Periodic Report Summary - BEE (Biomass energy Europe) Objectives and approachThe objective of the BEE (Biomass energy Europe) project is to increase the accuracy and reliability of biomass resource assessments for energy. A common interdisciplinary team, 16 partners from 9 European countries, with complementary thematic and regional experience aims to achieve this by:- Coordinating research and development of leading research and development organisations in that field- Analysing studies on currently available biomass resource assessments, available methodologies and datasets the policy background and user requirements- Formulating the best practises, including both simple and advanced methods- Disseminating and promoting project results and discussion of these in the research, and with the user and stakeholder community, in order to achieve the maximum reception, acceptance and impact- Actively involving stakeholders, entities and initiatives responsible for providing and maintaining basic databases and resource potential studies.The relevant sectors to be investigated are forestry, energy crops and residues from traditional agriculture and waste.Brief characterisation of major achievements since the beginning of the project:WP2 Dissemination and networkingA project web page with a public and internal part has been established. Via flyers in several languages, presentations at meetings and conferences and newsletters that are jointly distributed with the 'twin project' Ceubiom: http://www.ceubiom.org , awareness of the BEE project and its results has been achieved.WP3 Status of biomass resource assessmentThe status of biomass resource assessments has been analysed based on a review of assessment studies with a characterisation and comparison of approaches, data used and quantitative results achieved. In parallel, the policy background was analysed and user requirements have been assessed. This work builds the foundation for the analysis of biomass resource assessments in WP4.WP4 Analysis of biomass resource assessmentsThe first cycle of the analysis of methods and data sets has been performed. Major critical issues that lead to the large divergence and uncertainty of assessments on the availability of biomass for energetic have been identified. This analysis builds the base line for the WP 'Harmonisation of biomass resource assessments'.WP5 Harmonisation of biomass resource assessmentsA first version of the report 'Harmonisation of biomass resource assessments' with the two volumes has been produced: Volume I: Best practices and methods handbook; and Volume II: Data sources handbook. This report will be updated after a period of intensive review (including the consideration of most recent R&D results) and based on experiences of the illustration cases.WP6 Illustration casesThe illustration cases will demonstrate on EU, national and regional level the methodological approaches described in the handbook. The work on all illustration cases has begun and the final results will be available in July 2010.OutlookMajor events and dissemination of the project findings are a symposium and workshop to be held in April and in November 2010 in cooperation with the twin project CEUBIOM.Expected impact- Contribution to a harmonisation of future biomass resource assessments for energy- Better understanding and classification of the potential of biomass use for bioenergy in the EU- Contribution to a harmonisation of the integration of sustainability and competitiveness aspects in biomass resource assessments.
