The Heating & Cooling (H&C) sector comprises 51 % of final energy consumption and contributes about 27 % of EU carbon emissions; more than 80 % of the consumption in the sector was still based on non-renewable sources in 2017. It is therefore clear that reaching the EU 2030 climate and energy targets as well as the long-term 2050 target for climate neutrality requires an increased focus on the deployment of renewable heating solutions. At the moment, biomass / bioenergy is the main renewable energy source used in the H&C sector (16.9% of the total final energy consumption). Most of the biomass used for H&C applications is wood / forest-derived.
One of the potential solutions for decarbonizing the European H&C sector is connected to the use of agrobiomass. Agrobiomass is a term that can refer to primary crop residues, secondary processing residues or from dedicated, non-food lignocellulosic crops. Agrobiomass has a huge potential in European rural areas and, under the right conditions and with the appropriate choice of technology, can effectively substitute fossil fuels used for heating. A key advantage of agrobiomass is its cost-effectiveness compared to most fossil fuels. In addition, increased mobilization of agrobiomass for hearing can promote rural development through the creation of new jobs, consolidate the European technological leadership in biomass combustion applications, as well as provide a scale-able and sustainable solution for the management of the large quantities of agricultural residues that are generated every year.
However, the utilization of agrobiomass for heating is not straightforward. Promotion of this renewable energy solution has received little to no attention from policy makers, while its deployment requires overcoming several barriers, including perception and organization issues.
The AgroBioHeat H2020 project aims to faciliate the deployment of modern, cost-effective and sustainable agrobiomass heating solutions in rural Europe by overcoming the aforementioned barriers. Most of the AgroBioHeat activities will be implemented in six European countries (Croatia, France, Greece, Romania, Spain, Ukraine) with significant agrobiomass potential, but also with varied conditions in the agricultural and H&C sectors. In order to reach its overall target, AgroBioHeat is structured around eight specific objectives:
1) To support new, emblematic initiatives using agrobiomass for heat in the six targeted coutnries.
2) To raise trust among stakeholders in agrobiomass heating solutions.
3) To provide guidance and recommendations to policy makers at local, regional and national levels to understand and set the instruments that will overcome the barriers for the advancement of the agrobiomass heating sector.
4) To influence the review of the Ecodesign Regulation for solid biofuels boilers and to included informed emission limits for agrobiomass boilers.
5) To understand the social acceptance factors and local conditions facilitating the success or hindering the development of agrobiomass heating solutions.
6) To promote changes in the mind-set of the value chain actors and clusters as well as to empower them for the deployment of agrobiomass heating solutions.
7) To enhance the competitiveness position of the European biomass heating solutions manufacturers and installers.
8) To promote the visibility of agrobiomass heating to a large audience, including target and key actors as well as the general public.
