This report is a summary of biomass fuel trade in Europe. The reference year is 2003 or 2004, and both 20 country reports and a summary report is prepared.
The assessed figure for the total technoeconomical volume of solid biomass fuels in 20 EU countries is 5 974 PJ/a (143 Mtoe/a) and energy use in 2004 was 2 741 PJ (65.5 Mtoe). This means that currently about 50% of the estimated biomass potential is exploited. The greatest potential to increase the use of biomass in energy production seems to lie in forest residues and other biomass resources e.g. agrobiomass and fruit biomass.
Regarding trends in fuel prices, within the considered one and half year (from December 2004 to June 2006), all the other fossil fuel prices but coal had increased, whilst most biomass fuel prices had decreased in 2004. In year 2006 most of the biomass fuel prices especially pellet price has increased in most of the EU countries.
Price levels differ much between countries and different consumer groups.
The most traded biomass fuel is pellets. This is natural, as pellets are the most compact form of solid biofuels, so the transport costs per energy unit is lowest. In addition, introducing pellets in an existing plant usually requires less modification at the plant compared with more heterogeneous fuels. The global annual pellet production is 4 million tons, of which more than 70% is produced in the Baltic Sea area. Customs statistics can give rough figures on international biomass trade. Statistics do not differentiate the end use purposes of the materials into energy use and raw material use, and various products can be included in one CN code.
This report concentrates on rating the current situation and future trends of biomass fuel trade in Europe. The report consists of the following parts: assessing the technoeconomic biomass volume in Europe, reviewing the operation of biomass fuel markets by providing information on biomass fuel prices and summarising the data available on the current international trade of solid biomass fuels in Europe and overseas.

By: E. Alakangas, A. Heikkinen, T. Lensu, P. Vesterinen (VTT, Finland)

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