The project started in January 2007 and will continue for 3 years until January 2009. It aims to develop and promote transparency on the European fuel pellets market. This is done to facilitate pellets trade and to remove market barriers, mainly information gaps but also local supply bottlenecks, production surpluses and uncertainties in quality assurance management. Furthermore:
- Contribution to the implementation of future European legislation which is hindered by lack of market confidence and attitudes rather than costs.
- Provision of detailed pellet market data on wood and mixed biomass pellets (MBP), such as current prices, available quantities and qualities to all pellet actors in Europe.
- Support of market participation and increase of energetic utilisation of pellets by the permanent availability of market information within a real-time European Pellets Atlas.
PELLETS@LAS – WORK PROGRAMME
Phase 1: Development of a methodology?
Phase 2: Data collections on European pellet markets and pre-feasibility studies on MBP utilisation?
Phase 3: National and international pellet markets?
Phase 4: Dissemination and communication activities
NEWSLETTERS??
To download the first pellets@las newsletter June 2007 click here.
The secound pellets@las newsletter January 2008 is available click here to download.
The third pellets@las newsletter June 2008 is now available click here to download
The fourth pellets@las newsletter December 2008 is now available click here to download.
Pellets@las is the successor to the previous project – Pellets for Europe which ran from June 2003 to April 2006. Pellets@las has inherited the website and database from this project and will update and improve it. It contains information on all pellet actors, studies on pellets markets, statisitics and best practices. Pellets for Europe aimed to provide technical and market information for pellet market actors and to promote pellet technologies across Europe. The main aim for this European project was to support the development of the European pellet market.
See the screenshot below from the Pellets for Europe website. Here you can select the country and the type of pellet stakeholder to get their contact details.
Another aim was to contribute to an increased use of high quality fuel pellets for energy purposes in Europe in order to secure energy supplies and decrease greenhouse gase emissions. Additional targets were to stimulate new markets in Southern Europe where the pellet market is still in its infancy and to take advantage the wood and agricultural residues not already utilised there.
Pellets for Europe found a lot of its success based around conferences and workshops. For example, the European Pellet Conference, held in Wels, Austria both in 2004 and 2005, where it attracted over 600 visitors from the whole Europe each year. Conclusions made where that continued research and support was needed for the pellet market in Europe.
For more information see: http://www.pelletsatlas.info/