solid biofuel standardization - biomassbiomass.ge/sites/default/files/biofuel_standards_eng.pdf ·...

Solid Biofuel Standardization

Energy and Sustainable Development Institute

Ilia State University

Tbilisi, 2015

Contents GLOSSARY OF TERMS ................................................................................................................................... 4

ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................................................... 6

1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 7

1.1 General Remarks .......................................................................................................................... 7

1.2 General principles of standardization .......................................................................................... 8

1.3 International and Regional Standardization Bodies ................................................................... 10

1.3.1 ISO ...................................................................................................................................... 10

1.3.2 CEN ..................................................................................................................................... 11

1.3.3 BSI ....................................................................................................................................... 11

1.3.4 DIN ...................................................................................................................................... 12

1.4 Relation between the standards set by different institutions ................................................... 13

1.5 Quality assurance Compliance to standards .............................................................................. 14

2 An overview of solid biofuels standardization ................................................................................... 14

2.1 Development of the solid biofuel standards .............................................................................. 14

2.2 Current state of solid biofuels standardization according to the ISO and CEN.......................... 16

2.3 Principles of Solid biofuel Standardization ................................................................................. 17

3 Fuel specification, classes and quality assurance standards .............................................................. 24

3.1 Standards for solid biofuel production, transport and storage ................................................. 25

3.1.1 European standards on biofuel production ....................................................................... 25

3.1.2 Standards dealing with solid biofuel logistics and storage ................................................ 27

3.1.3 Boilers technical standards................................................................................................. 28

4 Environmental Standards on Solid biofuel ......................................................................................... 30

4.1 Certification schemes ................................................................................................................. 30

4.1.1 General EU regulatory framework ..................................................................................... 31

4.2 Government initiatives ............................................................................................................... 33

4.2.1 Netherlands ........................................................................................................................ 33

4.2.2 NTA 8080 ............................................................................................................................ 33

4.2.3 Green Gold Label ................................................................................................................ 33

4.2.4 EN plus ................................................................................................................................ 34

4.2.5 United Kingdom .................................................................................................................. 34

4.2.6 Mandatory sustainability criteria from April 2015 onwards .............................................. 35

4.2.7 Greenhouse gas reduction requirements .......................................................................... 35

4.2.8 Land use and sustainable forest management criteria ...................................................... 35

4.3 Key elements of a biomass certification scheme ....................................................................... 36

5 Safety standards on solid biofuel ....................................................................................................... 37

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5.1 Boilers: Standards, Testing and Certification Process ................................................................ 37

5.1.1 U.S. and Canadian Requirements ....................................................................................... 38

5.1.2 EU Requirements ................................................................................................................ 38

5.1.3 UK requirements ................................................................................................................ 38

6 An Overview of solid biofuel stundardisation in some countries ...................................................... 39

6.1 Ukraine ....................................................................................................................................... 39

6.2 Russia .......................................................................................................................................... 41

6.3 Turkey ......................................................................................................................................... 43

6.4 The Caucasus countries .............................................................................................................. 43

7 COnclusions and recommendations ................................................................................................... 44

Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 45

ATTACHMENTS ........................................................................................................................................... 46

List of International and EU standards on solid biofuel ............................................................................. 46

Annex 1. International standards (ISO) .................................................................................................. 47

Annex 2-European standards (EN) ......................................................................................................... 49

Annex 3- List of some international and national standards for solid biofuel production equipment and safety of its operation ............................................................................................................................ 51

Annex 4- List of some International and national Environmental standards for solid biofuel .............. 52

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GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Advanced biofuels - Renewable fuel other than ethanol derived from corn starch that is derived from renewable biomass, and achieves a 50 percent GHG emissions reduction requirement. Advanced biofuels include cellulosic biofuels and biomass-based diesel. (http://www.ethanolrfa.org/pages/renewable-fuel-standard).

Bioenergy - Energy from biomass.

Biofuel - Fuel produced directly or indirectly from biomass (includes solid, liquid and gaseous biomass fuels).

Biofuel blend - Biofuel resulting from intentionally mixing of different biofuels. (content of blend is known)

Biofuel briquette - Densified biofuel made with or without additives in the form of cubiform, polyhedral, polyhydric or cylindrical units with a diameter of more than 25 mm, produced by compressing biomass.

Biofuel mixture

- Biofuel resulting from natural or unintentional mixing of different biofuels and/or different types of biomass (content of mixture is not exactly known)

Biofuel pellet

- Densified biofuel made from milled biomass with or without additives usually with a cylindrical form, random length typically 5 to 40 mm, and broken ends. The raw material for biofuel pellets can be woody biomass, herbaceous biomass, fruit biomass, or biomass blends and mixtures. They are usually manufactured in a die. The total moisture of biofuel pellets is usually less than 10%of mass.

Biomass

- Is defined from a scientific and technical point of view as material of biological origin excluding material embedded in geological formations and/or transformed to fossil. Biomass is defined in legal documents in many different ways according to the scope and goal of the respective documents (e.g.: directive 2001/77/EC of the European parliament and the council; commission decision (2007/589/EC) of 18 July 2007).

Cellulosic biofuel Is renewable fuel derived from any cellulose, hemicellulose, or lignin that is derived from renewable biomass, and achieves a 60 percent GHG emission reduction requirement. The 60% GHG emissions reduction requirement may be adjusted to a lower percentage (but not less than 50%) if it is determined the requirement is not feasible for cellulosic biofuels.

Certification - Third-party attestation (i.e., issue of a statement) that specified requirements related to products, processes, systems or persons have been fulfilled (adapted from ISO/IEC 17 000, 2005, definitions 5.2 and 5.5).

Chemical treatment

- Chemical treatment is defined as any treatment with chemicals other than air, water or heat. (Different chemical treatments are listed in annex C in EN14961-1.)

Densified biofuel, compressed biofuel

- Solid biofuel made by mechanically compressing biomass to increase its density and to form the solid biofuel into a specific size and shape such as cubes, pressed logs, biofuel pellets or biofuel briquettes. See also biofuel briquette

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and biofuel pellets.

Fruit biomass - Biomass from the parts of a plant which hold seeds. Example: nuts, olives

Herbaceous biomass - Biomass from plants that has a non-woody stem and which dies back at the end of the growing season.

Non-woody pellet

- Densified non-woody biofuel made from pulverized biomass with or without additives usually with a cylindrical form diameter <25 mm, random length and typically 3.15 to 40 mm with broken ends, obtained by mechanical compression. The raw material for non-woody pellets can be herbaceous biomass, fruit biomass, or biomass blends and mixtures. They are usually manufactured in a die with total moisture content usually less than 15% of their mass.

Solid biofuel - Solid fuels produced directly or indirectly from biomass.

Standard

- Document, established by consensus and approved by a recognized body, that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context. Standards should be based on the consolidated results of science, technology and experience, and aimed at the promotion of optimum community benefits. (Source: CEN/CENELEC internal regulations.)

Wood fuels, wood based fuels, wood-derived biofuels

- All types of biofuels originating directly or indirectly from woody biomass.

Wood processing industry by-products and residues

- Woody biomass residues originating from the wood processing as well as the pulp and paper industry. Examples: bark, cork residues, cross-cut ends, edgings, fiberboard residues, fiber sludge, grinding dust, particleboard residues, plywood residues, sawdust, slabs, and wood shavings.

Woody biomass - Biomass from trees, bushes and shrubs. This definition includes forest, plantation and other wood, wood processing industry by-products and residues, and used wood.

Wood pellet

- Biofuel made from woody biomass with or without additives in the form of cubi form, polyhedral or cylindrical units, random length and typically 3.15 mm to 40 mm, a diameter up to 25 mm and with broken ends.

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ABBREVIATIONS

BSI - British Standards Institution, a service organization that produces standards across a wide

variety of industry sectors

CD - Committee draft

CDP - Carbon Disclosure Project

CEN - European Committee for Standardization. (Comité Européen de Normalisation)

CENELEC - European Committee for Electro technical Standardization (French: Comité Européen de Normalisation Électrotechnique) is responsible for European standardization in the area of electrical engineering.

DIS - Draft International Standard

EC - European Committee

EFTA - European Free Trade Association

EN - European Norm, European Standards

ETSI - European Telecommunications Standards Institute

ISO - International Organization for Standardization

NP - New Proposal

TS - Technical Specification

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 General Remarks

The demand for solid biomass for energy use has increased strongly in the recent decades, and there is no sign of reduction in demand neither in the European nor in developing countries including Georgia. In 2004 EU presented Climate Change Action Plan0F

1 to reduce the need for fossil fuels, biomass is an obvious candidate to take a bigger part in the renewed energy mix. From being a kind of byproduct from the local forest industry, even hard to get rid of, in some cases, the solid biomass now is becoming a converted into a spectrum of well-priced products worth to be shipped to long distances. Stumps, tops, branches and other bio sources are now worth to be used as fuels in the energy balance.

Having fuel wood as an important component of country’s energy balance and facing the strong degradation of forests due to unorganized harvesting, Georgia needs to look for alternatives and namely to develop the utilization of residual biomass in particular through transforming it into advanced solid biofuels. Further and advance deployment of biomass as a fuel in Georgia requires application of international best practices in this field. This is necessary to properly plan and implement the policies for promotion the use of solid biofuels, in particular those produced from the residues of forestry or agricultural operations, based on current state of economic and technology development in Georgia. This refers to the whole spectrum of activities including collection, processing, supply and use of biomass in stoves and furnaces. This knowledge to a great extent is reflected in international and national standards for solid advanced biofuels.

There is a wide range of biomass residue potentially suitable for energy use in Georgia; it is provided by various human activities and from a variety of plant materials with differing chemical and physical characteristics. Furthermore, existing production processes and biomass handling largely add to variety in biomass qualities. This results in biomass being a diverse heterogeneous fuel. At the same time, most types of conversion equipment work effectively within their operational range with a few types and forms of biomass fuels and the limited interval of parameters. This has to be seriously considered e.g. in contracts within the biomass chain, as the value of the fuel depends on its main characteristics. Heterogeneity of the biomass fuel and the difference in technical and operational characteristics of solid biofuel production and conversion equipment, have an effect on operational, economic, environmental and safety issues. According to the current practice, standardization and certification are effective measures to address such qualitative and technical issues. Creation of internationally or regionally recognized quality standards for solid biofuels aims among others, at avoiding the compatibility and resulting efficiency and safety problems and therefore facilitating the involvement of economic actors in solid biofuel industry.

For Georgia, at the initial stage to creating a modern, efficient and sustainable system of solid biofuel production and operation, it is necessary to collect and analyze the information about the international

1 http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/development/sectoral_development_policies/r12542_en.htm

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best practices in supporting policies for the use of biofuel for energy needs and this unavoidably includes standardization and certification.

The presented desk study is based on compilation and analysis of international, regional and some national data on solid biofuel standardization. The rest of the paper gives an overview of the contents of Standards and explains how to use them as a supporting tool for businesses; how and where to find Standards and to improve their use in the market. The study aims to illustrate the current state of solid biofuel standardization at different levels and to support further development of the industry in Georgia.

1.2 General principles of standardization

Standardization, accreditation and certification are parts of a modern system controlling and demonstrating the compliance of products and services with specified requirements set out in standards, norms and other specifications. The purpose of such a system is to provide confidence that only products and services are certified which fulfill the specified requirements (Kalligeros at al., 2009).

Standardization is the process of developing and implementing technical standards, or in other words - standardization is the process by which specifications are set1F

2.

Standardization helps to maximize compatibility, interoperability, safety, repeatability, or quality. It can also facilitate commoditization of formerly customer tailored specific processes. Standardisation creates the conditions for customer confidence, market growth and technological evolution. This allows effective and profitable competition through such factors as product differentiation. As consumers become better informed about their choices, conformity to recognized standards becomes increasingly important for success in the market.

The general aims of standardization are as follows: to make a product, process or service fit for its purpose, controlling variety by using the optimum number of types or sizes, ensuring compatibility of various products, assurance of health, safety, protection of the environment, etc. Standards are needed so that mistakes and failures are concentrated in one place and avoided on a massive scale. Standards are safeguards against malfunctioning and conduits for optimal solutions.

Implementation of standards in industry and commerce became highly important with the onset of the Industrial Revolution and the need for high-precision machine tools and interchangeable parts. This also concerns the energy industry and its branch – production and use of solid biofuel.

2In order to better understand what Standards are, how Standards are produced and what their role is in the current market, we suggest referring to the public sections of some Standardization Bodies’ websites (ISO, CEN, BSI, etc.).

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_standard

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/compatibility

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interoperability

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repeatability

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_(business)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commoditization

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_tool

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interchangeable_parts

Standards are created by bringing together all interested parties such as manufacturers, consumers, and regulators of a particular material, product, process or service. All parties benefit from standardization through increased product safety and quality as well as lower transactions costs and prices.

The modern system of standardization is based on 5 main principles:

1. Consensus The basic principle of standardization is consensus. Consensus - general agreement, is characterized by the absence of sustained opposition to substantial issues by any important part of the concerned interests and by a process that involves seeking to take into account the views of all parties concerned and to reconcile any conflicting arguments. Without the consensus no agreed and/or recognized standards can be issued.

In order to achieve full consensus2F

3, standards are developed through formal stages of drafting and consultation, which are also public.

2. Involvement of all stakeholders. The democratic procedure of the preparation of standards envisages the involvement of all stakeholders, who have the right to participate in and contribute to the preparation of standards they will voluntarily apply. Without such participation the whole value chain will not be addressed and the problems of compatibility, efficiency and interoperability will remain unresolved.

3. Openness to the public The procedure of the preparation of standards must be open to the public from its very beginning and at all its stages. The public must be appropriately informed about the beginning of the preparation of a standard, about the body preparing it, about the document serving as the basis for its preparation and about the preparation stages (public enquiry, issue of the standard).

This way the adoption and further implementation of standard becomes easier and also the public has the possibility to provide an input in the issues they deem to be important. Moreover as a general rule final implementation of the standards is preceded by circulating the draft standards publicly during an appropriate period of time for the overall consideration.

4. State of the art The content of standards shall be oriented in accordance with the requirements of the public. Therefore, it is necessary that standards take into account the present state of the art which is the developed stage of technical capability at a given time based on the relevant consolidated findings of science, technology and experience. This provides the sound basis for further technological advancement.

5. Coherence of standards collection

3 Consensus need not imply unanimity.

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A standards collection must be coherent, i.e. must not contain conflicting standards (by the adoption of a new standard on a subject the old standard is withdrawn).

In general the application of standards is voluntary, consensus-based and as such does not impose any regulations. However, laws and regulations (European, national or local) may refer to standards and even make compliance with them compulsory (A Guide to Biomass…, 2011).

The application of standards does not release anyone from the responsibility for the results of their actions. In this respect, everyone is acting at their own risk.

If any product, process or service is regulated by compulsory standards and they do not satisfy such standards then they cannot be introduced to the market.

Nowadays, standards play a prominent role world-wide. Especially standards are important tools in supporting EU policies in the following four areas:

– EU Legislation; – Support of the competitiveness of industry; – Support of societal needs; – Removal of barriers to trade at international level.

In general, standards are industry specific and based on the scope and scale, can be of international, regional (rarely) and national importance. In most EU or EU oriented countries, because of free trade requirements, both International (regional) and national standards, if any, are in force. National standards are generally based on international standards’ requirements. In this case, when for example new European standards (ENs) are published the conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn.

Standards are publicly available documents that may be purchased from ISO, CEN's (European Committee for Standardization) National Members and Affiliates for a reasonable fee. It should always be taken into account that standards are protected by copyright and associated usage rights.

1.3 International and Regional Standardization Bodies

There are a number of organizations that set the standards at international or regional levels. In general the countries may choose to use international standards or to develop their own national standards.

Currently there are two main organizations responsible for developing of international and regional (European) standards in the field of solid biofuel these are ISO and the CEN respectively. The other, initially national organizations, whose standards on biofuel became important and internationally recognized, are the BSI and DIN.

1.3.1 ISO

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is an independent, non-governmental inter-governmental membership based organization and the world's largest developer of voluntary International Standards (http://www.iso.org). Founded in February 1947, the organization promotes worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial standards. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and currently is made up of 165 member countries that are the national standards bodies around the world. It was one of the first organizations granted general consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. ISO standards are developed by a panel of experts, within the established technical committees (TC).

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http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards.htm

http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_standard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva

http://www.iso.org/iso/home/about/iso_members.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organizations_with_consultative_status_to_the_United_Nations_Economic_and_Social_Council

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organizations_with_consultative_status_to_the_United_Nations_Economic_and_Social_Council

For the time being ISO has developed over 19 500 International Standards. The prefix for these standards is ISO (e.g.: ISO 9001); the index represents series of the standards (e.g. 9000 is the series of quality management standards). All ISO standards are included in the Standards catalogue (http://www.iso.org/iso/home/store/catalogue_ics.htm).

1.3.2 CEN

At European level the recognized body in charge of standard development is the European Committee for Standardization (Comité Européen de Normalisation – CEN) (https://www.cen.eu/Pages/default.aspx); it focuses on all sectors except on the Electrotechnical domain and the Information & Communications Technologies field3F

4. CEN was founded in 1961; it is a non-profit organization whose mission is to foster the European economy in global trading, the welfare of European citizens and the environment by providing an efficient infrastructure to interested parties for the development, maintenance and distribution of coherent sets of standards and specifications. Under common standardization rules, CEN's 31 National Members work together to develop European Standards (ENs) in various sectors, and to help build the European internal market in goods and services, removing barriers to trade and strengthening Europe's position in the global economy. CEN produces European Standards that automatically and mandatorily become national standards in the 31 member countries. In addition, CEN produces some other technical documents such as Technical Specifications (TSs) and Technical Reports (TRs).

CEN provides a platform for the development of European Standards and other technical documents in relation to various kinds of products, materials, services and processes4F

5. Among others CEN is responsible for defining the standards in biofuels including solid, liquid and gaseous biofuels.

1.3.3 BSI

The BSI Group, also known in its home market as the British Standards Institution or BSI, acts as the UK's National Standards Body (NSB) (www.bsigroup.com). It is a service organization that produces standards across the wide variety of industry sectors. Its codes of practice and specifications cover management and technical subjects ranging from business continuity management to quality requirements.

BSI is the oldest standards body in the world. It stems from a meeting of various industrial institutes in 1901 which created a long running committee. The committee became the British Engineering Standards Association in 1929 which had its objectives defined by Royal charter. In 1930, this Association formally became the British Standards Institution.

4CEN together with CENELEC (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization) and ETSI (telecommunications) forms the European system for technical standardization. Standards harmonised by these agencies are regularly adopted in many countries outside Europe which follow European technical standards. 5For most important terms according to EN 14588 and ISO 16559:2014 please refer to the Glossary of terms.

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https://www.cen.eu/Pages/default.aspx

BSI alone has developed around 31,000 current standards and has operations in more than 140 countries globally. The prefix for its standards is BS (e.g.: BS 7799).

The BSI assists organizations wishing to achieve the European CE mark certification. CE is an abbreviation of the French phrase “Conformité Européene,” which means European conformity and is a declaration by the manufacturer that the product meets the requirements of the applicable European directive(s).

In the BSI Group the Committee PTI/17 is responsible for Biofuel standardization. The subject of the Committee is - Energy; Sector: Sustainability.

This committee is categorized in: Biological & alternative energy sources, Equipment, installations, disposal & treatment, Occupational safety & industrial hygiene, Petroleum & related technologies, Solid, Stationary source emissions.

Scope of the Committee:

Under the direction of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee, the Committee PTI/17 is responsible for the development of standards for:

• products from agriculture and forestry; • vegetable waste from agriculture and forestry; • vegetable waste from the food processing industry; • wood and cork waste; • solid recoverable wood.

1.3.4 DIN

The DIN (Deutsches Institut für Normung E.V.), the German Institute for Standardization is the national organization for standardization and is the German ISO member body. DIN is a Registered German Association (e.V.) headquartered in Berlin. There are currently around thirty thousand DIN Standards, covering nearly every field of technology.

Founded in 1917 as the Normenausschuß der deutschen Industrie (NADI, "Standardisation Committee of German Industry"), in 1926 was renamed as Deutscher Normenausschuß (DNA, "German Standardisation Committee") to reflect that the organization now dealt with standardization issues in many fields. In 1975 it was renamed again to Deutsches Institut für Normung, or 'DIN' and is recognized by the German government as the official national-standards body, representing German interests at the international and European levels.

One of the earliest, and probably the best known, is DIN 476 — the standard that introduced the A-series paper sizes in 1922 — adopted in 1975 as International Standard ISO 216. Common examples in modern technology include DIN and mini-DIN connectors for electronics.

DIN, develops norms and standards for rationalization, quality assurance, environmental protection, safety and communication in industry, technology, science, and government, as well as the public domain. DIN standards provide companies a basis for quality, safety and minimum functionality expectations

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1.4 Relation between the standards set by different institutions

In January 1989 the CEN Administrative Board approved an agreement on the exchange of technical information between ISO and CEN (called the Lisbon Agreement) as a response to the ISO Council resolution 11/1987. Subsequently, an agreement on technical co-operation between ISO and CEN was approved by the ISO Council resolution 18/1990 and the CEN General Assembly resolution 3/1990. This agreement (called the Vienna Agreement) was published in June 1991. It is accompanied by common ISO-CEN “Guidelines for the TC/SC Chairmen and Secretariats for implementation”, approved in 1992 and revised in September 1998. After a decade of experience, the need for the Agreement was confirmed by ISO and CEN and the present edition was confirmed by the ISO Council resolution 35/2001 and the CEN Administrative Board resolution 2/2001.

The Vienna Agreement came in force in the mid-2000s. Its primary aim is to prevent duplication of effort and reduce the time for preparing standards. As a result, new standards projects are jointly planned between CEN and ISO. Wherever appropriate priority is given to cooperation with ISO provided that international standards meet European legislative and market requirements and that non-European global players also implement these standards. In the last decade CEN has adopted a number of ISO standards which replaced the corresponding CEN standards.

Essentially, the agreement recognizes the primacy of international standards (stipulated notably in the WTO Code of Conduct). But the agreement also recognizes that particular needs (of the Single European Market for example) might require the development of standards for which a need has not been recognized at the international level. In some instances CEN needs to undertake work which is urgent in the European context, but less so in the international one. The Vienna Agreement allows expertise to be focused and used in an efficient way to the benefit of international standardization.

As a result, the agreement sets out two essential modes for collaborative development of standards: the mode under ISO lead and the mode under CEN lead, in which documents developed within one body are notified for the simultaneous approval by the other.

There are some other, less important for this review, types of relations between international, regional, and national standards but it can be stated that as a general rule International (ISO) and or Regional (EN) standards replicate of or are based on most advanced and simultaneously agreeable (remember principle of Consensus) national standards; high level (international and regional) standards are newer than the national ones.

There are different indexation rules used in ISO, CEN, BSI and other international and national standards. So, same ISO, CEN or BSI standards may have same titles but different indexes (see Annex 1).

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1.5 Quality assurance Compliance to standards

As mentioned above Standards in general are voluntary documents that give a high added value to a product or a process. A declaration (self-declaration or a third party certification5F

6) stating that a product/process complies with a standard relieves the user of the product/process of further investigations and guarantees a good level of reliability.

If the end user is to have a fuel that meets the standard for a particular class, then all points along the supply chain must be monitored and, where necessary, documented to ensure that standards are met. In addition, it must ensure that contamination is avoided, processes perform their role properly and, if there are any subsequent concerns about fuel quality it is relatively straightforward to identify where and when any slipping of standards might have occurred and how many other users of the fuel might potentially be affected. The aim of the QA standards is to guarantee the fuel quality through the whole supply chain, from the origin and source to the delivery of the solid biofuel and provide adequate confidence that specified quality requirements are fulfilled. It is an explicit aim of the standards that: “Quality assurance measures shall establish confidence in the fuel through systems that are simple to operate and do not cause undue bureaucracy.” (www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk/pls/portal/docs/page/practical/fuel_supply/standards).

2 AN OVERVIEW OF SOLID BIOFUELS STANDARDIZATION

2.1 Development of the solid biofuel standards

Along with the national level, standardization for solid biofuels takes place at both European (CEN) and international (ISO) levels. This chapter provides an overview of the standards’ development process as well as an overview of the standards which are already published or are under development.

Although at first sight these standards may appear large and complex, the key parts any fuel supplier actually needs to know in detail are usually pretty small. The purpose of this document is to demystify the purpose and usage of the standards and highlight and explain the important issues.

Usually the standards are developed by Technical Committee (TC) established within the Standardization bodies.

In 2000 the European Union gave a mandate to CEN to develop standards for solid biofuels. Subsequently CEN established Technical Committee 335 – Solid Biofuels, which covers woody biomass, including wood from forests, plantations and landscape management. In the first phase TC/335 created a suite of interconnected 27 pre-standards (technical specifications) defining terminology, specification,

6 There are a number of independent international (TUV, BV, SGS etc.), regional (TUV Sud, BV Europe, etc.) and national certification bodies.

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fuel quality assurance (FQA), sampling and the range of tests required to quantify fuel properties. Over time during 2007–2010 these pre-standards have been revised and updated to full European EN-standards displacing all other national standards across the EU (e.g. ONORM & DIN). They are also being used as the basis for new ISO standards (ISO/TC 238).

In total more than 40 standards for terminology, fuel specification and classes, quality assurance, sampling, analysis, physical and mechanical and chemical properties are published and the rest will be published in future (See Annex 1; List of standards which have been published or are under the preparation).

Figure 1. Biomass chain and CEN standardization

Work on standards drafting is usually divided into working groups (WG) normally led by a group of respective experts from a member state. The leadership and convener of WG are decided by TC. Drafting of standards is done in working groups.

As mentioned above, solid biofuel standards are developed under CEN/TC 335 and ISO/TC 298 Working groups.

CEN/TC 335 Working group - Solid biofuel: • WG 1 – Terminology (Germany) • WG 2 – Fuel specification and classes, fuel quality assurance (Finland) • WG 3 – Sampling and sample preparation (the Netherlands) • WG 4 – Physical and mechanical properties (Sweden) • WG 5 – Chemical analysis (the Netherlands)

The participating countries form national mirror committees, which include different stakeholders. Mirror committees comment the draft standards and vote on them (yes, no or abstain). Swedish Standardization Institute (SIS) acting as a secretariat.

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All draft versions of standards are distributed to WG members6F

7. Usually also national mirror committees receive draft versions and can comment on them. Distribution of draft standards is only allowed to WG’s and mirror committees.

Development of standards is several years long process. Usually the technical specifications (pre-standard) are produced in the first phase.

For easy search and/or reference it has to be noted that most of the ISO standards concerning the biofuel have the index starting with 17 or 18, but one standard which determines the terminology and definitions for solid biofuels - the ISO 16559:2014 has index starting with 16 (see Annex 1).

2.2 Current state of solid biofuels standardization according to the ISO and CEN

International (ISO) and European Standards (EN) on solid biofuels are a powerful marketing, environmental protection, and safety tool. Compliance for example with widely recognized European Standards is an effective means of differentiation in a competitive marketplace which gives a strong competitive advantage. In addition, manufacturing the products or supplying services that conform to appropriate standards maximizes their compatibility with those manufactured or offered by others, thereby increasing potential sales and widespread acceptance.

As mentioned above the European Standards on solid biofuel are developed in CEN/TC 335. Most of the standards on the work programme of CEN/TC 335 have been formally published as European (EN) standards. The international standards are developed in ISO/TC 238 "Solid biofuels".

According to the scope of the ISO/TC 238 this standard only includes raw and processed material originating from:

• forestry and arboriculture, • agriculture and horticulture, • aquaculture.

In addition, the international standards will include aquatic biomass as a raw material and classification of thermally treated biomass (e.g. torrefied biomass).

The standards on the work programme of ISO/TC 238 are either still under development or the process has to be formally initiated. The list of international standards is based on the information available at the so-called ISO Project Portal (https://id.iso.org)7F

8 (as of November, 2014); the work programme may extend in future. The work programme of ISO/TC 238 shows much overlap with the work programme of CEN/TC 335, noting that differences still exist. For example, where the European standards on fuel specifications and classes (EN 14961 series) focus on non-industrial use, the international standards on this topic (ISO 17225 series) enlarge the scope to industrial use as well.

7 At this stage the best way to influence the standards development process is to participate in WG’s. 8 To accesses the site online registration is required.

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The list of European and international standards are rather similar. The full list can be downloaded from this link (http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_tc_browse.htm?).

The standards can be divided along the following topics:

Table 1.List of Solid biofuel standards topics

Topic European (EN) standards International (ISO) standards

Terminology EN 14588 ISO/DIS 165597

Fuel specifications and classes EN 14961 series (6 parts) ISO/DIS 17225 series (7 parts)8F

9

Fuel quality assurance EN 15234 series (6 parts) ISO/CD 17588

Sample and sample preparation EN 14778 and EN 14780 ISO/NP 181357 and ISO/NP 147807

Physical and mechanical properties 17 standards published 10 standards under development

Chemical analysis 6 standards published 6 standards under development

ISO/TC 238 and CEN/TC 335 have decided to apply Vienna agreement, which means that European standards to be superseded by new ISO standards. Currently according to the Agreement most ISO standards are already supersede European (CEN) standards for solid biofuels. ISO/TC 238 is preparing almost 60 standards for solid biofuels. Other nations will make their national decisions. Solid biofuel specification standards listed below are under Draft international standard (DIS) phase.

• ISO/DIS 17225-1 Solid biofuels -- Fuel specifications and classes -- Part 1: General requirements; • ISO/DIS 17225-2 Solid biofuels -- Fuel specifications and classes -- Part 2: Graded wood pellets; • ISO/DIS 17225-3 Solid biofuels -- Fuel specifications and classes -- Part 3: Graded wood

briquettes; • ISO/DIS 17225-4 Solid biofuels -- Fuel specifications and classes -- Part 4: Graded wood chips; • ISO/DIS 17225-5 Solid biofuels -- Fuel specifications and classes -- Part 5: Graded firewood; • ISO/DIS 17225-6 Solid biofuels -- Fuel specifications and classes -- Part 6: Graded non-woody

pellets; • ISO/DIS 17225-7 Solid biofuels -- Fuel specifications and classes -- Part 7: Graded non-woody

briquettes. The above standards (parts 1-6) will supersede EN 14961 parts 1-6 after publication.

2.3 Principles of Solid biofuel Standardization

To better understand principles of solid biofuel standardization let’s consider an example of traditional hydrocarbon fuel: Because of unified technical and environmental specifications of the engines the

9Standards under development

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http://www.solidstandards.eu/images/downloads/European_and_international_framework_24032011.pptx

gasoline or diesel fuels sold anywhere in the world should be consistent with specific standards, EN 2287 and EN 5908 respectively, stating their chemical and physical characteristics. Fuels not compliant with these standards, simply cannot be put onto the market. A simple consequence of this is that, car manufacturer guarantees are only valid if a standard fuel is used. More serious consequences are related to the safe use of such fuels or, from an economic point of view, their market price in relation to energy content. For these and other reasons in Europe the use of fuels which don’t comply with the standards is quite limited.

This approach should be kept in mind moving from the main common fossil fuels to the solid biofuels. The first point to be noted in relation to standards for biofuels is that "Solid biofuels are fuels produced from biomass"; this apparently simple sentence has a deeper significance, since for the most people terms like "pellet" or "chips" are closer to terms like "green, natural, plants, wood" than to "fuel" and this is one of the common mistakes that should be avoided. Another implication of this sentence is that the term "biomass" refers to the whole tree, while "solid biofuels" are pellets, briquettes, wood logs, wood chips.

Basically the biofuel standards fall into three basic types:

1. Descriptions and definitions: a. Fuel specifications and classes b. Terminology, definitions and descriptions

2. How different parameters are determined, e.g.: a. Moisture content b. Particle size distribution (e.g. chip size range) c. Calorific value d. Ash content and properties e. Mechanical durability of pellets f. How representative sampling should be undertaken for testing g. Conversion of analyses to different bases

3. How fuel quality is monitored and maintained through the supply chain.

Apart of the above there are environmental and safety standards which are also addressed in this study (see paragraphs 4 and 5).

The solid biofuels are divided to the following sub-categories for classification in EN 14961-1:

1. Woody biomass (Table 2) 2. Herbaceous biomass (Table 3) 3. Fruit biomass, and 4. Blends and mixtures (Table 4).

An important component for standardization is the classification of biomass. The classification gives indices to each particular type of raw biomass that is used in production of solid biofuels. The purpose of classification is to allow the possibility to differentiate and specify raw material based on diverse sources of origin with as much detail as needed.

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Figure 2. Classification of woody biomass (source: http://dx.doi.org/10.6027/TN2012-550)

The quality classification in a table form below is prepared only for major traded solid biofuels.

Table 2.Classification 1-of Woody biomass (EN 14961-1)

1.1 Forest, plantation and other virgin wood

1.1.1 Whole trees without roots

1.1.1.1 Broadleaf

1.1.1.2 Coniferous

1.1.1.3 Short rotation coppice 1.1.1.4 Bushes 1.1.1.5 Blends and mixtures

1.1.2 Whole trees with roots

1.1.2.1 Broadleaf

1.1.2.2 Coniferous 1.1.2.3 Short rotation coppice 1.1.2.4 Bushes 1.1.2.5 Blends and mixtures

1.1.3 Stemwood 1.1.3.1 Broadleaf

1.1.3.2 Coniferous 1.1.3.3 Blends and mixtures

1.1.4 Logging residues 1.1.4.1 Fresh/Green, Broadleaf (including leaves)

1.1.4.2 Fresh/Green, Coniferous(including needles)

1.1.4.3 Stored, Broadleaf 1.1.4.4 Stored, Coniferous

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1.1.4.5 Blends and mixtures 1.1.5 Stumps/roots 1.1.5.1 Broadleaf

1.1.5.2 Coniferous 1.1.5.3 Short rotation coppice 1.1.5.4 Bushes 1.1.5.5 Blends and mixtures

1.1.6 Bark (from forestry operations)a 1.1.7 Segregated wood from gardens, parks, roadside maintenance, vineyards and fruit orchards

1.1.8 Blends and mixtures 1.2 By-products and residues from wood

1.2.1 Chemically untreated wood residues

1.2.1.1 Without bark, Broadleaf

1.2.1.2 Without bark, Coniferous Table 3.Classification 2 of herbaceous biomass (EN14961-1) 2.1 Herbaceous biomass from agriculture and horticulture

2.1.1 Cereal crops 2.1.1.1Whole plant

2.1.1.2Strawparts 2.1.1.3 Grains or seeds 2.1.1.4 Husks or shells 2.1.1.5 Blends and mixtures

2.1.2 Grasses 2.1.2.1Whole plant

2.1.2.2Strawparts 2.1.2.3 Seeds 2.1.2.4 Shells 2.1.2.5 Blends and mixtures

2.1.3 Oil seed crops 2.1.3.1Whole plant

2.1.3.2 Stalks and leaves 2.1.3.3 Seeds 2.1.3.4 Husks or shells 2.1.3.5 Blends and mixtures

2.1.4 Root crops 2.1.4.1Whole plant

2.1.4.2 Stalks and leaves 2.1.4.3Root 2.1.4.4 Blends and mixtures

2.1.5 Legume crops 2.1.5.1Whole plant

2.1.5.2 Stalks and leaves 2.1.5.3Fruit 2.1.5.4 Pods 2.1.5.5 Blends and mixtures

2.1.6Flowers 2.1.6.1Whole plant

2.1.6.2 Stalks and leaves 2.1.6.3 Seeds 2.1.6.4 Blends and mixtures

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2.1.7 Segregated herbaceous biomass from gardens, parks, roadside maintenance, vineyards, and fruit orchards 2.1.8 Blends and mixtures

2.2By-products and residues from herbaceous processing industry

2.2.1 Chemically untreated herbaceous residues

2.2.1.1 Cereal crops and grasses

2.2.1.2 Oil seed crops 2.2.1.3 Root crops 2.2.1.4 Legume crops 2.2.1.5Flowers 2.2.1.6 Blends and mixtures

2.2.2Chemically treated herbaceous residues

2.2.2.1 Cereal crops and grasses

2.2.2.2 Oil seed crops 2.2.2.3 Root crops 2.2.2.4 Legume crops 2.2.2.5Flowers 2.2.2.6 Blends and mixtures

2.2.3 Blends and mixtures 2.3 Blends and mixtures Table 4.Classification of 3 Fruit biomass and 4 Blends and mixtures (EN 14961-1) 3.1 Orchard and horticulture fruit

3.1.1 Berries 3.1.1.1 Whole berries

3.1.1.2Flesh 3.1.1.3 Seeds 3.1.1.4 Blends and mixtures

3.1.2 Stone/kernelfruits 3.1.2.1Wholefruit 3.1.2.2Flesh 3.1.2.3 Stone/kernel 3.1.2.4 Blends and mixtures

3.1.3 Nuts and acorns 3.1.3.1 Whole nuts 3.1.3.2 Shells/husks 3.1.3.3 Kernels 3.1.3.4 Blends and mixtures

3.1.4 Blends and mixtures 3.2 By-products and residues from fruit processing industry

3.2.1 Chemically untreated fruit residues

3.2.1.1 Berries 3.2.1.2Stone/kernelfruits 3.2.1.3 Nuts and acorns 3.2.1.4 Crude olive cake 3.2.1.5 Blends and mixtures

3.2.2 Chemically treated fruit residues

3.2.2.1 Berries 3.2.2.2 Stone/kernelfruits 3.2.2.3 Nuts and acorns 3.2.2.4 Exhausted olive cake 3.2.2.5 Blends and mixtures

3.2.3 Blends and mixtures

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3.3 Blends and mixtures 4 Blends and mixtures 4.1 Blends 4.2 Mixtures

Woody biomass is biomass from trees, bushes and shrubs. Herbaceous biomass is from plants that have a non-woody stem and which die back at the end of the growing season. It includes grains and their by-products such as cereals. Fruit biomass is the biomass from the parts of a plant which are from or hold seeds.

If appropriate, also the actual species (e.g. spruce, wheat) of biomass should be stated. The actual wood species (e.g. spruce) can be specified according to EN 13556" Round and sawn timber Nomenclature".

The term “Blends and mixtures” in Tables 2, 3 and 4 refers to material of various origin within the given box in the classification table and appears on four levels. Blends are intentionally mixed biofuels, where mixtures are unintentionally mixed biofuels. The origin of the blend and mixture shall be described using Tables 2, 3 and 4.

The classification in EN 14961-1 is flexible, and hence the producer or the consumer may select from each property class the classification that corresponds to the produced or desired fuel quality.This so-called “free classification” in Part 1 does not bind different characteristics with each other. An advantage of this classification is that the producer and the consumer may agree up on characteristics case-by-case. Demolition wood is not included in the scope of the EN 14961-1.

The properties that need to be stated for most forms of solid biofuels are:

• Biomass origin i.e. what is it made of and where does it come from – tree (stem wood, branches, stumps), waste wood, straw, etc.

• Dimensions (diameter, length, proportions of chips in different size ranges, etc.) • Moisture content • Ash content

Origin- The origin works on a hierarchical basis based on four main groups:

1. Woody biomass. 2. Herbaceous biomass, 3. Fruit biomass, 4. Blends and mixtures

Each of these groups is then further divided into 2 to 4 sub-groups, and each of these is further divided and divided again down to four levels of detail, they provide a structure and system of nomenclature to describe any form of solid biofuel in a way that is unambiguous and includes the key properties.

Dimensions-Dimensions have different meanings for different forms of solid biofuel.

Wood pellets- In the case of wood pellets it is usual to state diameter only, though an acceptable range of lengths is quoted for each diameter.

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Firewood (i.e. logs) - One of the key things a customer needs to know is will the logs fit in their wood stove or boiler. Hence the maximum length (or length range) and range of diameters are both stated. For example: a delivery of ‘L25’ logs would all be less than 25 centimeters long; and ‘D10’ logs would have a diameter of between 5 and 10 centimeters.

Woodchips- Are slightly more complicated as it’s very difficult to ensure a whole load of woodchips are of the same size, just because of the way they are produced. So the dimensions of wood chips are specified in terms of the range of sizes of 75% of the sample, measured using sieves.

Moisture content-Moisture content is usually specified as the percentage of the total weight of the (wet) sample, i.e. wet basis. However, it can also be quoted on dry basis as (e.g. U25 ≤ 25%) with the weight of water given as a percentage of the mass of dry biomass. Although both values are equally valid, and can be readily converted from one to another, it important always to be clear which basis has been used.

Ash content - Ash comprises the noncombustible mineral content of the fuel and predominantly consists of oxides of alkali and alkaline earth metals, such as potassium, calcium and magnesium. The ash content of biomass can vary considerably, with very low levels in heartwood, and much higher levels in bark. Cereal straw tends to be much higher still. Some boilers and stoves are designed to be able to burn high ash content fuels, but some cannot do so.

Calorific value - Calorific value (CV) is the energy content of the fuel. The calorific value of most forms of wood is similar based on the same weight and moisture content but the density of different tree species does affect the volume energy density. Broadleaf wood by volume generally has >30% greater energy content than softwood. By definition net calorific value is defined as the energy content per unit weight (Q). It is also possible to specify energy density (E), which is energy content per unit volume.

Indication of the most significant characteristics of biofuels is a mandatory normative, and shall be given in the fuel specification. These characteristics vary for different traded forms, while the most significant characteristics for all solid biofuels are moisture content (M), particle size/dimensions (P or D/L) and ash content (A). For example, the average moisture content of fuels is given as a value after the symbol (e.g. M10), which means that the average moisture content of the fuel shall be ≤ 10w-%. Some characteristics, e.g., bulk density (BD), are voluntary, informative. Example of fuel specification for wood pellets according EN 14961-1is shown in Figure 3.

Figure. 3.Example of the product declaration according to EN 14961-1 for wood pellets.

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3 FUEL SPECIFICATION, CLASSES AND QUALITY ASSURANCE STANDARDS

The two most important standards being developed deal with classification and specification (EN 14961) and quality assurance for solid biofuels (EN 15234).Both these standards are published as multipart standards. The Part 1–General requirements of EN 14961 includes all solid biofuels and is targeted for all user groups, but probably used mainly in industry.

Working group2 of CEN/TC 335 is developing the following pellet standards

– EN 14961-1 for general use (includes pellets from different biomass raw materials), – EN 14961-2 for wood pellets for non-industrial use, – EN 14961-6 for non-woody pellets for non-industrial use.

EN 14961-2 and EN 14961-6 are so-called product standards for non-industrial use, which means fuel intended to be used in smaller appliances, such as, in households and small commercial and public sector buildings. In the product standards all properties are normative and they are bound together to form a class.

The most important characteristics of biomass and biofuels are moisture content, ash content, particle size and calorific value. The table below provides the examples of biomass characterization by major parameters.

Table 5.Examples of biomass characterization

BIOMASS TYPES

% IN WET BASIS

Moisture content Ash Volatile

matter Sulphur Net Calorific

Value (kcal/kg)

Particle density (kg/m3)

Dry grape pomace

<12 <4 > 58 <0.3 >3800 275 - 300

Olive stones 12 – 23 <1 > 65 <0.1 >3800 680

Wood chips 20 – 55 1- 2 > 65 <0.05 1600-3300 250

Sawdust 20 – 55 <1 > 65 <0.05 1600-3300 350

Almond shells 9–15 1- 3 60 – 70 0 >3700 400

Wood pellets < 12 <1 > 60 <0.05 >4000 700

EN 14961 part 1 is a very general standard that explains how to classify the biomass to be used for energy purposes and lists the major traded forms of solid biofuels. The table below describes various types of major traded forms of solid biofuels.

Table 6.Major traded forms of solid biofuel (Source EN 14961-1)

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Fuel name Common preparation method Whole tree No preparation or delimbed Wood chips Cutting with sharp tools Hog fuel Crushing with blunt tools Log wood/firewood Cutting with sharp tools Bark Debarking residue from trees can be shredded or

unshredded Bundle Lengthways oriented & bound Fuel powder Milling Sawdust Cutting with sharp tools Shavings Planning with sharp tools Briquettes Mechanical compression Pellets Mechanical compression Bales, Small or big square bales, Round bales Compressed and bound to squares; Compressed and

bound to squares; Compressed and bound to cylinders Chopped straw or energy grass Chopped during harvesting or before combustion Grain or seed No preparation or drying except for process operations

necessary for storage for cereal grain Fruit stones or kernel No preparation or pressing and extraction by chemicals. Fiber cake Prepared from fibrous waste by dewatering The importance of this table is that it clarifies the meaning of the specific terms for further use in standards and specifications.

EN 14961-2 defines the main parameters that should be considered for stating the quality of wood pellet and for each of them the typical values for three quality classes (A1, A2 and B) are specified. Class A1 and A2 represents pellets from virgin wood or chemically untreated wood residues. They differ mainly for the ash content, while class B allows chemically treated industrial wood by-products and residues and used wood. One should note in relation to class B, that since not all the national legislations in EU allow the use of treated wood, thus the standard allows deviations in accordance with national situation.

3.1 Standards for solid biofuel production, transport and storage

Problems experienced with biomass systems are very often attributable to fuel problems, but it is not just the fuel quality at the point of production that counts; the handling of the fuel right through the distribution chain to the end user’s fuel store is of critical importance, to ensure that fuels are not degraded during handling and transport.

3.1.1 European standards on biofuel production

The production, transport and handling of biofuels are very important parts of the supply chain. In general this issues are addressed in EN 15234 series on "fuel quality assurance" which has replaced the previous simpler version represented by CEN/TS 15234:2006.

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Figure 4.The solid biofuel production chain

These Standards are based on the same approach used for the EN ISO 9001 "Quality management systems. Requirements", and are thus easily applicable by the larger operators involved in biofuel production. The key standards in this series are listed below:

– EN 15234-1 Solid biofuels - Fuel quality assurance - Part 1: General requirements. – EN 15234-2 Solid biofuels - Fuel quality assurance - Part 2: Wood pellets for non-industrial use. – EN 15234-3 Solid biofuels - Fuel quality assurance - Part 3: Wood briquettes for non-industrial

use. – EN 15234-4 Solid biofuels - Fuel quality assurance - Part 4: Wood chips for non-industrial use. – EN 15234-5 Solid biofuels - Fuel quality assurance - Part 5: Firewood for non-industrial use. – EN 15234-6 Solid biofuels - Fuel quality assurance - Part 6: Non-woody pellets for non-industrial

use. The general part of this set (EN 15234-1) defines the procedures to fulfil the quality requirements of solid biofuels and describes measures to ensure adequate confidence that the biofuel specifications (EN 14961 series) are fulfilled. This European Standard covers the whole chain, from supply of raw materials to point of delivery to the end-user, while the quality assurance systems applied to the operation of conversion plants fuelled by solid biofuels are outside the scope of the standard. Moreover even although the health, safety and environmental issues for solid biofuels are important and need special attention, they are outside the scope as well.

By applying this standard it is possible to ensure traceability and to demonstrate that all the processes along the biofuel supply chain (as simplified in Figure 5) up to the point of the delivery to the end user are under control, thus the final quality of the product is assured.

Particle size reduction

Drying

Densification

Transport

Storage

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Figure 5. Solid biofuel supply chain. (Excerpted from the EN 15234-1)

The other five parts of the EN 15234 series deal with specific requirements for pellets, briquettes, chips, firewood and non woody pellets.

3.1.2 Standards dealing with solid biofuel logistics and storage

Currently there are no ISO or CEN Standards dealing with solid biofuel storage systems even though it is another key issue in the biomass heat market. In this case only national standards, if available, could be used for the time being. For example the Austrian standards ONORM M7136 "Compressed wood in natural state – Wood pellets - Quality assurance in the field of logistics of transport and storage" and M7137 "Compressed wood in natural state – Wood pellets – Requirements for storage of pellets at the ultimate consumer" define requirements for logistics and final customer storage systems.

Several non-normative guidelines could also be available at national level, but care has to be taken since they are not official Standards, thus they have no "legal" validity.

One of those is worth mentioning despite not being an official Standard. In October 2008 the Nordic Innovation Centre issued the document Nord test Method NT ENVIR 010:2008 "Guidelines for storing and handling of solid biofuels" downloadable for free from the Innovation Centre website (http://www.nordtest.info/index.php/methods/environment.html). The document has been drafted by a panel of experts mainly coming from organisations already involved in the standardisation work of CEN, and thus with adequate skill and competence.

The guide gives recommendations for utilizing the best available knowledge, experience, methods and technology in storage and handling, to secure the quality of the solid biofuel and to minimize health and safety risks. It is intended for persons and organisations that manufacture, plan, sell, install or use machinery, equipment, tools and entire plants related to the production, purchase, sale and utilization of these fuels on a commercial and industrial level. The guidelines are not addressed to single households or individual small producers.

Other interesting documents are available on the web. Two such references are the Irish CCWEP websites (http://www.ccwep.ie/default.asp) and (http://wfqa.org) where some useful documents can be found, including a guide to selling wood fuel and a guide with basic specifications of boilers. The County Clare Wood Energy Project (CCWEP) is a Forest Service funded project whose aim is to promote the installation of wood biomass boilers fuelled by wood chips from farm forests in the county. The wood fuel quality assurance scheme (WFQA) will ensure compliance with standards outlined in this document.

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In Italy some interesting guides on woodchips and pellets are available on the website (http://www.aiel.cia.it) of AIEL (Italian Association for Energy from Agriculture and Forestation).

3.1.3 Boilers technical standards

The next important category to be addressed in this document is the standards of boilers itself.

Currently the only standard dealing with boilers is the European EN 303-5 which applies to heating boilers up to a nominal heat output of 500 kW designed for the burning of solid fuels only and are operated according to the instructions of the boiler manufacturer. Boilers can have natural draught or forced draught and the stoking can be manual or automatic.

This standard covers only boilers including burners as a unit and not simpler appliances as fireplaces or pellet stoves.

Solid fuels to be used according to this standard are:

• Biogenic fuels (biomass) in a natural state in the form of: – Log wood with water content w ≤ 25 %; – Chipped wood (wood chipped by machine with and without bark, usually up to a maximum

length of 15 cm) water content from 15 % to 35 % or more; – Compressed wood (pellets without binding agents, made of wood and/or bark particles;

permitted are natural binding agents such as molasses, vegetable paraffins and starch); Pellets according to EN 14961-2;

– Compressed wood (briquettes without binding agents, made of wood and/or bark particles; permitted are natural binding agents such as molasses, vegetable paraffins and starch); Briquettes according to EN 14961-3;

– Sawdust up to w 50 % moisture; – Non woody biomass such as straws, reeds, kernels and grains.

• Fossil fuels – Bituminous coal; – Brown coal; – Coke; – Anthracite.

• Other solid fuels (e.g. peat)

The standard contains requirements and test methods for safety, combustion quality and efficiency, operating characteristics and maintenance of heating boilers, and covers also all external equipment that influences the safety systems (e.g. backburn safety device, integral fuel hopper).

An interesting section of EN 303-5 is represented by a classification scheme based on emission levels. One of the main requirements of the Standard is that combustion shall be ‘low-emission’. This is satisfied if emission values do not exceed some defined thresholds for Carbon Monoxide (CO), Dust/particulate matter and Organic Gaseous Compounds (OGC). In order to give an overview of this approach, in table 7 some of the emission values are shown, excerpted from the current draft of EN 303-5. Please consider that these values could be subject to relevant changes.

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Table 7. Proposed classification scheme for boilers based on emission levels. Excerpted from the current draft of EN 303-5.

Stoking

Fuel Nominal heat output

Emission limits CO Organic Gaseous

Compounds Dust

mg/m3 at 10% O2 kW Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5

Manual Biogenic 0-50 5000 1200 700 150 50 30 150 75 60

50-150 2500 100 150

150-500 1200 100 150

Fossil 0-50 5000 150 125

50-150 2500 100 125

150-500 1200 100 125

Automatic Biogenic 0-50 3000 1000 500 100 30 20 150 60 40

50-150 2500 80 150

150-500 1200 80 150

Fossil 0-50 3000 100 125

50-150 2500 80 125

150-500 1200 80 125

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4 ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS ON SOLID BIOFUEL

The increasing use of biomass for energy production has led to growing concerns over possible negative environmental and socio-economic impacts of biomass use. In the past decade, a variety of potential negative impacts of biomass chains have been highlighted like: forest degradation and Loss of biodiversity as a result of unsustainable forest management or converting natural areas to plantations is one of the main concerns.

Combustion of biomass, as with all fuels, generates air pollutants. In the case of solid biofuels, there remains an ash to be disposed. Furthermore, the issue of “carbon debt” has lately seen increased attention from academics9F

10.

In addition to these direct impacts, researchers are beginning to document unintended and unaccounted-for indirect land use change (ILUC) associated with biomass production. ILUC occurs when, for example, biomass production displaces other industries or land uses (such as agriculture or livestock production) forcing these activities to occupy and convert other land – like forests – for their purposes. ILUC is also a key factor for determining the degree to which using biomass actually contributes to a decrease (instead of an increase) in greenhouse gas emissions. 10F

11 So, detailed knowledge about the origin of the supply of solid biomass is essential for determining whether biomass-based energy is genuinely contributing to sustainable development.

These concerns have led to action at various levels to guarantee the sustainability of biomass, including legislative requirements and voluntary actions from the biomass industry and other stakeholders. Different standards and certification schemes have been developed on national and international level to support sustainable use of solid biomass, these standards:

1. Facilitate quality assessment of solid biomass resources 2. Minimize emissions of pollutants 3. Ensure safe handling and storage of solid biofuels.

4.1 Certification schemes

As mentioned above, Biomass certification schemes include a set of principles and criteria and are meant to ensure that bioenergy is sustainably produced, processed, transported and applied. Biomass

10Carbon debt refers to the time period between the release of carbon emissions as a consequence of biomass extraction, transport, and combustion, and the moment that the same amount of carbon has been restored by newly grown forests. Scientific studies show that many decades – even centuries – can pass before this time gap is closed, i.e. until the same amount of carbon released during the energy production cycle is “reabsorbed” by living biomass 11http://gerrymarten.com/publicatons/hawaii-Biomass-Energy.html

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certification allows companies along the supply chain to claim that their biomass (product) is ‘sustainable’.

Criteria for sustainable biomass cultivation typically include a combination of environmental criteria, social criteria, economic criteria, and criteria on technical/managerial aspects. This part of the study is mainly focused on environmental criteria which include requirements with respect to protection of biodiversity, or maintaining the quality of soil, water and air.

4.1.1 General EU regulatory framework

The use of renewable fuels in energy generation is a European Union policy. The Renewable Energy Directive (RED) on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources established mandatory targets to be achieved by 2020 for a 20% overall share of renewable energy in the EU. To achieve the 20% target the Directive “set mandatory national targets. In order to reach these targets, Member States may operate support schemes and apply measures of cooperation” (Articles 3, 6 to 9).

Biomass is seen as a key contributor to meeting these aims. However, there have been studies questioning the environmental impact of the use of biomass, which has led to further clarification from the EU on the sustainability criteria for biomass use. These set out requirements on greenhouse gas emissions benefits and land-use impacts11F

12.

The EU-RED also specifies sustainability requirements for transport biofuels and bio liquids (for electricity, heating and cooling).

4.1.1.1 CEN/TC 383 The objective of CEN/TC 383 is to develop standards with sustainability criteria for biomass. The first aim of CEN/TC 383 is to develop standards that help companies implementing the European Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and that are supported by the European Commission. The RED lays down sustainability criteria for biofuels (for transport) and bioliquids (for other energy purposes) that shall be applied by all organizations in this sector in order to be eligible for counting in renewable energy targets. The standards apply to biofuels and bioliquids and include the following topics:

• Terminology (CEN/TC 383/WG 1); • Calculation methods of the greenhouse gas emission balance using a life cycle approach

(CEN/TC 383/WG 2,); • Biodiversity and environmental aspects related to nature protection purposes

(CEN/TC 383/WG 3). There are mandatory environmental sustainability criteria under the EU RED for liquid biofuels, and a voluntary framework for solid biomass and biogas.

12http://english.rvo.nl/sites/default/files/2013/12/Handbook_Certification_Solid_Biomass.pdf

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In future sustainability requirements may also apply to solid and gaseous biomass used for electricity or heat production. If implemented, it is likely that sustainability requirements for solid biomass and the way in which they are verified, will have similarities with the existing requirements for biofuels.

Instead of proposing criteria at EU level, the Commission makes recommendations to Member States which wish to develop sustainability criteria for solid biomass at national level, i.e. that Member States ensure that these sustainability criteria are in almost all respects the same as those laid down in the EU-RED. In other words: that national sustainability requirements for solid and gaseous biomass resemble the EU-RED sustainability requirements for solid biofuels and bio liquids.

However, the Commission also recommends that ‘Due to the characteristics of the production and use of solid and gaseous biomass used in electricity, heating and cooling’; some of the requirements for solid and gaseous biomass would need to differ from EU-RED requirements for biofuels.12F

13

Internationally, there have been a variety of initiatives aimed at setting standards for sustainable biomass production and use. These can be categorized as follows:

Sustainable forest management schemes- In response to concerns over large-scale logging and unsustainable forest management practices, global schemes such as FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) (https://ic.fsc.org) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) (http://www.pefc.org) were developed in the 1990s. Initially focused on biomass used for timber products and for paper pulp, the schemes are increasingly being considered to certify forest biomass used for energy.

Bio-energy schemes - Examples include the NTA 808013F

14, the Roundtable for Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) and the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification Scheme (ISCC). These schemes were developed from 2010 onwards specifically for the certification of biomass used for energy production (both biofuels and electricity/heat production).

There are other schemes such as Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade etc. These schemes focus on specific products and/or on specific (niche) markets. In practice, these schemes play a small role in certification of biomass for bioenergy14F

15.

4.1.1.2 ISO/PC 248 The objective of ISO/PC 248 is to elaborate one standard in the field of sustainability criteria for production, supply chain and application of bioenergy. This includes terminology and aspects related to the sustainability (e.g. environmental, social and economic) of bioenergy.15F

16

13http://english.rvo.nl/sites/default/files/2013/12/Handbook_Certification_Solid_Biomass.pdf 14See 4.2.2 15http://english.rvo.nl/sites/default/files/2013/12/Handbook_Certification_Solid_Biomass.pdf 16http://www.biomasstradecentre2.eu/data/upload/D5_5_Handbook_Implementation_CEN_Standards_General_Solid_Standards_1_(1).pdf

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http://www.biomasstradecentre2.eu/data/upload/D5_5_Handbook_Implementation_CEN_Standards_General_Solid_Standards_1_(1).pdf

http://www.biomasstradecentre2.eu/data/upload/D5_5_Handbook_Implementation_CEN_Standards_General_Solid_Standards_1_(1).pdf

4.2 Government initiatives

4.2.1 Netherlands

The Netherlands was among the first European countries to initiate national-level initiatives on biomass sustainability, along with the United Kingdom and Germany. In 2006, a multi-stakeholder commission was established by the Dutch government, which included representatives from the biofuel and biomass industry, NGOs, science & research, and the banking sector. In 2007, the commission published its report: “The Dutch assessment framework for sustainable biomass” (http://www.fao.org/bioenergy/20536-06144295874a6d8a5da1b5203aa32916a.pdf). The assessment framework, generally referred to as the ‘Cramer Criteria’ (named after the chair of the commission Professor J. Cramer), specifies six sustainability categories, i.e.:

• Greenhouse gas emissions and carbon stocks; • Competition with food production and local applications of biomass; • Biodiversity; • Environmental impacts on water, air and soil; • Prosperity of the local economy; and • Social well-being of the local population and of employees.

Under each sustainability category, principles and criteria for sustainable biomass production were specified. At the time of publication, the Cramer Criteria were internationally considered as the standard set of sustainability criteria for biomass. Initially, the Cramer Criteria were also used as a framework for benchmarking/assessing specific biomass projects. In 2009, the Dutch normalization institute NEN used the Cramer Criteria as basis for the development of their NTA 8080 biomass certification scheme.

There are currently no mandatory regulations in place in the Netherlands to ensure that solid biomass production is sustainable and does not contribute to adverse social and environmental impacts. Several private initiatives, however, have created certification schemes that encompass various criteria. Most wood pellets used in the Netherlands are certified via these schemes. Certification types include NEN NTA 8080, the Green Gold Label, ENPlus, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), the programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), the Drax Biomass Sustainability Implementation Process and the Canadian Standard Association (CSA). While most of these certification types focus on sustainable forest management, NEN NTA 8080, ENPlus, and the Green Gold Label certifications are also applied to biomass for electricity generation.

4.2.2 NTA 8080

NTA 8080 is the sustainability scheme for biomass by the Netherlands Standardization Institute NEN. The certification scheme was formally set up in 2009 when the so-called Cramer criteria on sustainable biomass were formalized in the NTA 8080 scheme. The certification standard is applicable to producers, processors, traders and end-users of biomass, and in addition to solid biomass (wood chips and pellets) the standard also covers gas and liquid biomass. Currently around 25 companies in the Netherlands have NTA 8080 certification.

4.2.3 Green Gold Label

Green Gold Label (GGL) is a certification system for biomass that was founded in 2002 by Essent and Skal International (now Control Union Certifications). The system provides certification for production, processing, transport, and final energy conversion of biomass. GGL provides certification for specific

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parts of the biomass supply chain and companies are audited on compliance with the standard on an annual basis. Currently, 25 biomass producers are GGL certified mainly in the US, Canada, Portugal, Scandinavia and the Baltic countries. The GGL system works with several, individually applicable standards:

• GGLS1 – Chain of Custody and Processing – Producer or Trader • GGLS2 – Agricultural Source Criteria • GGLS4 – Transaction and Product Certificate • GGLS5 – Forest Management Criteria • GGLS6 – Power Company Criteria • GGLS7 – Conservation Stewardship Criteria. • GGLS8 – Greenhouse Gasses and Energy Balance Calculation Standard • CRM1 – Chain of Custody and Processing Standards • CRM2 – Transaction Certificate

4.2.4 EN plus

ENplus is a certification system based on the European Committee for Standardization’s EN standards prEN 14961-2 (Product standard for wood pellets) and prEN 15234-1 (Quality assurance). ENplus is the certification scheme of the European Pellet Council and it is implemented by the national pellet associations in Europe. The certification scheme covers producers, traders and retailers of biomass, and pellets can only be ENplus certified if all these actors in the chain have individually been certified. ENplus is a quality certification scheme with three categories (A1, A2 and B) and relies on forestry management practices and environmental sustainability criteria from other certification schemes like FSC or PEFC 16F

17

4.2.5 United Kingdom

Since 1 April 2011, biomass electricity generators over 50KW have been required to report against the following sustainability criteria (see Table 8 below):

17http://english.rvo.nl/sites/default/files/2013/12/Handbook_Certification_Solid_Biomass.pdf

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Table 8. Criterion and requirements for biomass conversion equipment n UK

The above criteria resemble the sustainability requirements in the EU-RED. In other words: the UK government has followed the recommendations in the EC 2010 Communication on sustainability criteria for solid biomass.

In late 2012 and early 2013, the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change held a public consultation on proposals to change some of the criteria. In August 2013, the Department published its response to the consultation, and its decisions with respect to the implementation of further legislation.

4.2.6 Mandatory sustainability criteria from April 2015 onwards

Under the Renewable Obligation (RO), renewable electricity generators will be required to report against the amended set of sustainability criteria from April 2014 onwards. The sustainability criteria will become mandatory from April 2015. This means that from April 2015 onwards, renewable energy generators of 1 MW capacity and above are required to demonstrate that solid biomass and biogas feedstock meet the sustainability criteria in order to be eligible for support under the RO.

4.2.7 Greenhouse gas reduction requirements

For existing facilities, a 60% greenhouse gas emission savings requirement will apply until 1 April 2020, equaling an emission of 285 kg CO2

eq/MWh. For new facilities (after implementation date of legislation), this requirement will be 240 kg CO2 eq/MWh. From 1 April 2020, both existing and new facilities shall meet 200 kg CO2 eq/MWh, and from 1 April 2025 this shall be 180 kg CO2

eq/MWh.

4.2.8 Land use and sustainable forest management criteria

Land criteria will apply to all biomass, except biomass waste and feedstock wholly derived from waste. Land criteria will be different for virgin wood and all other non-waste biomass including energy crops. For feedstock made from virgin wood, requirements on sustainable forest management will apply, based on the UK Timber Procurement Policy principles. For all other biomass, the land criteria will cover the land criteria specified in the EU-RED for transport biofuels and bio liquids.

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The decision includes also requirements in relation to the chain of custody (i.e. the mass balance methodology), independent auditing etc. Supply chain operators and other stakeholders with UK interests are recommended to study the recent decision of the UK government, and to follow the process towards implementation in national legislation.

4.3 Key elements of a biomass certification scheme

The general structure of a biomass certification scheme has been depicted in Figure 6 below, and comprises of the following key elements:

Figure 6. Biomass certification scheme17F

18

• Principles and Criteria for sustainable production of biomass or for sustainable forest management;

• A chain of custody which allows tracing of certified material through the supply chain (from producer up to the bio-energy plant), and which ensures that no more sustainable material is claimed than has been produced/harvested;

18 http://english.rvo.nl/sites/default/files/2014/03/Solid%20Biomass-web.pdf

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http://english.rvo.nl/sites/default/files/2014/03/Solid%20Biomass-web.pdf

• Certification requirements, which specify the rules of play for verification of the biomass by independent auditors, as well as the certification process. Certification requirements include both the production of biomass/forest management, and the chain of custody;

• Rules on claims and communications that can be made by certified operators; • The governance structure of the scheme, i.e. the way in which the scheme is governed and

managed.18F

19

5 SAFETY STANDARDS ON SOLID BIOFUEL

Solid fuel appliances should be fit for purpose for the type of fuel burnt and all solid fuel appliance installations should be constructed and installed carefully to ensure that the entire installation operates safely.

Installation of any free-standing residential room heater, fireplace insert, or furnace – regardless of fuel type (e.g., biomass, oil, natural gas, coal) – requires that the equipment has a label from an accredited testing laboratory signifying that it has been tested to one or more standards for safety. Safety standards for residential heating equipment are set by the respective standard setting organizations in the U.S., Canada, and the EU. The primary safety requirements for biomass equipment are listed in the Table 9.

Table 9. The primary safety requirements for biomass conversion equipment

Equipment United States Canada European Union Wood stoves UL 1482 ULC S627 EN 13240 Pellet stoves UL 1482,

ASTM E1509 ULC S627 CEN EN 14785

Fireplace Inserts UL 737 ULC S628 EN 13229 Solid fuel Heating furnace

UL 391 CSA B366.1 EN 12809 pr EN 15270

Boilers

ASME BPVC Section I and Section IV

ASME BPVC Section I and Section IV

EN 303-5 DIN 1942 CE

5.1 Boilers: Standards, Testing and Certification Process Heating and power boilers may also be required to have a code stamp that certifies the boiler was constructed to the requirements of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (ASME BPVC). This code is not a standard but a prescription for the design and construction of a boiler. The ASME BPVC requires certification of the materials used to make the boiler, adherence to

19More environmental standards on solid biofuels are listed in the Annex 4.

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http://www.scotland.gov.uk/resource/buildingstandards/2013Domestic/chunks/apa.html%23construct

a construction strict process, certification of employees (e.g., welders) who work on boilers, and visual inspection and pressure testing of each unit. For pressure boilers, there is no distinction among fuel types under the ASME BPVC. State laws set requirements for products to be tested and meet this code. While ASME BPVC is not fuel specific, the EU does have a specific pressure test methodology for biomass boilers up to 300 kW – the EN303-5. European boilers larger than 300 kW are designed to non-fuel specific standards such as the Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN 1942).

5.1.1 U.S. and Canadian Requirements

In the U.S. and Canada, power and heating boilers – regardless of fuel type – must meet the ASME requirements. Currently, all Canadian provinces and U.S. states have adopted, by law, various sections of the ASME BPVC. The ASME certification process is quite extensive. Nearly 50 percent of the companies accredited by the ASME to manufacture pressure boilers in accordance with the BPVC are located outside of the United States and Canada. An ASME Code Symbol Stamp (Code) indicates that the stamped boiler equipment was manufactured by an accredited manufacturer and conforms to the Code.

5.1.2 EU Requirements

In the EU, a standard exists specifically for biomass heating boilers up to 300 kW – EN 303-5. All EU member countries conform to the same EN 303-5 standard. Power boilers are still certified under DIN 1942, which is a standard for fossil-fired boilers.

Many European manufactured biomass heating boilers are not manufactured to ASME BPVC requirements and do not carry the ASME Code stamp. Biomass heating boilers manufactured for sale in the EU carry stamps that indicate that they have been tested to the EN 303-5 standard. The code stamp may be a TUV or CE sticker, 18 which certifies that the testing organization has tested the boiler and that the equipment complies with the European standards and directives19F

20

5.1.3 UK requirements

Wood pellet burning stoves and boilers are generally designed and constructed with high levels of automation, to be very efficient and with low emissions. Wood pellet burning appliances can appear similar to other wood fuelled appliances however they are normally designed and manufactured specifically for the combustion of wood pellets fuels only. BS EN 14785: 2006 'Residential Space Heating Appliances Fired By Wood Pellets' provides details on the requirements and test methods.

Other standards that are applicable to biomass appliances are:

• BS EN 12809: 2001 'Residential Independent Boilers Fired by Solid Fuel' • BS EN 13229: 2001 'Inset Appliances Including Open Fires Fired by Solid Fuels' • BS EN 13240: 2001 'Room Heaters Fired by Sold Fuel'

20http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/doer/renewables/biomass/doer-biomass-emissions-and-safety-regulations.pdf

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http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/doer/renewables/biomass/doer-biomass-emissions-and-safety-regulations.pdf

• BS EN 303 - 5: 1999 'Heating Boilers. Heating Boilers with Forced Draught Burners. Heating Boilers for Solid Fuels, Hand and Automatically Fired, Nominal Heat output of up to 300kW'.

The Heating Equipment Testing and Approval Scheme (HETAS) is an independent organization for setting standards of safety, efficiency and performance for testing and approval of solid fuels, solid mineral fuel and wood burning appliances and associated equipment and services for the UK solid fuel domestic heating industry. It operates a registration scheme for competent Engineers and Companies working in the domestic solid fuel market20F

21.

The ISO/AWI 20023 - solid biofuels -- safety of solid biofuel pellets -- safe handling and storage of wood pellets in residential and other small-scale applications is also under development21F

22.

List of some other international and national standards for solid biofuel production equipment and safety of its operation can be seen in annex 3.

6 AN OVERVIEW OF SOLID BIOFUEL STUNDARDISATION IN SOME COUNTRIES

As mentioned before, National Standards could be available for use at local level containing different figures, but it has to be taken into account that for EU countries National Standards shall be withdrawn when European Standards with the same scope are published. For example all national standards defining requirements for non-industrial pellets were withdrawn by August 2011, and the same deadline was mandatory for briquettes, wood logs and wood chips. The CEN and partially ISO standards have supplemented them all (According to the Vienna Agreement).

Below is a brief description of the situation with solid biofuel standardisation in some countries having influence on Georgian market.

6.1 Ukraine

Currently the main regulation on Biofuel in Ukraine is the Law of Ukraine "On the development of production and consumption of biofuels" of the 24 of May 201222F

23

For the time being the Ukrainian legislation does not specify the requirements for environmental safety of plant crops which are grown as a raw material for biofuels.

21http://www.scotland.gov.uk/resource/buildingstandards/2013Domestic/chunks/ch04s18.html 22http://www.iso.org/iso/home/store/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=66852 23http://www.iucnael2014.cat/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/PPT-Romanko-S.-Ukraine-2ad964b1f677929db3168b66eded90b2-2.pdf

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http://www.scotland.gov.uk/resource/buildingstandards/2013Domestic/chunks/ch04s18.html

http://www.iso.org/iso/home/store/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=66852

http://www.iucnael2014.cat/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/PPT-Romanko-S.-Ukraine-2ad964b1f677929db3168b66eded90b2-2.pdf

http://www.iucnael2014.cat/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/PPT-Romanko-S.-Ukraine-2ad964b1f677929db3168b66eded90b2-2.pdf

Table 10. List of Ukrainian major laws and regulations on solid biofuel.

Legal Framework link 1 Law of Ukraine "On combined heat and power

(cogeneration) and Waste Energy Potential" http://zakon1.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2509-15

2 Law of Ukraine "On Alternative Energy Sources" of No.555-15 from 20.02.2003, last edition from 21.10.2008

http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/555-15

3 Law of Ukraine "On Alternative Types of Fuel" of No.1391-XIV from 14.01.2000, last edition from 21.07.2012.


4 Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine "About approval of the State target economic program of the energy efficiency and development of the sphere of production of energy carriers from renewable energy resources and alternative types of fuel for 2010-2015" No 243-2010-п, current edition of 01.10.2013.

http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/243-2010-%D0%BF

5 Resolution of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission of Ukraine "On Approval the Procedure of calculating tariffs for electricity and heat produced by CHPP, TPP, NPP and cogeneration plants and by installations with use of nonconventional or renewable energy sources No896 of 12.10.2005 (current edition).

http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/z0574-06

6 Ordinance of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine "On Approval the Concept of the State target research and technology development programme of production and use of biological fuels" No276-2009-p of 12.02.2009.

http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/276-2009-%D1%80

7 Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine "On Approval of the Procedure for import into the customs territory of Ukraine appliances, equipment, technics and vehicles used for the development of production and consumption of biofuels» No 581 from 18.05.2011.23F

24


The national standards (DSTU) harmonized with international standards are currently available for solid fuels and Bioethanol:

Table 11. List of Ukrainian standards on biofuel

N Standards on Solid biofuels: Scope 1 DSTU 7123:2009 Sunflower husk. Technical specifications

24http://www.bio-prom.net/index.php?id=8517&L=2

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http://www.bio-prom.net/index.php?id=8517&L=2

N Standards on Solid biofuels: Scope 2 DSTU 7124:2009 Sunflower husks pressed granulated. Technical specifications 3 DSTU-P CEN/TS 15149-2:2009

Solid biofuel Methods of definition of granulometric composition. Part 2. Method of use of vibratory sieve with holes of 3.15 mm and above

4 DSTU-P CEN/TS 15149-3:2009 Solid biofuel

Methods of definition of granulometric composition. Part 3. Method of use of vibratory sieve.

5 DSTU-P CEN/TS 15289:2009 Solid biofuel

Determination of total sulfur and chlorine composition (CEN/TS 15289:2006, IDT).

6 DSTU-P CEN/TS 15290:2009 Solid biofuel

Definition of basic components (CEN/TS 15290:2006, IDT)

7 DSTU-P CEN/TS 15296:2009 Solid biofuels

Calculation of composition according to different bases.

The big number of standards and legislative acts indicates an importance given to this type of fuel at the national level and can serve as an example for Georgia to follow, in case it decides to seriously develop the biofuel production.

6.2 Russia

Currently there are no formal standards for sustainable biomass production in Russia, only quality standards have recently been introduced. Starting from July 1, 2012 there are 19 national standards enforced in Russia, which concern solid biomass (pellets and briquettes) and liquid bio-fuels.

Presently, there is no standard for pellet production in Russia. Since major part of Russian pellets is exported to EU countries, Russian producers are guided by the standards of the importing countries. Until recently, the main standard was DIN plus. But in 2010 pan-European pellets standard EN plus 14961-2 was introduced. This standard is important for private consumers of pellets, but the major part of Russia’s traders and consumers (Denmark, Sweden, and Belgium) use industrial pellets, which should have EN-B standard certification.24F

25

Currently there are no GOSTs or ROSTs (Russian national standards) for pellets. Most leading quality certification organizations have offices in Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg and other big ports) – SGS, INCOLAB, BV, Det Norske Veritas and other. All exporting companies have certificates of SGS and INCOLAB.25F

26

25http://www.biomasspelletplant.com/news/russia-pellet-market.html 26file:///C:/Users/weg/Desktop/pellet%20market%20and%20wood%20resources.pdf

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http://www.biomasspelletplant.com/news/russia-pellet-market.html

Table 12. List of Russian standards on biofuel

Russian wood fuel specification standards Description GOST 15815-83 (1985) Technological chips. specifications GOST 23246-78 (1979) Crushed wood. Terms and definitions GOST 3243-88 (1990) Firewood. specifications GOST 51062-97 (1998) Solid fuel peat for heating purposes. Specifications.26F

27 GOST R 55119-2012 Solid recovered fuels. Methods for the determination

of biomass content GOST R 54184-2010 Solid biofuels. Determination of the content of

volatile matter GOST R 54185-2010 Solid biofuels. Determination of ash content GOST R 54186-2010 Solid biofuels. Determination of moisture content by

oven dry method GOST R 54187-2010 Solid biofuels. Sampling. Methods for preparing

sampling plans and sampling certificates GOST R 54188-2010 Solid biofuels. Determination of particle size

distribution. Part 1. Oscillating screen method using sieve apertures of 3,15 mm and above

GOST R 54191-2010 Solid biofuels. Determination of bulk density GOST R 55111-2012 Solid biofuels. Determination of mechanical durability

of pellets and briquettes. GOST R 55112-2012 Solid biofuels. Determination of the water soluble

chloride, sodium and potassium content GOST R 55113-2012 Solid biofuels. Conversion of analytical results from

one basis to another GOST R 54215-2010 Solid biofuels. Determination of total content of

Sulphur and chlorine GOST R 54187-2010 Solid biofuels. Sampling. Methods for preparing

sampling plans and sampling certificates GOST R 54217-2010 Solid biofuels. Sampling GOST R 55112-2012 Solid biofuels. Determination of the water soluble

chloride, sodium and potassium content GOST R 55113-2012 Solid biofuels. Conversion of analytical results from

one basis to another27F

28

27https://books.google.ge/books?id=pkAvnYOSQF8C&pg=PA421&lpg=PA421&dq=Russia+biomass+standards&source=bl&ots=iIRi3piHwX&sig=eRUXbS1eW9b9I-7KiuRJaDyyY_c&hl=ka&sa=X&ei=eXuRVKfzGom7UeXlg8AB&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false 28http://runorm.com/search/result?start=20

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https://books.google.ge/books?id=pkAvnYOSQF8C&pg=PA421&lpg=PA421&dq=Russia+biomass+standards&source=bl&ots=iIRi3piHwX&sig=eRUXbS1eW9b9I-7KiuRJaDyyY_c&hl=ka&sa=X&ei=eXuRVKfzGom7UeXlg8AB&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBA%23v=onepage&q&f=false



http://runorm.com/search/result?start=20

6.3 Turkey

The main standardization body in Turkey responsible for creating the national standards is the Turkish Standards Institute (TSE). However, Turkey as a country with economy mainly oriented to the EU market adopts international (ISO) and European (EN) standards, this concerns the Biofuel standards as well. For example: In 2005, standards for bio-diesel were set by the Turkish Standards Institute in accordance with European Union Standards.

Table 13. List of Turkish standards on biofuel

Standards Description TSE CEN/TS 16214-2

Sustainability criteria for the production of biofuels and bio liquids for energy applications - Principles, criteria, indicators and verifiers - Part 2: Conformity assessment including chain of custody and mass balance

TS EN ISO 17225-1 Solid biofuels - Fuel specifications and classes - Part 1: General requirements

TS EN ISO 16559 Solid biofuels - Terminology, definitions and descriptions TS EN ISO 17225-3

TS EN ISO 17225-3 (Document in English) .Solid biofuels - Fuel specifications and classes - Part 3: Graded wood briquettes

TS EN 13229

Inset appliances including open fires fired by solid fuels - Requirements and test methods

TS EN ISO 17225-6

Solid biofuels - Fuel specifications and classes - Part 6: Graded non-woody pellets28F

29

6.4 The Caucasus countries

Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan do not have any national standards on solid biofuels. In these countries International (ISO) and European standards as well as old Soviet and Russian GOSTs are acceptable for the time being.

29https://intweb.tse.org.tr/Standard/Standard/StandardAra.aspx?Durum=EN

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https://intweb.tse.org.tr/Standard/Standard/StandardAra.aspx?Durum=EN

7 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Thus we have shown that the advanced biofuels are high technology fuels and high requirements are set for these biofuels by means of standardization in order to assure sustainable use and efficient operation of the equipment for their production and use. The quality assurance of these fuels requires adherence to strict technical, quality, safety and environmental standards over the whole value chain from harvesting of raw material to final combustion in the end user equipment.

In order to promote both domestic use of these fuels as well as access to international markets, Introduction of a set of appropriate standards are of paramount importance. This in turn requires introduction of certification system as well.

Taking into account growing interest towards efficient use of solid biofuel in Georgia and that there are no any national standards in this field at the first stage it is recommended:

1. To prepare official translation of key international (ISO) and European (EN) standards on biofuel in Georgian language;

2. To prepare and publish in Georgian and Russian29F

30 languages comprehensive guideline on entire chain of solid biofuel production, handling and use.

These steps can address the first immediate needs and facilitate the observance and compliance with the main international standards. As a further development the whole system of standardization and quality assurance should be developed.

30 For non-Georgian minorities

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Bibliography

Kalligeros at al. Standardization of solid biofuel. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology. Chania, Greece, 2009. pp. 415-423.

A Guide to Biomass Heating Standards, 2011. www.forestprogramme.com

ANSI/ASABE S593.1: 2011 Terminology and Definitions for Biomass Production, Harvesting and Collection, Storage, Processing, Conversion and Utilization

BioTech’s life science dictionary, available at http://life.nthu.edu.tw/~g864204/dict-search.html

CEN/BT/TF 118 N36 Report of 2000-08-29, Solid Recovered Fuels (Part 1)

CEN/BT/WG209 Biobased products.

EN 13965-1:2004 Characterization of waste - Terminology - Part 1: Material related terms

EN 14588:2010 Solid biofuels. Terminology, definitions and descriptions

EN 14780:2011 Solid biofuels - Sample preparation

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EN 14961-1:2010 Solid biofuels - Fuel specification and classes - Part 1: General requirements

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ISO 3534-2:2006, Statistics — Vocabulary and symbols — Part 2: Applied statistics

ISO 9000:2005, Quality management systems — Fundamentals and vocabulary

ISO 10241, International terminology standards – Preparation and layout

ISO 14040:2006, Environmental management — Life cycle assessment — Principles and framework

ISO 17225-1:2014, Solid biofuels — Fuel specifications and classes — Part 1: General requirements

ISO 17225-2:2014, Solid biofuels — Fuel specifications and classes — Part 2: Graded wood pellets requirements

ISO 17225-3:2014, Solid biofuels — Fuel specifications and classes — Part 3: Graded wood briquettes

ISO 17225-7:2014, Solid biofuels — Fuel specifications and classes — Part 7: Graded non-woody briquettes

SWEDISH FORESTRY VOCABULARY TNC 96 1994 (ISBN 91-7196-096-1)

WISE USE OF MIRES AND PEATLANDS Background and Principles including a Framework for Decision-Making, Joosten, H. and Clarke, D. International Mire Conservation Group and International Peat Society, 2002

Woodcock C.R., Mason J.S. Bulk solids handling. An introduction to the practice and technology. Leonard Hill, London, 1987

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https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/%23iso:std:iso:9000:ed-3:en

https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/%23iso:std:iso:10241:en

https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/%23iso:std:iso:14040:ed-2:en





ATTACHMENTS

LIST OF INTERNATIONAL AND EU STANDARDS ON SOLID BIOFUEL

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Annex 1. International standards (ISO)

Terminology

ISO/DIS16559 Solid biofuels -- Terminology, definitions and descriptions

Fuel specifications and classes

ISO/DIS 17225-1 Solid biofuels -- Fuel specifications and classes -- Part 1: General requirements

ISO/DIS 17225-2 Solid biofuels -- Fuel specifications and classes -- Part 2: Graded wood pellets

ISO/DIS 17225-3 Solid biofuels -- Fuel specifications and classes -- Part 3: Graded wood briquettes

ISO/DIS 17225-4 Solid biofuels -- Fuel specifications and classes -- Part 4: Graded wood chips

ISO/DIS 17225-5 Solid biofuels -- Fuel specifications and classes -- Part 5: Graded firewood

ISO/DIS 17225-6 Solid biofuels -- Fuel specifications and classes -- Part 6: Graded non-woody pellets

ISO/DIS 17225-7 Solid biofuels -- Fuel specifications and classes -- Part 7: Graded non-woody briquettes

Fuel quality assurance ISO/CD 17588 Solid biofuels -- Fuel quality assurance

ISO/NP 17589 Solid biofuels -- Conformity assessment for fuel quality assurance

Sample and sample preparation ISO/NP 18135 Solid biofuels – Sampling ISO/NP 14780 Solid biofuels -- Sample preparation

Physical and mechanical properties

ISO/CD 18134-1 Solid biofuels -- Determination of moisture content -- Oven dry method -- Part 1: Total moisture -- Reference method

ISO/CDP 18134-2 Solid biofuels -- Determination of moisture content -- Oven dry method -- Part 2: Total moisture - Simplified method

ISO/NP 18134-3 Solid biofuels -- Determination of moisture content -- Oven dry method -- Part 3: Moisture in general analysis sample

ISO/CD 18122 Solid biofuels -- Determination of ash content ISO/NP 18125 Solid biofuels -- Determination of calorific value ISO/CD 17828 Solid biofuels -- Determination of bulk density ISO/CD 18123 Solid biofuels -- Determination of the content of volatile matter

ISO/CD 17827-1 Solid biofuels -- Determination of particle size distribution for uncompressed fuels -- Part 1: Horizontally oscillating screen using sieve for classification of samples with a top aperture of 3.15 mm and above

ISO/CD 17827-2 Solid biofuels -- Determination of particle size distribution for uncompressed fuels -- Part 2: Vertically vibrating screen using sieve for classification of samples

ISO/CD 17831-1 Solid biofuels -- Methods for the determination of mechanical durability of pellets and briquettes -- Part 1: Pellets

ISO/CD 17831-2 Solid biofuels -- Methods for the determination of mechanical durability of pellets and briquettes -- Part 2: Briquettes

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ISO/CD 17830 Solid biofuels -- Determination of particle size distribution of disintegrated pellets

ISO/CD 17829 Solid biofuels -- Determination of length and diameter of pellets

Chemical analysis

ISO/DIS 16948 Solid biofuels -- Determination of total content of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen

ISO/DIS 16995 Solid biofuels -- Determination of the water soluble content of chloride, sodium and potassium

ISO/DIS 16994 Solid biofuels -- Determination of total content of sulphur and chlorine

ISO/DIS 16967 Solid biofuels -- Determination of major elements

ISO/DIS 16993 Solid biofuels -- Conversion of analytical results from one basis to another

ISO/DIS 16968 Solid biofuels -- Determination of minor elements

ISO/CD 16996 Solid biofuels -- Determination of elemental composition by X-ray fluorescence

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Annex 2-European standards (EN)

Terminology

EN 14588:2010 Solid biofuels – Terminology, definitions and descriptions

Fuel specifications and classes

EN 14961-1:2010 Solid biofuels – Fuel specifications and classes – Part 1: General requirements

EN 14961-2:2011 Solid biofuels – Fuel specifications and classes – Part 2: Wood pellets for non-industrial use

EN 14961-3:2011 Solid biofuels – Fuel specifications and classes – Part 3: Wood briquettes for non-industrial use

EN 14961-4:2011 Solid biofuels – Fuel specifications and classes – Part 4: Wood chips for non-industrial use

EN 14961-5:2011 Solid biofuels – Fuel specifications and classes – Part 5: Firewood for non-industrial use

EN 14961-6:2012 Solid biofuels – Fuel specifications and classes – Part 6: Non-woody pellets for non-industrial use

Fuel quality assurance

EN 15234-1:2011 Solid biofuels – Fuel quality assurance – Part 1: General requirements

EN 15234-2:2012 Solid biofuels – Fuel quality assurance – Part 2: Wood pellets for non-industrial use

EN 15234-3:2012 Solid biofuels – Fuel quality assurance – Part 3: Wood briquettes for non-industrial use

EN 15234-4:2012 Solid biofuels – Fuel quality assurance – Part 4: Wood chips for non-industrial use

EN 15234-5:2012 Solid biofuels – Fuel quality assurance – Part 5: Firewood for non-industrial use

EN 15234-6:2012 Solid biofuels – Fuel quality assurance – Part 6: Non-woody pellets for non-industrial use

Sample and sample preparation

EN 14778:2011 Solid biofuels – Sampling EN 14780:2011 Solid biofuels – Sample preparation

Physical and mechanical properties

EN 14774-1:2009 Solid biofuels – Determination of moisture content – Oven dry method – Part 1: Total moisture – Reference method

EN 14774-2:2009 Solid biofuels – Determination of moisture content – Oven dry method – Part 2: Total moisture – Simplified method

EN 14774-3:2009 Solid biofuels – Determination of moisture content – Oven dry method – Part 3: Moisture in general analysis sample

EN 14775:2009 Solid biofuels – Determination of ash content EN 14918:2009 Solid biofuels – Determination of calorific value EN 15103:2009 Solid biofuels – Determination of bulk density EN 15148:2009 Solid biofuels – Determination of the content of volatile matter

EN 15149-1:2010 Solid biofuels – Determination of particle size distribution – Part 1: Oscillating screen method using sieve apertures of 1 mm and above

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EN 15149-2:2010 Solid biofuels – Determination of particle size distribution – Part 2: Vibrating screen method using sieve apertures of 3,15 mm and below

CEN/TS 15149-3: 2006

Solid Biofuels – Methods for the determination of particle size distribution – Part 3: Rotary screen method

EN 15150:2011 Solid biofuels – Determination of particle density

EN 15210-1:2009 Solid biofuels – Determination of mechanical durability of pellets and briquettes – Part 1: Pellets

EN 15210-2:2010 Solid biofuels – Determination of mechanical durability of pellets and briquettes – Part 2: Briquettes

EN 16126:2012 Solid biofuels – Determination of particle size distribution of disintegrated pellets

EN 16127:2012 Solid biofuels – Determination of length and diameter for pellets and cylindrical briquettes

Chemical analysis

EN 15104:2011 Solid biofuels – Determination of total content of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen – Instrumental methods

EN 15105:2011 Solid biofuels – Determination of the water soluble chloride, sodium and potassium content

EN 15289:2011 Solid biofuels – Determination of total content of sulfur and chlorine

EN 15290:2011 Solid biofuels – Determination of major elements – Al, Ca, Fe, Mg, P, K, Si, Na and Ti

EN 15296:2011 Solid biofuels – Conversion of analytical results from one basis to another

EN 15297:2011 Solid biofuels – Determination of minor elements – As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, V and Zn

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Annex 3- List of some international and national standards for solid biofuel production equipment and safety of its operation

Title Short description Link

BS EN 303-5:2012 - Heating boilers. Heating boilers for solid fuels, manually and automatically stoked, nominal heat output of up to 500 kW. Terminology, requirements, testing and marking

Boilers, Heating equipment, Hot-water boilers, Solid-fuelled devices, Wood, Fossil fuels, Terminology, Drawings, Production, Welded joints, Welding, Thickness, Safety measures, Performance, Draughts, Emission, Combustion, Pressure testing, Temperature, Thermal output, Designations, Marking, Steels, Testing conditions, Iron, Burst tests, Efficiency, Sampling equipment, Filters

http://shop.bsigroup.com/ProductDetail/?pid=000000000030228887

Boiler efficiency directive (BED) 92/42/EEC

http://www.gaswiki.eu/directives/bed/bed.pdf/view

Construction Products Directive (Council Directive 89/106/EEC) (CPD)

Replaced by Regulation (EU) No 305/2011

http://eurocodes.jrc.ec.europa.eu/doc/construction_products_directive.pdf

EN 15316-4-7:2008

Heating systems in buildings - Method for calculation of system energy requirements and system efficiencies - Part 4-7: Space heating generation systems, biomass combustion systems

http://standards.cen.eu/dyn/www/f?p=204:110:0::::FSP_PROJECT,FSP_ORG_ID:25149,6209&cs=1BCB36897960DA192892A1E4CCFE685B7

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_(EU)_No_305/2011











Annex 4- List of some International and national Environmental standards for solid biofuel

Title Short description Link 106 Environmental Standards for Eligible Energy Resources

This regulation prescribes environmental standards for hydroelectric facilities and for the combustion of biomass. These standards determine if a resource is an Eligible Energy Resource under the Ac

http://regulations.delaware.gov/AdminCode/title7/100/106.shtml

Directive 2000/76/EC on the incineration of waste.

The 'thermal treatment' which includes combustion, gasification and pyrolysis of solids or liquids that can be defined as waste is governed by the Waste Incineration Directive (WID)

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69326/pb13639-ep2010wasteincineration.pdf

The Large Combustion Plant Directive (2001/80/EC)

Environmental Permitting Regulations - on the limitation of emissions of certain pollutants into the air from large combustion plants

http://archive.defra.gov.uk/environment/policy/permits/documents/ep2010largecombustionplants.pdf

ISO 14040 (2006) Environmental Management. Life cycle Assessment. Principles and framework

ISO 14040:2006 describes the principles and framework for life cycle assessment (LCA) including: definition of the goal and scope of the LCA, the life cycle inventory analysis (LCI) phase, the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) phase, the life cycle interpretation phase,

http://www.iso14000-iso14001-environmental-management.com/

ISO 14044 (2006) Environmental Management. Life cycle Assessment. Requirements and Guidelines

specifies requirements and provides guidelines for life cycle assessment

http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=38498

EPA - Environmental Protection Agency

Emissions Standards for Commercial/Industrial Solid Waste Incinerators

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-03-21/pdf/2011-4495.pdf

EPA Emissions Standards for Major Source Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters


CEN/TS 15439:2006 Biomass gasification - Tar and particles in product gases - Sampling and analysis

http://standards.cen.eu/dyn/www/f?p=204:110:0::::FSP_PROJECT,FSP_ORG_ID:24005,622708&cs=171B3DA27B466CD0054449785523C7873

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