Straw to energy guide is now available! The press release for the guide follows.

Food & Bio Cluster Denmark, in collaboration with Danish Technological Institute and Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, has just released “Straw to Energy – Technologies, policy and innovation in Denmark” – the second edition of its very successful 2011 publication, updated with the latest information about utilising straw for energy purposes. The publication is part of the work done in the AgroBioHeat project, which is an EU-funded project that draws attention to the plentiful renewable biomass resources available in rural Europe that can contribute to the transition away from fossil fuels.

Denmark has been using straw for energy production for more than 40 years and is world leading in this area. However, Denmark is not the only European country with excess straw, which can be a part of the local fuel supply in the areas where it is grown. The idea behind the publication is to give an overview of how straw is used for energy purposes in Denmark in order for others to be able to replicate this model.

Straw is a carbon-neutral fuel, which means that no more CO2 is released when it is burnt than the plant has absorbed from the atmosphere during its growth. This makes it a more climate-friendly alternative to burning fossil fuels – coal, oil, natural gas – for heating of housing, farms, greenhouses, etc., fuelling district heating systems, or even producing electricity and high-added value products. Straw should be used locally as it is expensive to transport, which makes it relevant in rural areas with a lot of farms and cereal crops.

Straw has some chemical qualities that makes it more difficult to burn than wood. Boiler producers have been working on solving these problems for many years and the technology is fully developed. The publication includes a list of equipment providers, fuel suppliers, consultancies and other organizations that can assist in the deployment of new value chains based on straw.

The “Straw to Energy” publication is available in English and, in collaboration with the national AgroBioHeat partners has been translated in Croatian, French, Greek, Romanian, Spanish, and Ukrainian.

Underway in the project are three more guides on agro-industrial residues (olive stones, sunflower husks, etc.), maize residues and woody biomass from orchards. If you want to be notified upon their launch, please follow the AgroBioHeat project on our social media – Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn – or visit our webpage www.agrobioheat.eu.

For more information, please contact:

Louise Krogh Johnson
Business Development Manager
Food & Bio Cluster Denmark
M: +45 2154 5909
E: [email protected]

Manolis Karampinis
Research Associate
Centre for Research and Technology Hellas  / Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute
T: +30 211 1069500
E: [email protected]

Photo: Strudstrup Power Station, Denmark (Source: Torben Skøtt, Biopress)