Biomass - Energy Toolbox

This EU-funded project is operated by the four partners:-

	BEASL – Bioenergy Association of Sri Lanka
	NRI– The Natural Resources Institute of the UK
	CTI – Comitato Termotecnico Italiano of Italy
	TERI – The Energy and Resources Institute, India

The study was set up in 2005 to promote the use of wood and agricultural waste material as a resource for energy production. The project was funded through the European Union Asia Pro Eco Programme, which is designed to strengthen the environmental dialogue between Europe and Asia and to provide support for European and Asian organisations wishing to share strategies and technological know-how in addressing Asian environmental issues.

The study has focused on the issues facing the expansion of dendro-power within the region and looking at ways wood and waste agricultural material can be used to provide energy, particularly for the production of electricity and industrial heat applications. The project has been focused on Sri Lanka and India, however issues relating to other countries within the region have been included through the holding of an international conference in August 2005 on the theme “Issues for the Sustainable Use of Biomass Resources for Energy”; the papers from this conference are included in this toolbox, together with material derived from working groups composed of the partners and other concerned individuals within Sri Lanka. Many countries within the region are facing a severe energy crisis as their internal energy resources become over-used and governments are faced with a growing financial burden arising from the need to purchase more and more expensive oil and other fossil fuels. Sri Lanka in particular needs to find alternatives as the potential for further expansion of its hydro-electric production reaches a practical ceiling and the country has no fossil fuel resources of its own.

The study considers the technical issues of using wood as a source of energy as well as the growing of fuelwood crops as a farming activity. Consideration is made of the issues raised on the promotion of renewable energy from the viewpoint of national interest since it has the direct effect of reducing the country’s reliance on ever more expensive fossil fuels. The use of biomass for energy also has international implications as it is carbon-neutral and is supportive of strategies to limit further carbon dioxide emissions. This toolbox will provide the reader with a range of inter-related papers and guidelines on the policies and technical issues facing the development of the sector.

 The toolbox is divided into the five main sections: -

1. Renewable Energy Policy – an analysis of the key policies affecting the development of biomass-based power including the funding potential of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

2. Technical Aspects of the development of power and heat generation from small scale unit – review of the more promising technologies looking at both grid-connected power as well as off-grid village-based unit.

3. Socio-economic aspects – looking at the economics of growing fuelwood as a farm crop and the problems and how it compares to more traditional cash crops.

4. Growth and Development of Short-rotation coppice crops – guidelines on the main aspects of growing and managing coppice crops.

5. Proceedings of the international conference on the theme of “Issues of the Sustainable Use of Biomass Resources for Energy”