VALERBIO Project: biomass energy recovery
Project Manager: Gilles GUERASSIMOFF
The transposition at national level of the European directives on the promotion of biofuels has given a clear boost to the development of the ‘classic’ biofuel sectors, namely ethanol from wheat, maize or beet and vegetable oil ester, mainly from rapeseed. The target set is for 5.75%, 7% and 10% respectively of total petroleum fuel consumption to be replaced by biofuels by 2008, 2010 and 2015. Beyond 5.75% in 2008, it will certainly be necessary to produce biofuels from new resources if the announced targets are to be met. At the same time, the European directive on the production of electricity from renewable sources aims to promote the use of biomass among other possible sources. This lignocellulosic material is also used today, and will be used even more in the future, for individual or collective heating and by the pulp and paper industry. The aim of the project is to analyse how the competition between these different uses for the mobilisation of this lignocellulosic resource could best be managed and to assess the consequences of the changes expected from this increased mobilisation at national level.
The work programme is divided into 5 tasks, some of which are themselves divided into two sub-tasks. The ultimate aim is to feed the MARKAL model, which is at the heart of the proposed work programme. In particular, the MARKAL model will need to be fed with the following elements: the potential of recoverable biomass; technical and economic data on the technologies for converting this biomass into energy; possible changes in demand from the various biomass-consuming sectors; taking account of the ‘spatial’ nature of biomass, which can only be mobilised by exploiting supply basins. Finally, a sensitivity analysis will be carried out on a number of test cases.
The project partnership is highly complementary. IFP is the project coordinator and has extensive experience in the field of biofuels and energy more generally. INRA brings its knowledge of the agricultural sector and of first- and second-generation biofuels. AFOCEL has extensive knowledge of the management and assessment of forestry resources in the broadest sense of the term. Finally, the Centre de Mathématiques Appliquées at the École des Mines de Paris has been developing expertise in the field of energy planning for several years now, using the MARKAL model.
Combining these skills should enable us to analyse the competition between uses for woody biomass (biofuels, electricity/heat, paper, etc.), the main focus of this project.