Bioenergy Information
What is Biomass and Bioenergy?
Biomass is the storehouse for solar energy. It takes carbon dioxide from the air and both stores carbon and releases oxygen through the process of photosynthesis.
Bioenergy is an important form of renewable energy. It is any form of energy released from biomass.
Bioenergy sources can be waste materials, such as forestry, landfill waste and whey from the dairy industry, farming residues like straw, livestock slurry, chicken litter, or it can be a crop grown specifically for the purpose of producing energy. The fuel is available in a number of forms.
A PDF of frequently asked questions about Bioenergy is also available for download. For more information on bioenergy check out the EECA website.
New Zealand Bioenergy Potential
Bioenergy provides a real alternative to fossil fuels for many applications. New Zealand's geography and climate have placed it at the forefront of countries internationally for the production of food and fibre. This same natural advantage has a prime role in making New Zealand internationally competitive in bioenergy production of many forms.
The annual production of woody biomass residues from plantation forestry alone is estimated to be between 4 and 6 million tonnes. At an energy value of 9MJ/kg this biomass quantity equates to around 45TJ, roughly equivalent to 10% of New Zealand's total consumer energy demand. Furthermore, the disposal of this biomass poses a problem if not used and its eventual decay can add to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through the generation of methane gas.
For more information on the potential for bioenergy click here
Advantages of Bioenergy
The advantages of bioenergy are:
- It produces zero net emissions of greenhouse gases, enabling both industry and government to work towards meeting New Zealand's Kyoto commitments.
- It is suitable for electricity supply, process heat, low temperature heat and transport fuels.
- It is renewable, abundant and a natural energy source.
- It can be in solid, liquid or gaseous form.
- It is a storable form of renewable energy, capable of being transported and utilised 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- It is capable of providing energy on a small-scale through to large-scale, centralised production.
- It will create localised employment opportunities for rural communities.
- It enables a reduction in the volumes of waste to landfill, thus helping councils to meet their zero-waste commitments.
The Future for Bioenergy in New Zealand
As concerns grow over the impact of fossil fuel use on the climate, and the reserves of fossil fuels, including natural gas, bioenergy has a prominent role to play in the provision of clean burning fuels that also encourage planting of carbon sinks. New Zealand is in a good position to utilise its biomass resources for bioenergy production.
Overseas many countries are already forging ahead with bioenergy fuels for example co-firing wood and straw with coal, blending ethanol with petrol and diesel, and anaerobic fermentation of organic residues to produce biogas. New Zealand can do the same and does so already in some certain cases. With the appropriate identification of opportunities, New Zealand can further develop bioenergy technologies to meet its energy requirements in a sustainable and environmentally sound way.
Small localised power stations are a promising future for the electricity supply industry. These will cut down on transmission losses and contribute to minimising the costs of reinforcing or upgrading electricity distribution systems. They may also increase reliability of supply and replace the need for future large centralised power stations. Compared to centralised power plants consuming fossil fuels, bioenergy plants can provide energy for local customers, using local fuels, thus providing local employment and profits.
The development of a strong home market will be essential to the success of New Zealand businesses in taking a share of the very substantial world-markets for bioenergy product packages and fuel exports in the future.
Who's Who in the Bioenergy Industry
Note: The companies list above are Corporate or Associate Members of the Bioenergy Association. A number of individuals also below to the association and they are listed on the membership register.
Consultants
| Waste Solutions jurgen.thiele@wastesolutions.co.nz www.wastetechnz.com |
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| Waste Solutions Ltd is a leading supplier of waste to energy & biogas system design services and of carbon emission abatement schemes in Australasia. | |
| Allan Estcourt Consulting | |
| Beca Carter | |
| East Harbour Management Services | |
| Empower Consultants | |
| Jaakko Poyry Consulting | |
| Key Energy | |
| Living Energy |
Energy Companies
| Energy for Industry grant.smith@meridianenergy.co.nz www.energyforindustry.com |
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| EfI supply end-use energy and utility products and services on a long-term basis. This involves EfI owning and operating facilities such as heat or refrigeration plant, and in some cases, small power generation plants. EfI also work with customers to extract maximum performance out of energy and utility plant by fully funding energy improvement projects and sharing the savings with customers. EfI provide a total energy partnership. |
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Equipment Manufacturers / Suppliers
| RCR Energy Ltd. philip.gedye@rcrtom.com.au www.rcrenergy.com |
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| RCR Energy is a full scope provider of thermal energy plant and energy plant services to industry in |
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| Living Energy www.livingenergy.co.nz |
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| Living Energy are partnered with Visdamax and Binder, with whom we can supply state-of-the-art wood fired boilers from 100kW to 60MW, as well as power generation upto 10MWe. Living Energy are full turn-key suppliers, including the design and installation of the fuel reception and storage, and we can also supply wood fueld from off-site if required. |
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| Brightwater Engineers | |
| Parkwood Pellet Fires | |
| Vortex Engineering | |
| Waste Solutions Ltd |
Fuel Supply
| Natures Flame Andy.matheson@naturesflame.co.nz www.naturesflame.co.nz |
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| Nature's Flame is an innovative biomass business that produces pellets from waste wood for burning in smokeless pellet fires to comply with the most stringent clean air standards. For cosy, instant, clean heat, Nature’s Flame is the home heating solution for the 21st century. Some of the major benefits of switching to Nature’s Flame: • Attractive natural fire ambience. • High heat output (up to 11kW) able to heat large spaces. • Controllable clean heat even on low (2kW). • Environmentally friendly (low emissions). |
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| Ernslaw Bioenergy | |
| Materials Processing | |
| Wastepro Solutions |
Investor/Owner/Operator
| Biodiesel Australasia |
Organisation/Government
| Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority |
Researcher/Education
| Canterbury University | |
| CRL Energy | |
| Massey University | |
| Scion |
Wood Processor
| Carter Holt Harvey Kinleith | |
| Findlater Sawmilling |
Bioenergy Knowledge Centre
A web based portal to access the utilisation of woody biomas to produce energy. The Bioenergy Knowledge Centre (BKC) is funded by the Forest Industry Development Agenda (FIDA) Bioenergy Programme.
The BKC consists of four major components:
- A web-based portal that provides self-directed learning and analysis of bioenergy opportunities.
- The proactive dissemination of information to a broad range of stakeholders.
- A pool of experts accessible via a “call centre” to assist evaluation and analysis of bioenergy opportunities for New Zealand-based projects (0800 BIOENERGY).
- Provide tools and processes to improve the overall energy efficiency of the wood processing sector and to optimise energy use.
EnergyLibrary
An independent provider of information with search capabilities for accessing publications from around the world.
Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority (EECA)
The New Zealand Government Agency with responsibility for government policy and operational matter related to bioenergy.
Bioenergy Australia
The Australian equivalent of BANZ
IEA Bioenergy
The International Energy Agency Bioenergy Research Programme.