Energy

Where is it?

Biomass is one of the most available renewable energy sources on our planet. In 2009 biomass satisfies around 10% of the primary energy use of the world (International Energy Agency Key World Energy Statistics 2011). Nevertheless, its use is not shared in a homogeneous way. In developing countries, biomass covers from 34 to 40% of the total energy need. On the other hand, in industrialised countries its contribution is very limited and biomass only amount to 3% of primary energy use. In particular, the United States obtain 3.2% of their energy from biomass, Europe obtains a total of 3.5% of its energy from biomass. In Sweden and Finland, the electric energy obtained by burning the waste of the forest industry satisfies respectively 17% and 15% of the domestic demand for electric energy. In Austria, biomass cover 13% of the domestic electric need. Instead, the contribution of biomass to the Italian national balance is limited to 2-3%.  That distribution does not only take into account the attention and economic effort shown by certain countries in terms of search for and development of new technologies, but also the actual availability of land where “energy cultures” are to be implemented. Estimates show that, in developed countries, replacing fossil fuels with biomass would require over 950 mega-hectares (millions of hectares) of land available to be devoted to energy cultures. The countries in the northern-central Europe are extremely developed as far as the use of biomass as energy source is concerned. They have installed large co-generation (joint production of electric energy and heat) and biomass-supplied district heating plants. France, that has the widest agricultural surface in Europe, invests a lot in the production of bio-diesel and ethanol, for which a de-taxation policy has been adopted. The UK, instead, has developed limited production of bio-fuels, which are currently considered as too expensive, and has dedicated to the development of a large and efficient system for the recovery of biogas from dumps, both for thermal and electric aims. Sweden and Austria, that boast a long tradition of firewood, have continued to increase the use of firewood for heating and district heating, encouraging the growth of copses (willow tree, poplars), that provide a yield that is 3-4 times higher than the average supply of these raw materials. In the European context of biomass use, Italy is lagging behind, despite its high potential, which results to be more than 27Mtoe.