The shift to a bioenergy society

by Bertil Carlsson

The regions leading players in the bioenergy field have reached agreement on project collaboration within the scope of bioenergy. This project collaboration will strengthen the regions opportunities to obtain a higher yield of biomass.

The collaboration comprises of the following projects:

• Comprehensive analysis of a future bioenergy society
• Deciduous & Coniferous Forest, adapted management
• Forest bi-products, logistics and technologiesn
• BTL, gasification of biomass and purification of synthetic gas

The purpose of the collaboration is to reinforce the impact of the individual projects and to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the entire system chain from "Forest to product". It is therefore of vital importance that the conditions for the collaboration can be implemented in their entirety.

A comprehensive analysis will be the shared resource. It will compile project results to form a single unit and a chain where the component projects form the links. The project's outcomes will acquire added-value when they are placed in a wider concept. Other projects will separately and regularly report their results to "Comprehensive analysis".

Data from the collaborating projects is to be compiled to form a general picture that illustrates the complete bioenergy system from forest to boiler/gasifier. The analysis is to identify both strengths and weaknesses in the system. The project will have great significance for the final outcome and for the end results of the individual projects involved in the collaboration.

The project is divided into two segments: "System analysis" and "People-Environment in a bioenergy society". The System analysis segment will use the information and conclusions from the other projects in "Energy Platform Mellannorrland". The material will be analysed and processed to ultimately summarise the results of the involved projects and place them in a wider context. The starting point for the work is a broad perspective that takes into consideration the technical, economic and financial aspects. The analysis will provide an overview of the challenges and opportunities in connection with society's transition from fossil fuels to biofuels.

The People-Environment in a bioenergy society segment will deal with the humanistic issues that arise in the shift to a bioenergy society. This change-over will unavoidably lead to changes in the forest industry. New management systems and changes in the forest's composition of species will alter the landscape. It is of vital importance to study, early on, how the public and forest owners will view and accept this change. We know that major changes in the countryside are met with varying degrees of acceptance by different individuals and groups. Society's heterogeneity with respect to, for example, gender, place of resident, education etc. therefore becomes an important factor to be considered in the study, as is the relationship with the forest. Also, within the scope of the study, the change in forest use and its impact on the natural environment will be compared with other types of impact on the surroundings (e.g. wind power stations, mini-hydroelectric plants along rivers and streams) and the effects that continued use of fossil fuels can be anticipated to result in. Qualitative and quantitative methodologies will be combined and empirically be based on interviews and a questionnaire-based survey.