Andalusia leads the eurOpeo Biomasstep project, co-financed by the EurOPEA Commission through the Interreg-Poctep cross-border cooperation program, to develop a new methodology that enables companies in the bioenergy sector to the on-site evaluation of the quality of biomass for energy use between the regions of Algarve and Andalusia. Guaranteeing the use of quality biomass is a fundamental aspect for the consolidation of the sector, since it is an essential factor to obtain a good performance in the equipment that is used, as well as to ensure good air quality, both aspects in which the Andalusian autonomous community has been working for years.
Together with the Andalusian Energy Agency, this project includes the University of Córdoba (coordinators), the Andalusian Technology Corporation (CTA); Prodetur (Seville Provincial Council); the Association of Renewable Energy Companies (APPA Renovables), AREANATejo – Agência Regional de Energia e Ambiente do Alentejo; AREAL – Algarve Regional Energy and Environment Agency; LNEG – National Laboratory of Energy and Geology of Portugal and the University of Évora.
The Provincial Council of Seville has been the place chosen to celebrate the presentation day of Biomasstep, whose inauguration was carried out by María del Mar Delgado Serrano, delegate of the Rector for International Projection of the University of Córdoba; Antonio Conde Sánchez, vice president of Prodetur, and Jorge Jiménez Luna, managing director of the Andalusian Energy Agency.
NIRS Technology and Interregional Platform
The immediate determination of the quality of the biomass will be achieved thanks to a tool based on NIRS technology, which is already used successfully in other areas of the agri-food sector and which allows obtaining in a few minutes what could be achieved by traditional methods. It would take days. Although the market is increasingly tending towards the use of standardized and certified fuels, the fact is that not all biomass marketed has a quality certificate that guarantees the desirable characteristics from an energy point of view such as its humidity, calorific values, content in ashes, etc.
Within the framework of the project, which has a budget exceeding 600,000 eurand two and a half years, an interregional platform of the biomass between Andalusia and Portugal will also be created that, as a cross -border network between companies in the sector, research centers, universities, public administrations and companies, will encourage the implementation and transfer of technology created by the project and the use of quality biomass.
Equipment in industrial or high-power installations is provided with elements to control particles, but domestic equipment usually does not have them. The importance of the Biomasstep project lies in the control it will allow in this aspect, since, given the increase in the use of biomass for residential purposes, better quality of biomass reduces the polluting particles derived from its combustion.
