND WASTES SCOPE

Residues = by-products / Wastes

Residues are defined in the implementation guidance (list FPL)

If increase of production of by-products - if intentionally producing sawdust -Should sawmills be audited? Pedro introduction of laundering wood - NO as long as they don’t do laundering wood

POSITIVE LIST proposed – no agreement : majority against

Competition & Cross-compliance

COMPETITION CROSS-COMPLIANCE

Market driven situation : depending on the money the sectors can put on the wood.

Development of a BENCHMARK to identify the gaps identification of the requirements

to be more detailed in Enplus.

Competition with food industry : authorization Only a concern for the

FUTURE – for energy crops plantations – geographical situation risk in developing

countries need for documentation – need to have need for auditing on the arable status

of the land

Take into account the local legislationdevelopment of a BLM - 3 as a limit

No exclusion of high quality residues Endorsement of the schemes but not

mandatory – additional proofs for the criteria that are not assessed

Other schemes : WBA .

Technical specifications (reactions)

ADDITIVES : “VEGETAL IN ORIGIN”MAX BULK TEMPERATURE (unloading): CONSIDERED FOR END-USE can’t be directly applied ENplus.. could put 40°C for Enplus ?Ash content : though the market is evolving towards higher ash content the demand for low ash is important for operation – judge no very restrictive for the woodSMELTING TEMPERATURE : 10°C tolerance : different from ISO CHLORINE / ALKALINE : common to most of fast growing plants – but also much more limited range of feedstock diversity. linked to KCl – but no parameters for KN & S are emissions – related + N limit is significantly lower in ENplus because shows the use of glueMETALS – TRACE ELEMENTS : emissions and for the ash valorization – also determines the definition as contaminated woodFines is determined at the port of loading - tolerance for the durability : for too high durability : problems for the millingThe discussion about the particle size distribution, durability and fines should be overtaken by producers and then feedback to userNO AGREEMENT ON THE MAXIMUM SIZE : why putting all the load on our side!!!! NOT REASONABLE LIMIT!

SHOULD BE MORE CLEAR : REJECTION CRITERIA AND WHETHER IT SHOULD BE VERIFIED AT LOADING/UNLOADING POINT

Laboratory visit

• More information:

LBE_pricelist_solid biofuel an...

RETURN OF EXPERIENCE – TO IMPROVE

Much interaction between the participants

Lots of reflexion – questions maybe too high level – no effective answer

Need for more involvement of the heat sector to have more information about their expectations (contacted by Laborelec but no answers)

There are large heat facilities using wood pellets for Base Load (ex. Fortum)

Importance of the FORWARD by AEBIOM and other PELLCERT actors much more impact/network level

Technical specifications should be discussed further : QUID of ISO linkage?