Short rotation coppice in Poland A briefing for policymakers Introduction The biomass issue is quite rare in Poland, it is a topic in most cases poorly known not only to regular people, but very often even to certain stakeholders. In majority, if we speak about biomass, it is more often considered as an element of a larger group Renewable Energy Sources, where energy sources like wind energy, geothermal energy, or water energy hold definitely the prior position. This of course may change, and biomass holds a large potential, only still not discovered by us (Poland) yet. Even in the present moment the prognosis of the Ministry of Economy for the years 2010-2020 considers a growth of renewable energy sources usage in heat and energy production up to almost 16% of overall energy production in the year 2020. CHP facilities all over Poland have been obliged by the present law regulations to launch at least one biomass boiler in every facility of such kind. Previously biomass was used by them as an add for coal. The present Development Strategy of the years 2014-2020 holds a recommendation for each district authority to establish energy production system, which should be able to produce at least 1MW of power. This certainly is a chance, it needs only proper activities to accelerate all changes in the proper direction. What is also important, there is also a number of pioneer farmers, that decided to put up a production o biomass, mostly willow, to fill in the future demand on biomass for heating and energy production purposes. Here we have over 10 000 hectares of biomass production area, and a couple of manufacturing plants which are transforming that biomass into pellet, bricket or just woodchips adapted to burn. There are also other ideas for biomass usage in heat production, like straw or grain furnaces. These all are ideas, conceptions of future development, with good prognosis, especially when considering the described background. There just must be some changes made, changes in the current policy, to enable some activities to exist on their own.
Short rotation coppice in Poland A briefing for policymakers The policy briefs One of the outputs of ROKWOOD is to develop a series of policy briefs designed to inform national and local policymakers, or indeed anyone with influence, on the most appropriate steps we think are needed to develop the SRC industry. The following pages contain the results of this task a set of threer ecommendations that we hope will encourage the right policy framework in Poland and enable the industry to finally achieve its full potential. The recommendations set out within these policy briefs are intended to specifically target the market for SRC, however it is important to be aware that many of the issues noted are equally applicable to the market for miscanthus. The three policy briefs have been developed through a detailed methodological analysis of the industry, through discussions with polish stakeholders and by drawing on the collective experience of our ROKWOOD partners. The briefs are complimentary and to a large extent mutually dependent i.e. all four recommendations will need to be rolled out at some level to achieve the overall objective of kick-starting the SRC industry. Each brief summarises a specific policy recommendation and provides supporting text on the relevant issues, potential solutions, resulting benefits and a suggested target audience. The three policy briefs deal with the following issues: 1. General lobbying activities, especially in the political and business sectors. The goal is to create efficient financial and legislative mechanisms and schemes. 2. Support for biomass providers and development of a proper market 3. General promotional activities, especially knowledge dissemination and technical and technological development through know-how exchange and national-level research
Policy Brief 1 of 3 General lobbying activities, especially in the political and business sectors. The goal is to create efficient financial and legislative mechanisms and schemes. Policy recommendation summary For Poland, lobbying is the most important of the recommended activities since in Poland biomass overall is unfortunately marginalized not only in legislation but also in business. In terms of renewable energy sources, only wind and geothermal energy as well as other types are considered, which have little connection to biomass. Why is it so important? There is an excellent opportunity to make biomass a very strong element of energy production. Within the present Development Strategy for the years 2014-2020, there is a recommendation for each district authority to establish its own energy production systems which should be able to produce at least 1MW of power. Specific production methods are not stated. However, a sound legislative and financial basis still needs to be created because only this would allow the development of a properly developed biomass market. What s the issue? 1.Lack of proper legislative mechanisms. 2.Lack of proper financial mechanisms. At the present time, in legislation with a range of influence at national and regional level there is little mention of biomass usage for energy and heat production. The reasons for this vary. In the first instance, the entire energy production process in Poland centres on coal as an energy source and this is the backbone of the whole Polish energy and heat production sector. Therefore when considering any kind of legislation regarding energy and heat production, it is hard to overthrow a large, already existing structure with a proper, highly developed infrastructure and trade net which starts with coal mining and ends with coal-burning stoves located in almost every household in the country. This structure has its lobbying power, which is deeply ingrained in policymakers awareness and therefore influences all laws enacted up to the highest political level. As is easy to predict, the lack of proper legislative mechanisms has its consequences in the financial aspect of this issue.
Policy Brief 1 of 3 General lobbying activities, especially in the political and business sectors. The goal is to create efficient financial and legislative mechanisms and schemes. At the present moment, it is much cheaper to produce any kind of energy from coal than from biomass. On the basis of an example from one of the few production facilities for biofuels in Poland - Barlinek in Kielce - it is quite clear why the situation is as described. This facility produces wood pellets and eco briquettes. The energy content of the wood pellets is no more than 5.3 kwh/kg (when used for burning in furnaces available on the Polish market) at a price of around 950 zlotys per ton (ca. 228 Euro). In comparison, the average price of coal per ton is around 550 zlotys (ca. 173 Euro) with an average energy content of 7.5 kwh/kg. The best quality coal costs around 850 zloty per ton (ca. 204 Euro), but its energy content can be as high as 8.5 kwh/kg. The energy value of eco briquettes is similar to that of wood pellets and their price is similar too, but the briquettes are easier to use. To summarize: Even when using the highest quality coal, 8,500 kwh of energy can be obtained from a ton of material that would not cost more than 900 zlotys. To produce the same amount of energy from wood pellets, 1.6 tons of material at a cost of 1,520 zlotys would be necessary. The economic advantage of using coal is therefore obvious. In order to change this situation, special financial support mechanisms need to be established, which take into account both national and European funding sources and make energy and heat production from wooden biomass at least equally profitable. At the moment, all financial support mechanisms are directed at renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar energy and - to a much lesser extent - geothermal energy. How could this be tackled? As mentioned above, there is an excellent opportunity to make biomass a powerful element of energy production. Within the present Development Strategy for the years 2014-2020, there is a recommendation for each district authority to establish its own energy production systems which should be able to produce at least 1MW of power. Specific production methods are not implicitly stated, leaving the final choice to the authorities. However, the Development Strategy contains clear suggestions that these choices should be made around renewable energy sources. This is, of course, a plan which still needs fresh ideas, suggestions and proper motivation.
Policy Brief 1 of 3 General lobbying activities, especially in the political and business sectors. The goal is to create efficient financial and legislative mechanisms and schemes. The Development Strategy does not, however, have any mandatory power and is considered more as a guide for national development actions, but it has a strong influence on local and regional authorities. The Development Strategy is, for example, a guide for obtaining financial support in the future for the above-mentioned authorities. Its regulations and specifications are therefore for the most part followed as far as possible. Work on the Development Strategy was clearly inspired by EU regulations, but the acceptance of renewable energy sources in our energy and heat production systems is a slow process. It can be accelerated by: - Pushing Development Strategy regulations in the direction of biomass usage. - Lobbying local and national authorities on a common basis. - Promoting best practice examples such as biomass heat production facilities in local communities with the help of national and EU funding mechanisms. It can be said that the seed has already been planted and will grow. That means that legislation and financial support mechanisms will develop in the desired direction and some steps have already been taken. What are the benefits? If some adequate changes to legislation and financing systems were made, this would create a sound basis for the future development of further mechanisms of a more detailed nature and greater significance for the whole process. At the moment, there are no mechanisms or initiatives which address specific elements of biomass production. This is because biomass usage in general is a topic which is mostly unknown to those in charge of setting up and managing the entire heat and energy production system. That is why the establishment of a sound basis by developing proper legislation and financial support mechanisms would be a good starting point for further actions. Who should take this forward? Mainly local authority representatives and higher-level policymakers connected to or cooperating with local authorities. This project is supported by the European Commission under call FP7-REGIONS-2012-2013-1 Regions of Knowledge of the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. www.rokwood.eu
Policy Brief 2 of 3 Support for biomass providers and development of a proper market Policy recommendation summary As mentioned in Policy Brief 1, if some encouraging financial and legislative mechanisms were created, a proper basis for the production and use of woody biomass would evolve, encouraging further players and institutions to become part of the new energy production process. What s the issue? 1. Lack of market. A combination of research, knowledge dissemination and legislative procedures is necessary. This would create a situation where the final product is in demand from customers because of its properties and advantages. At the present moment, consumers of biomass for heating purposes in Poland can be divided into two groups: - Public consumers - Individual consumers Individual consumers are owners of households which use stoves adapted to burn biomass such as oat or all kinds of wooden fuel briquettes, pellets and chips. This is a very small group, mainly farmers who obtain their fuel from their own crops or their own forests. Public consumers are mainly public heating facilities which are monopolists in biomass consumption on the market. They use woodchips from willow for heating purposes. There are a few farmers who provide them with this kind of material but due to technological obstacles and poor financial support this is not the main source of income for these farmers. They are the only ones specialized in this kind of production but they are not interested in increasing production because it is uncertain whether their main willow consumers will sign a contract with them for larger deliveries. How could this be tackled? The only expedient approach is to develop a market for individual consumers of biomass for heating purposes. Similar activities to those mentioned in Policy Brief 1 are needed. The development of this almost completely new market needs to be coordinated. This is an activity which can be undertaken by certain specialists at the Ministry of Energy.
Policy Brief 2 of 3 Support for biomass providers and development of a proper market What are the benefits? The benefits of creating this important link in the value chain of biomass production and use are obvious and, along with the legislative and financial basis to be developed as described in Policy Brief 1, the development of further elements to complete the woody biomass value chain will be encouraged. Who should take this forward? Local authority representatives and higher-level policymakers connected to or cooperating with local authorities, as well as authorities at ministerial level. This project is supported by the European Commission under call FP7-REGIONS-2012-2013-1 Regions of Knowledge of the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. www.rokwood.eu
Policy Brief 3 of 3 General promotional activities, especially knowledge dissemination and technical and technological development through knowhow exchange and national-level research Policy recommendation summary Awareness in Poland of biomass production and combustion for the production of sustainable energy is quite low. People have little knowledge about production methods and technologies, even the simplest aspects such as planting crops. At the present point in time in Poland, special machinery and biomass value chains are lacking with which at least a proper woody biomass production chain on a standard farm could be established. If someone is properly equipped, it usually means that he has undertaken major steps to import this kind of technology from abroad. Promotional activities could change this situation. Even if certain financial and legislative mechanisms were developed as recommended in Policy Brief 1, there is still a need to disseminate the knowledge already available. These activities should be closely coordinated with activities proposed inpolicy Brief 1. What s the issue? 1. Lack of technology and knowledge. For any involvement in a new activity, a certain knowledge base is required. The same applies to suitable tools and machinery, since not all tasks can be performed by hand alone. Special machinery is required to produce woody biomass. Unfortunately, the availability of biomass production and processing devices or machines is rather poor in Poland. There is neither direct access to this kind of machinery nor are there dealers selling the machines. It would be a considerable risk for these dealers to enlarge their range of biomass-processing machinery due to the low number of orders in Poland. Some years ago, there was a short boom for woodchip and pellet production and use for heat generation. During this boom, a number of companies were founded which built machinery for the production and use of woody biomass, mainly for private customers. However, this boom was only short and slowed down significantly after a while.
Policy Brief 3 of 3 General promotional activities, especially knowledge dissemination and technical and technological development through knowhow exchange and national-level research Those few who are engaged in biomass production in Poland, even in Mazovia, use machinery intended for lumber facilities (mobile wood shredders for branches), farming (corn choppers) or equipment they have built themselves and based on their own ideas. These are often characterized by poor quality and/or poor efficiency. How could this be tackled? The above-mentioned development of legislation and financial support mechanisms and the development of a market for woody biomass could be a good and influential catalyst for the proper development of the market for biomass technology. There will not be much need for action as the forces of the free market will automatically bring the desired developments. However, the process could be accelerated by establishing contacts to foreign biomass technology institutes or enterprises concentrated around the biomass market. What are the benefits? Above all the emergence and/or development of new technologies and technical infrastructure in Poland. Who should take this forward? Specialized facilities and institutions as well as promotion agencies concentrating especially on environmental protection and energy production. These should be facilities already aware of the methods and technologies used in the biomass production and combustion process. This project is supported by the European Commission under call FP7-REGIONS-2012-2013-1 Regions of Knowledge of the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. www.rokwood.eu
Contact details ROKWOOD is aiming to help create the right market conditions and improve the policy framework for the increased planting and use of woody energy crops grown in short rotations plantations (SRPs). If you have any comments on the briefs or would like further information, please contact: Magdalena Kiner Project manager EKSPERT-SITR ul. Jana z Kolna 38, 75-449 Koszalin (PL) +48 882-021-722 m.kiner@ekspert-sitr.pl www.ekspert-sitr.pl Lukasz Drzewaszewski EU funding expert Gmina Zaluski Zaluski 67, 09-142 Zaluski (PL) +48 23 66 19 013 w. 119 luke1988@op.pl www.zaluski.pl List of Rokwood project partners Germany: Spain: Ireland: ttz Bremerhaven, Agraligna, Regional Planning Authority Altmark Institute of Agricultural and Fishery Research and Training, ASAJA Granada, BioAzul, Granada Energy Agency Bio-tricity, Dublin Institute of Technology /Dublin Energy Lab, Western Development Commission Wojciech Rzewuski Deputy director Mazovian Agricultural Advisory Centre ul. Czereśniowa 98, 02-456 Warszawa (PL) +48 225716100 wojciech.rzewuski@modr.mazowsze.pl www.modr.mazowsze.pl UK: Poland: EU: Sweden: Centre for Sustainable Energy, Crops for Energy, DorsetCounty Council EKSPERT-SITR, Gmina Zaluski, Mazovian Agricultural Advisory Centre European Biomass Industry Association SalixEnergi Europa, Scania's Association of Local Authorities, SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden This project is supported by the European Commission under call FP7-REGIONS-2012-2013-1 Regions of Knowledge of the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. www.rokwood.eu