Asia is poised to overtake Europe in biomass electricity

In 2015 they were separated by more than 6.000 megawatts and a year later it barely reached 1.500. This is the difference in power electricity installed with biomass (solid, liquid and biogas) that separates the two continents with the highest capacity, Asia and Europe (36.954) and Asia (35.249 MW), according to the data provided by the latest report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena): Renewable capacity statistics 2017.

Another report from various agencies, including the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), nevertheless warns that it is still Europe where the larger projects, such as MGT Power in England and Hofor in Denmark.

The report Global Renewable Energy Investment Trends 2017, in which the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaboration Center and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) participate in addition to UNEP, highlighted on the one hand the fall of 37 percent in 2016 in investment in biofuels, to 2.200 million dollars . However, he valued the stability of the biomass, which remains at $ 6.800 billion.

Two proper names of plants with investment and construction underway (Tees, 299 megawatts in England by MGT Power, without Abengoa but with Técnicas Reunidas; and Amager, 150 megawatts, in Denmark, by Hofor).  biomass

Almost 50% of world growth stays in India

Another recent report, that of 2017 renewable capacity statistics del Irena, confirms that greater proximity between Asia and Europe, which in just one year (between 2015 and 2016) has been reduced by almost 4.000 megawatts. Of the 8.623 megawatts installed in 2016, 6.000 remained in Asia, while Europe only added 1.500. India, with 3.580 megawatts, was the country that grew the most, going from 5.605 to 9.185.

The Asian country with the highest installed power is China (12.140 megawatts), which ranks third in the world only surpassed by Brazil (14.179, most associated with the sugarcane industry and the recovery of its bagasse) and the United States (12.458). The latter added three testimonial megawatts in 2016, and It has been stuck in similar numbers since 2013.

Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom lead in Europe

Although Europe occupies the first place on a continental scale, Germany, the fourth world country in contention, is somewhat remote from the head triplet with 9.336 megawatts (5.000 of them with biogas), and with India very close. In the same continent, in the Spanish case the stop in the electrical biomass is noticeable due to the disappearance of premiums for new installations, since it has remained stagnant at around 1.018 megawatts for three years.

biomass

In Europe, apart from the Germans, the growth of the United Kingdom stands out (from 4.700 to 5.000 megawatts), where, apart from newly-built plants such as Tees, those that co-burn with coal or directly convert coal to biomass. Sweden, with 4.893 megawatts, is the third in Europe. 

2.800 MW of renewable electricity off-grid

Another interesting piece of information that Irena's statistical report provides this year is that for the first time it contains figures specifically for energies off-grid renewables. It shows that “the capacity of renewable electricity not connected to the grid reached the 2.800 megawatts at the end of 2016 ”.

“About 40 percent of this electricity is supplied with solar energy and ten percent with hydroelectric. Most of the rest comes from bioenergy ”, highlights the report, although without specifying the percentage. “It is estimated that throughout the world, up to sixty million households, or 300 million people, receive services and benefit from off-grid renewable electricity".

consumption

Old news: A biomass heat network for 6000 residents will be implemented in Guadalajara

In the absence of official confirmation and presentation in the media, everything seems to indicate that the city of Guadalajara will have a heat network with biomass that will supply thermal energy to 6.000 residents. This has been advanced by the City Council and the company in charge of the project, Biomass Resources (Rebi), to various media. This company would thus add one more network to the three that he already manages between Soria (one in the capital and another in Ólvega) and Valladolid.

At the beginning of the year, the mayor of Guadalajara himself, Antonio Román, gave the first indications about the new facility at the presentation of the Local Strategy to Mitigate Climate Change. "Residential buildings have a significant weight in the emissions associated with energy consumption (398.854.478 kWh / year)”, It was stated in the subsequent press release, to add that“ the City Council is studying the feasibility of applying in Guadalajara a project to create district heating by biomass that would affect some 6.000 residents ”.


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