Sweden's Bioenergy Pyrogrot demonstration project was recently awarded part of a €1.2 billion award from the EU's New Entrants' Reserve (NER)300 program, which acts as a vehicle for demonstrating environmentally safe carbon capture and storage (CCS) and new European renewable energy technologies at a pre-commercial scale. The projects will be co-financed with revenues obtained from the sale of 200 million emission allowances from the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS).
Pyrogrot will use forest residues as feedstock, which will produce 160,000 tons per year of pyrolysis oil with the energy content estimated at about 750 GWh. The plant will operate at an input processing capacity of 720 tons a day of dry biomass.
Forest residue is the leading bioenergy source in Sweden, and bioenergy is the nation’s leading energy source. Since the 1970s when 70-80 percent of Sweden’s energy mix came from imported oil, the country has transformed its energy system to the point where oil is almost entirely a transport fuel, while bioenergy is used in district heating, industry and electricity production. For nations whose bioenergy industry is emerging or struggling with policy issues, Sweden is an example of how to get it right.
