The Dutch government has submitted a report to the Global Agricultural Information Network of the US Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Bureau, which outlines the current opportunities for the wood pellet market.
According to reports, the Dutch government subsidizes the co-combustion of biomass. Funds and forest owners must prove that they are linked to complex sustainability standards, despite providing some flexibility for small-scale landowners. The report points out that the best opportunities currently exist. One is the supply of wood pellets made of wood chips.
The report explained that the 'Dutch Energy Agreement' was implemented in 2013, achieved 14% of sustainable energy generation targets by 2020, and reached 16% by 2023. The annual limit for biomass fuels is 3.5 million tons of wood pellets. The agreement that biomass energy meets sustainability requirements includes forest level certification, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions information, carbon debt, and indirect land use changes.
The authors stated in the report: 'The main obstacle to exporting wood pellets from the United States to the Netherlands is the lack of incentives for small-scale landowners in the southeast to prove that their land was used to produce wood pellets.'
For forest management units with an area of more than 500 hectares (1235.53 acres), a forest-level certificate is required and will be gradually promoted to small forest management units over the next four years. As of 2022, the report states that all forest management units require forest certification. There are also other options that allow small-scale landowners to qualify for a biomass subsidy for co-combustion feedstock in the Netherlands.
These options include collective certification, which allows for certification programs such as sustainable biomass projects.
The second option allows controlled wood to be used as a substitute for certified wood. The report explains that controlled wood comes from a sustainable source and the minimum risk is an unacceptable harvest. Pelletized plants can be certified by certification or based on regional risk methods. Demonstrate its conformity. The report states that the controlled timber option allows the delivery of 30% of biomass energy to energy producers each year.
The third option is to use the residue from the sawmill. The report explained that the residue of the sawmill only needs to meet the requirements related to the greenhouse gas calculations and the chain of custody. According to reports, the Dutch buyer recently purchased a residue based on the residue from Europe. The granules. However, these supplies are limited and the United States may be an alternative source.
Fourth, the Dutch government allows selection of verification verification as an alternative to certification. The report explains the need to provide verification of the compliance of the biomass import market. Similar to certification, large forest management units need to conduct inspections at the forest level and gradually move to smaller units. Conduct verification.
A full copy of the report can be downloaded from the USDA FAS GAIN website.
