PROGRAMME

Tuesday, 23 February 2016

08.30 - 18.00: Technical Site VisitsSite Visit "Pellets & Wood Chips"
A full-day trip by bus including technical Site Visits on the production of fuels & equipment and innovative applications for heating and electricity production

Wednesday, 24 February 2016

09.00 Pellet policies and markets

• Opening & welcome
  Michael Strugl, Regional Minister for Energy, Upper Austria
  Gerhard Dell, OÖ Energiesparverband, Austria
  
  
• The role of bioenergy in the Energy Union
  Giulio Volpi, European Commission, DG Energy
  
  
• EU bioenergy - market trends and policies
  Fanny-Pomme Langue, AEBIOM
  
  
• Ecodesign requirements and labelling for biomass heating
  Alexander Weissinger, Bioenergy 2020+, Austria
  
  
  

The role of bioenergy in the bioeconomy

• Global potentials and developments
  Hubert Röder, Wissenschaftszentrum Straubing, Germany
  
  
• From innovation to market - biomass in Upper Austria
  Christiane Egger, OÖ Energiesparverband, Austria
  
  
• An effective strategy for regional economic development
  Adam Sherman, Biomass Energy Resource Center, USA
  
  

Lunch break

Panel discussion:
Pellets - facts vs. fiction

• Chairperson: Tim Portz, BBI International
  
  
• Gordon Murray, Wood Pellet Association, Canada
• Hans Martin Behr, Deutsches Pelletinstitut, Germany
• Stefan Ortner, ÖkoFEN, Austria
• Francisco Puente, ESCAN, Spain

Successful business models

• How to improve the profitability of a pellet business
  Henrik Arfwidsson, Agroenergi Neova Pellets, Sweden
  
  
• Financing and operating pellet facilities in Europe and the US
  José Ignacio Pedrajas, Prodesa North America, USA
  
  
• Risk management with wood pellet future contracts
  Ulrich von Fürstenberg, Euronext, France
  
  
  

World Pellet Technology Forum

• Technology outlook: pellet heating of the future
  Ingwald Obernberger, Bios Bioenergiesysteme, Austria
  
  
• Comparison of soft and hard wood pellet production
  Peter Lange, CPM Europe, NL
  
  
• "New" pellet fibers require new technologies
  Gregor Rinke, Rinke Engineering, Germany
  
  
• Reducing ash content in pellet production
  Ivan Lipovec, PAL, Italy
  
  

19.00 Evening programme

Thursday, 25 February 2016

09.30 Session: Pellet Technology Outlook - a research update (in English only)
09.30 Session: Pellet Market News Worldwide (in English only)

09.30 Pellet Technology Outlook - a research update (in English only)

• Optimisation of cereal straw torrefaction and pelletisation
  Javier Gil Barnó, CENER, Spain
  
  
• BRISK: combustion characteristics of "HTC pellets" and "vineyard pruning pellets"
  Stefan Retschitzegger, Bioenergy 2020+, Austria
  
  
• BeReal: a test method for pellet stoves reflecting real life operation
  Hans Hartmann, TFZ Bayern, Germany
  
  
• EMPYRO: energy and materials from pyrolysis
  Gerhard Muggen, BTG-BTL, NL
  
  
• ENERCOM: polygenerating energy, fuels and fertiliser
  Thorsten Kläs, Soil-Concept, Luxembourg
  
  
• LogisTEC: innovation in biomass supply chains
  Michiel C. Carbo, ECN, NL
  
  
• SECTOR: final results and torrefaction outlook
  Kay Schaubach, DBFZ, Germany

12.30 End of the session

09.30 Pellet Market News Worldwide (in English only)

• Chairperson: Gordon Murray, Wood Pellet Association of Canada
  
  
• Opening
  Gilles Gauthier, European Pellet Council

• Price differences and international trade with household pellets
  Lukas Kranzl, Energy Economics Group, Vienna University of Technology, Austria

• Canada: wood pellet industry update
  Michele Rebiere, Viridis Energy

• US: old challenges, new opportunities
  Ben Bell-Walker, Biomass Thermal Energy Council
  
  
• India: increasing opportunities in emerging markets
  Suhas Patel, Saurashtra Agro Briquettes
  
  
• Germany: responding to weak markets
  Martin Bentele, DEPV
  
  
• UK: boom and bust - the pellet boiler market
  Neil Harrison, re:heat
  
  
• Spain: campaign "Biomass in your home"
  Pablo Rodero Masdemont, AVEBIOM
  
  
• Romania: potentials for pellets and briquettes
  Dorin Sfaca, Romanian Pellets and Briquettes Association
  
  
• Namibia: biomass opportunities
  Dr. Bruce Brewer, CCF Bush
  
  

12.30 End of the session

Please also see the related events:

• Young Researchers: Biomass
• Cooperation Platform
• Technical Site Visits