THE DANUBE BIOENERGY NEXUS (DBN)

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1 Flagship cluster fiche THE DANUBE BIOENERGY NEXUS (DBN) 1. RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES Danube corresponds to an international river basin which according to the International Commission for the Protection of Danube River (ICPDR) is shared by nineteen countries: Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine. EU Member States which are contracting parties of ICPDR are: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. Energy production is one of the key challenges faced by the Danube Region. Energy prices are relatively high in the region. A large part of the energy used is imported, its transport is costly and markets are fragmented. In addition, the Danube Region is specifically vulnerable regarding the security of the energy supply, as demonstrated in January 2009 when gas supplies were problematic. Energy production and use is also a significant source of environmental pollution. Most countries of the Danube Region have however a large natural potential to develop energy from renewable sources, including bioenergy from biological sources (agriculture, forest & organic waste). An increasing contribution from bioenergy is expected in sectors other than transport, see Annex 1. Such an increased exploitation is expected to put a pressure on the provision of biomass by very different sectors ranging from agriculture (crops, residues ) and forest (wood, residues ) products to waste (organic fraction of Municipal Solid Waste, agro-industry residues ), see Annex 2. Regarding biofuels for transport, current trends in this field focus on the stimulation of the development of advanced biofuels from non-food feedstock, like waste or straw. These options generally emit substantially less greenhouse gases than fossil fuels options and do not directly compete with food production. Nevertheless, the development of bioenergy (including biofuels for transport but also bio-heat & bioelectricity), as well as the possible development of bio-materials and green chemistry, is expected to be a cause of additional pressure on biomass supply from agriculture, forest & waste. Technical-scientific support is thus required in order to ensure bioenergy sustainability and advice decision-makers at local, regional, national and international levels.

2 Related priority areas of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region ( - Priority Area 2 Energy, with the objective to encourage more sustainable energy (coordinated by Hungary and the Czech Republic) - Priority Area 6, with the objective to preserve biodiversity, landscapes and the quality of air and soils (coordinated by the Land Bavaria and Croatia) Policy context and related legislation: EU reference documents: Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources EU Energy Roadmap 2050 EU Roadmap for a Resource Efficient Europe Proposal for a Directive amending Directive 98/70/EC relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Council Directive 93/12/EC and amending Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources [COM(2012) 595] 2. FLAGSHIP CLUSTER DESCRIPTION The 'Danube Bioenergy Nexus' flagship cluster addresses the challenges of bioenergy production in the Danube Region and focuses on resource assessment, statistical monitoring and assessment of the possible impacts on agriculture and environment. It is worth noting that Danube countries are well aware of the challenges associated to an increasing bioenergy exploitation and have a relevant experience, often with consistent bioenergy action plans. In addition, countries such as Germany & Austria are leading countries at global level for renewables & bioenergy. On the other hand, other countries have progressed less in addressing bioenergy complexity or in road maps specification or bioenergy policies (identification, formulation, implementation & monitoring). In addition, energy poverty is an issue of growing concern in Europe and in the Danube Region. Based on its experience in this field (for example on resource assessment or monitoring of the EU Renewable Energy Action Plans), JRC can provide an integrated approach based on European harmonised data bases. For some countries, the added value will come from the mutual validation of European information against national information, of the exchange of data while other countries might profit of the expertise gathered in the cluster to develop their own roadmap towards sustainable bioenergy resources exploitation. Specific attention will be paid to associating - National institutions (including research institutions & universities ) - International partners (including the International Bioenergy Task 43 on Biomass feedstock for energy markets) - Initiatives such as for example the JRC Enlargement/Integration/Neighbourhood Programme or Horizon Cross border cooperation programmes such as the Serbia-Hungary study on biomass potentials and mapping for biogas production and utilisation in Vojvodina. Flagship cluster structure and activities The flagship cluster addresses the following issues in the Danube countries: 1) Feasibility study on transport of biomass on Danube River - Inventory of Energy Plants (Size, Type of fuel, Heat, Electricity, CHP..) and geo-localisation - Assessment of navigability of Danube, transport statistics per product/country/region - Legislative framework for renewables + biomass/bioenergy in selected zones 2

3 - Biomass requirements and transport needs as a function of plant size, operation requirements and resource availability Biomass resource assessment + biomass installations inventory + location + biomass exporting regions + biomass importing regions - Present biomass production/mobilisation costs in the regions of reference, cost reduction due to transport on Danube - Biomass exporting regions & biomass importing regions - Conclusions/Recommendations of feasibility study 2) Local Bio-Heat - Transfer of Austria/Styria experience + Moldova experience to other regions, use of solid biomass for heating (chips, pellets ) at local level (village, community level), assessment of supply schemes Contact Institute, National Forest Centre, Slovakia, Austria/Styria partners, UNDP Moldova and others 3) Agricultural Biomass feedstock for biogas - Assessment of feedstock availability (crops and cattle residues ), Contact University Novi Sad Serbia, German institutions and others 4) Statistical assessment of Bioenergy status & Progress in Danube Countries - Assessment of RNEAPs for EU Member States - Assessment of strategy, policies, targets & implementation for Non EU MS, for bioenergy (transport, heat & electricity) Contact: JRC and others 5) Public support schemes & Funding mechanisms for bioenergy - Inventory and comparative analysis of Public Support schemes and Public Private Partnership mechanisms for participating countries (EU MS and non MS) Contact Institute, EIHP Croatia and others 6) Assessment of agricultural crop residues availability - Quantification of cereal straw availability and energy potential in the Danube countries Contact: University of Novi Sad, Serbia 7) Scientific & Technical Networking in the field of bioenergy Organisation of 3 Expert Consultations (1 per year) on: - crop residues for bioenergy (planned September 2014, Ukraine in cooperation with SECB the Scientific Engineering Centre for Biomass of Ukraine, - biogas from agriculture and waste - public support schemes for bioenergy (Mandate, feed in tariffs, tax exemption, differential taxation ) Contact: JRC and others 3

4 3. OUTPUTS AND BENEFICIARIES Products: As a scene-setter, JRC has assessed the state of the of the art and the future perspective for bioenergy deployment in the Danube countries based on the analysis of different data sources in the recently published JRC report Bioenergy deployment in the Danube region. 1 Briefly the report focuses on: Status of bioenergy in the National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) databases for EU countries of the Danube Region, status of bioenergy in non EU countries of the Danube region (e.g. Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia ) Update of the status of bioenergy in the EU countries data through the 2011 Progress Reports (2010 data) on the promotion and use of energy from renewable sources. Work is in progress on several other issues, with a special focus on: - Spatial assessment of agricultural crop residues availability and their sustainability. - Transport data collection for investigating opportunities provided by modal shift in biomass mobilization. - Evaluation of biomass feedstock for biogas production, including Waste to Energy chains. - Spatial assessment of wood-based resources for energy production, including technical and environmental constraints. As a general approach to all issues, JRC is setting a framework, rooted in harmonized and continent wide data sets, that all the actors, stakeholder and beneficiaries are welcome to integrate, compare, discuss, use and validate the data suggested. Interested actors and/or beneficiaries of the research results: National and regional governments of the Danube Region Other stakeholders of the Danube Region EU institutions and bodies JRC CONTACT: Heinz Ossenbrink, F.Monforti Renewable Energies Unit, Institute for Energy and Transport (IET), Joint Research Centre 1 M. Banja, N. Scarlat, J-F. Dallemand, F. Monforti, V. Motola, K. Bodis, Bioenergy deployment in the Danube region Current status and progress according to National Renewable Energy Action Plans, EUR EN Available for download from 4

5 GWh ktoe ktoe ANNEX 1 Evolution of bioenergy consumption in Electricity (left), Heating and Cooling (centre) and Transport (right) sectors in according to NREAPs for EU-27 Danube countries (Units are GWh for electricity, ktoe for H&C and transport) Electricity from biomass Biomass in Heating and Cooling Bioenergy in transport BG BG BG CZ DE 8000 CZ DE 4000 CZ DE HU AT 6000 HU AT 3000 HU AT RO SLO SK 4000 RO SLO SK 2000 RO SLO SK

6 ANNEX 2 Expected biomass supply for Bioenergy production in in EU Danube countries according to National Renewable Energy Action Plans in 2015 (top table) and 2020 (bottom table) (Units in ktoe) 2015 BG CZ DE HU AT RO SLO SK A) Biomass from forestry, of which: 860, ,5 604, direct supply of wood biomass from forests and other wooded land for energy generation ,5 533, indirect supply of wood biomass for energy production , B) Biomass from agriculture and fisheries ,5 650, Agricultural crops and fishery products , By-products and residues ,5 289, C) Biomass from waste Biodegradable fraction of municipal solid waste Biodegradable fraction of industrial waste (including paper, cardboard, pallets) Sewage sludge BG CZ DE HU AT RO SLO SK A) Biomass from forestry, of which: , direct supply of wood biomass from forests and other wooded land for energy generation , indirect supply of wood biomass for energy production , B) Biomass from agriculture and fisheries ,5 1129, Agricultural crops and fishery products , By-products and residues ,5 410, C) Biomass from waste Biodegradable fraction of municipal solid waste Biodegradable fraction of industrial waste (including paper, cardboard, pallets) Sewage sludge