Veolia's fire prevention generates 5,000 tons of biomass

Veolia collaborates with the Public Company for Environmental Management (GEACAM) in the prevention of forest fires through its biomass company Enerbosque. The company currently works in the province of Cuenca creating firebreak strips and areas, through directed and clean felling of forest mass, which facilitates protection and extinction work in the event of fire.

These works, planned by the Ministry of Agriculture of Castilla-La Mancha, are part of the 2018 annual plans for the use of the biomass generated. The work consists of thinning the tree mass to very low densities and clearing the existing scrub in a strip of about 100 meters wide. In this way, areas with a low fuel load are created where, in the event of a fire, the advance of the fire can be stopped and its extinction facilitated.

Enerbosque's actions in this first phase have generated some 5,000 tons of biomass that, once treated, will be used for the production of thermal energy in Veolia facilities for homes and industries. Biomass is an economical and environmentally friendly source of renewable energy, as it reduces CO2 emissions emitted into the atmosphere. One of Veolia's main biomass heat networks is Móstoles Ecoenergía, a plant that supplies heating and domestic hot water to 2,500 homes in Móstoles. This heat network reduces the energy costs of the neighbors it serves by 15% and avoids the emission of 9,000 tons of CO2. 

In addition to collaborating with prevention efforts, Enerbosque participates in the restoration and recovery of areas affected by forest fires in previous years. Specifically, the company has been awarded through a public tender by the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Development of Castilla La Mancha a sensitive area in the municipality of Yeste, in Albacete, a burned area in which last summer more than 3,000 hectares that belong to the Calares del Río Mundo Natural Park and the Sierra de Segura. The cutting and removal of the burned forest mass is essential to facilitate the regeneration and recovery of the environment.

Enerbosque therefore carries out the cutting, preparation, clearing and chipping of the wood obtained from these treatments for subsequent handling and transportation to the company's thermal production plants. It is also planned to use a part of the wood obtained in rounds to supply the panel industry and sawmills.