Analysis of the Potential of Forestry Biomass Production in the Massif of Garraf and the Community Participation

Analysis of the potential of forestry biomass production in the Massif of Garraf and the community participation

Type of study: Case Study

Authors: Konstantinos Chatziioannou - [email protected] Sergio Fernández - [email protected] Bibiana Monsivais - [email protected] Pierre-Jean Rigole - [email protected]

Date of Submission: May 28th - 2013

Abstract

Biomass has been exploited by humanity since people burned woods in order to start a fire and get warm. Today, biomass is considered a renewable energy source with vast potential that could not only help towards climate change mitigation, but also boost economic and social growth as a new emerging industrial sector. This paper investigates the current situation and the potential of the forest Garraf southern of Barcelona, and tries to identify problems and suggest potential solutions. Governmental policies and measures are evalauted and as well as possible actions from different stakeholders. It also presents a brief historical evolution of biomass as an energy source in Sweden, a country in which biomass exploitation has been profound over the past three decades and could be used as a paradigm.

Table of Contents

Abstract...... I Abbreviations and Acronyms...... III 1 Introduction...... 1 2 Methodology ...... 1 3 Energy production analysis of Catalonia ...... 1 3.1 Energy production ...... 1 3.2 Catalonia energy production from forestry biomass ...... 2 3.3 Energy demand...... 3 4 Trend analysis of biomass use in Catalonia ...... 3 5 The Garraf Massif. Region diagnosis...... 5 5.1 Framework conditions (social, economic, legal, technological, environmental) ...... 5 The Area of Garraf...... 5 5.2 Biomass production capacity...... 6 5.3 Potential as energy source ...... 7 6 Forestry Owners Association the Garraf Massif region...... 7 7 Governmental policy regarding biomass for energy production...... 8 7.1 Biomass development and policies in other European countries: the Swedish example...... 8 8 Discussion ...... 9 8.1 Strategies necessary to increase biomass consumption in the region and to obtain an economically viable production...... 9 8.2 Strategies to achieve and promote awareness, social acceptance and community participation of biomass use ...... 9 8.3 How can other forest uses be boosted? (Agriculture, tourism, livestock, farming) ...9 9 Conclusions...... 10 10 Bibliography ...... 11

Abbreviations and Acronyms ktoe Thousands of tonne oil equivalent kt Thousands of tonnes Mtoe Millions of tonne oil equivalent

III

1 Introduction According to the European Parliament and Council Directive 2009/28/EC (DIRECTIVE 2009/28/EC, 2009), the EU states should fulfil the 202020 goals, i.e. carbon dioxide emission reduction of 20%, an energy efficiency increase of 20%, and an energy generation from renewable sources of 20%. Biomass is recognized as an energy source that can play a key role for in reaching these goals as it contributes to the supply of energy for electricity generation, heating and transportation. Many publications assess the potential of biomass as part of a sustainable energy system analyzing biomass production potential taking into account critical aspects such as economic profitability, and environmental, social and cultural impacts (Verkerk, et al., 2011), (Carneiro & Ferreira, 2012), (EEA, 2006). The region of Catalonia in Spain is actively pursuing activities to develop the use of biomass in the energy sector. In this study, we focus on the development of the association of forestry owners in el Massis del Garraf, for exploitation of forest biomass as energy source. The Garraf is a forest area of 20 000 hectares situated south of Barcelona. The aim of the study is to present a diagnosis of the situation of the potential of biomass production in Garraf as energy source. We present the contextual framework for the case study by reviewing the supply and demand for energy in Catalonia and the forestry biomass applications for energy generations. A second objective is to determine the biomass production potential in Garraf and review the social, economic, legal, technological, and environmental framework conditions. Finally strategies to promote biomass use in Garraf are discussed.

2 Methodology This local case study tries to focus on the importance of the community participation in areas that normally are not influenced or managed by community movements. The authors of this report first researched about the general aspects from the biomass sector in Europe and then focusing in smaller areas just trying to realize the actual situation in the Garraf area. Once the initial information was found and argued, the authors began to develop a framework that included social, economic, technological, and environmental aspects. The task was developed in both individual and group discussion. Every week was held a Skype meeting so the group could discuss about the progress and developed new targets and questions that might be resolved. The authors had not used a specific theory process to study this case and just trying and developing several ways or hypothesis. Regarding the methodology, the need was to have a concrete understanding of the importance of how community participation can promote new ways to improve social, economic and environmental aspects. The problem we mainly had found is about the information from the new Association. Although Garraf area is not a very big area and there is not much information about it we could evaluate the potential from the data of the areas in which it is embodied (Catalonia). Despite of the gaps in data and information, the report can help to guide research that may allow those questions to be answered.

3 Energy production analysis of Catalonia This section presents the situation for energy supply and demand in Catalonia. It provides the context for the assessment of the potential of biomass from the Garraf Massif as energy source.

3.1 Energy production The energy balance of Catalonia is presented in Table 3-1 for 2009, which is latest updated statistics available from the Catalan Institute of Energy (Generalitat de Catalunya, 2013). Catalonia energy supply is largely dependent on imported energy mainly fossil fuel, which stands for 72% of the total consumption of primary energy. Out of the primary energy produced locally in Catalonia, 82% is generated by nuclear power. The renewable energy portion accounts for 4.1% of the primary energy 1 consumption with 49% generated from biomass and 39% from hydropower. Note that the biomass figure includes production from forestry, arable and livestock biomass, solid urban waste, biological fuels and biogas. The actual breakdown between the different fractions included in the biomass is presented in the following section. Table 3-1 Energy balance in Catalonia in 2009

Producti Losses Import- Consumption Energy Non Final Thousands of on of Transformatio transport export of primary sector's own energy consumption tonne primary n of energy and balance energy consumption uses of energy energy distribution Fossil fuel 145 17 431 17 576 -2 801 -1 635 50 -2 911 10 280 Nuclear 4 887 0 4 887 -4 887 0 0 0 0 Renewable 872 121 993 -662 0 0 0 331 Hydroelectric 384 0 384 -384 0 0 0 0 Wind 79 0 79 -79 0 0 0 0 Photovoltaic 24 0 24 -24 0 0 0 0 solar Solar thermal 18 0 18 0 0 0 0 18 Biomass 368 121 489 -176 0 0 0 313 Electricity 0 770 770 3 608 -200 -291 0 3 887 Non-renewable 71 0 71 -21 0 0 0 50 waste Total 5 974 18 323 24 297 -4 763 -1 835 -242 -2 911 14 548

3.2 Catalonia energy production from forestry biomass The primary energy consumption in Catalonia from renewables is presented in Table 3-2. The biomass provided 103 ktoe of energy in 2009 from both forest and agriculture. Interestingly the biomass contribution is expected to six fold by 2020. Table 3-2 Consumption of primary energy from renewables in Catalonia Consumption of primary energy (ktoe) 2009 2020 Solar thermal 18 178 Photovoltaic solar 24 122 Solar thermo-electrical 0 290 Wind 79 1 075 Hydroelectric 384 496 Biomass forest and agriculture 103 632 Biogas 46 203 Bioethanol 32 67 Biodiesel 163 391 Biokerosene 0 70 Renewable residues 146 273 TOTAL renewables 993 3 797

In the energy sector, the applications of forestry biomass are three: Thermal energy production, electricity production, i.e. thermal power plan and fuel production. Numbers for the use of forestry biomass in Catalonia in these three applications could not be found but for electricity generation. According to the Infobiomassa website (Infobiomassa, 2013), today’s electricity production capacity from forestry biomass is 15.6 MW in Catalonia with four power plants in operation with a total yearly biomass consumption is 102.7 kt. The energy production corresponds to 3% of the total renewable energy production. Although these numbers are not well-defined and their accuracy might be arguable, they are definitely relevant to this case study. To estimate the corresponding electricity production, we assume a typical calorific value of 18 GJ/t (de Wit & Faaij, 2010) and an average conversion efficiency of 30% (Puig-Arnavat, et al., 2010). This leads to an estimated electricity production of 44 ktoe/year or 0.3% of the final energy consumption in Catalonia in 2009.

3.3 Energy demand To assess biomass potential as energy source it is relevant to study the energy demand in Catalonia. As mentioned above there are three uses for biomass, direct thermal energy, electricity and fuel that can be used for powering vehicles. The corresponding demand for these applications in Catalonia can be derived from the statistics for end energy consumption by sectors (Generalitat de Catalunya, 2013). In 2009 the direct thermal energy, electricity and transport fuel demands are respectively 4 783, 3 887, and 5 879 ktoe/year. Comparing the electricity demand and the electricity production from forest biomass estimated in section 3.2, we can indication that about 1% of the electricity demand is provided by forest biomass.

4 Trend analysis of biomass use in Catalonia The Renewable Energy Plan of the Spanish Government (PER 2011-2020), estimates that the total available potential of biomass from forestry and agriculture is about 88.7 million tonnes per year, with a power capacity of 17.3 Mtoe and annual electricity production of 1.4% of the State. Currently the consumption is only 8 million tons, 9% of the available volume; and the objective of the PER is to reach 18 million tons in 2020, 20% (Institut Català d’Energia, 2012). It indicates that the sector is still underdeveloped, but will increase its presence in the renewable energy market. However, it depends on the bonds between producers of biomass and energy sector, the improvements in harvesting technologies, and the price evolution of fossil fuels.

The strategic energy plan in Catalonia (Pla de l'Energia de Catalunya 2006-2015), has the main objective of increase the renewable energy consumption to 9.5% by the year 2015, considering biomass in its different forms and products (forestry, agriculture, renewable waste, biogas and biofuels), as the best alternative to achieve this (Generalitat de Catalunya, 2005). The greatest potential is found on forest biomass due to the characteristics of its territory that represents large areas of forest and agricultural areas that generate large amounts of biomass waste (Martínez S., 2009).

The region of Catalonia has about 2 million hectares of forest, of which 1.3 million are wooded areas. Each year the increase in the volume of forests is 3.5 million cubic meters, so that the amount of biomass for energy that is extracted from forests is still very low compared to the potential it represents (Departamento de Agricultura, Ganadería, Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Natural, 2009).

The use of forest biomass will gain importance as an opportunity for boosting the economy and creating jobs. The employment study prepared by ISTAS-CCOO for the Institute for Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE), estimated that the number of employees is about 3,200 and 2,800 indirect jobs in the renewable energy field and it is expected to employ nearly 8,100 workers in both indirect and direct activities associated with biomass.

During the last five years, they have been implemented in Catalonia more than a thousand installations for thermal applications based on various types of biomass (domestic, industrial, municipal and commercial), that have been subsidized by ICAEN (Institut Català d’Energia) for renewable energy installations providing a total capacity of 85 MW. For electrical applications there are only three plants in operation, but there are also plants under construction and other projects that will add 74.8 MW in total that they will represent a consumption of 720,000 tons (Institut Català d’Energia, 2012). Figure 4-1 represents the number of plants executed in Catalonia.

1,110 Total Executed

Executed (accumulated) 824

490

334 286 256 234 164 92 92

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Figure 4-1. Subsidied and executed biomass instalations in Catalonia 2006-2010 Source: El Mercat emergent de la biomassa forestal, Institut Català dÈnergia 2012.

The forest and agricultural biomass contributed in 2009 with 102.8 ktoe to the primary energy consumption in the Catalan system of renewable sources (10.3% of the total). The provisional Energy Plan and Climate Change in Catalonia (PECAC 2012-2020, currently in preparation) suggests that in 2020 it will contribute with 631.9 ktoe (16.6% of the total), amount that represents an increase of 529.1 ktoe in relation to 2009. The main applications of this biomass lines will continue to be primarily for thermal uses, since they have higher energy efficiency than electricity generation.

Figure 4-2. Primary energy consumption forecast with renewables in Catalonia (2012-2020). Source: Pla de l’Energia i canvi climatic de Catalunya 2012-2020.

It could be perceived in figure 4-2 that forest and agricultural biomass tend to become the second renewable energy source of the total primary energy consumption beyond the hydroelectric power.

Within the current economic context of Catalonia, the autochthonous resources are being seen more valuables, and this leads to a greater increasing for the use of forest biomass, since it helps to diversify the energy system and promotes enterprises activity, local jobs creation and competitiveness of emerging economic and productive sectors.

5 The Garraf Massif. Region diagnosis

5.1 Framework conditions (social, economic, legal, technological, environmental)

The Area of Garraf The Garraf is one of the 41 regions of Catalonia (Spain). It is a coastal region bathed by the Mediterranean Sea located in the province of Barcelona and the capital is Villanueva I la Geltrú. Its population is about 147,107 inhabitants covering an area of 185 km2 of which 755 km2 are not intended for urban development.

Province of Barcelona, Catalonia

Figure 5-1. Location of the Massif of Garraf - Barcelona, Catalonia.

The region is dominated by the current Garraf massif, in which belongs the Garraf Natural Park. Garraf geologically comprises a dolomitic limestone series with high degree of karsts which allows the development of deep inside infiltration water systems. (Sabaté Jorba, 1990)

Garraf Forest area covers over 12,000 hectares and the production of biomass (thermal) exceed 5,000 tons per year. In this area another main objective is to maximize production by including pruning and urban wood residues for biomass production. In an area as small as the Garraf this production would be sufficient to replace the thermal energy currently obtained in the non-renewable resources such as diesel or liquefied petroleum gases (Martínez S., 2009).

If we talk about forestry, one of the most difficult time ever was held in 1982 and 1994, with the biggest two fires from decades. In the last major fire in 1994, more than half of the surface was affected (Papió, 1996). Generally is considered that Mediterranean reforestation is not a big problem, although the ground automatically could feed plants and tress to be reborn. But in this case, and when there is a relatively short periods of time between two fires, the soil is highly damaged and maybe it can’t never been

5 recovered again in a good quality. In this case, in Garraf they have noticed that the plants and trees are being recovered automatically but some kind of species have decreased and others (like reed and pino blanco) have mainly being spread all over the Garraf area (Serrasolas, 1989). During the year 2012 a new association was formed and they are trying to develop strategies and action plans based on better harvesting in Garraf area. This association is called "Association of Owned Forestals the Garraf Massif" and is a public-private partnership involving three municipalities (Sant Pere de Ribes, Olivella and Sitges), and also in participation with 8 private owners. This is a curious fact in Catalonia since 80% of the forests are in hands of private owners who are running small plots (source: La Vanguardia Newspaper).

Total Garraf embodied capacity x1.000 t (in thousands tonnes) 180 180

160 160

140 140 120 120

100 100

80 80 60 60

40 40 20 20 0 0

Total capacity Total producon Producon capacity

Figure 5-2. Garraf biomass capacity by source.

5.2 Biomass production capacity The yearly total biomass production potential for the forest of Garraf is 4.9 kt for a total forest area of 12 000 ha (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals, 2013). This number is understood to include the whole biomass production, i.e. stemwood - primary wood production, i.e. paper and hard wood production; forest residues from harvested wood; and biomass from forest management, i.e. thinning in young forests. Since the Garraf potential for energy supply based on biomass has not been analysed yet, it is of interest to compare to the situation for the whole Catalonia, for which several figures are provided in different sources. The different numbers are resulting from various constraints. The first number is the unconstrained biomass potential in Catalonia, which is 3.5 million m3 for a productive forest of 1.38 million ha (Infobiomassa, 2013). This number should include the overall biomass production. Another figure is provided in the “El mercat emergent de la biomassa forestal (Cultura Energètica, 2012, p. 19). The authors derive the sustainable biomass production in Catalonia, 732 dry kt per year. A third estimate, the biomass “usable for energy purposes”, is provided by Martinez Lozano (2009) in his thesis and is 252 kt/year from a total biomass production from forestry of 1 115 kt/year. The fourth potential estimate uses the biomass potential for Spain calculated by Verkerk et al. (2011), i.e. 0.5 m3/ha/year. Verkerk et al. derived this number taking into account technical, environmental and social constraints to assess the realisable potential supply of woody biomass from forests. The various numbers for Catalonia and Garraf are summarised in ¡Error!No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.. The energy content of the biomass is calculated using a typical calorific value of 18 GJ/t and wood density of 0.4 t/m3 (de Wit & Faaij, 2010). The numbers for Catalonia are then

6 multiply by 0.6%, i.e. the ratio between the forest area in Garraf (12 kha) to the forest area in Catalonia (2 million ha), to provide the energy potential of the Garraf. The spread is significant indicating the importance of the constraints on the estimate of the biomass potential for energy purposes. Table 5-1. Energy potential of Catalonia and Garraf from several sources Source CREAF1 Infobio1 CE1 Martinez1 Verkerk1 Unit Catalonia Biomass - 3 500 km3 732 kt 252 kt - potential per year Energy potential per - 603.4 127 75.9 - ktoe year Garraf Biomass 5 8.4 4.4 1.5 2.4 kt potential per year Energy potential per 2.1 3.6 1.9 0.5 1.0 ktoe year 1 CREAF = Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals, Infobio = Infobiomassa, CE = Cultura Energètica, Martinez = Martinez Lozano, Verkerk = Verkerk et al.

5.3 Potential as energy source As described previously, the potential of forestry biomass as energy sources has three folds. (1) thermal energy production, i.e. direct combustion of the biomass for heat generation; (2) electricity production, i.e. thermal power plant; (3) fuel production by pyrolysis or gasification. In order to assess the potential of wood as an energy source, energy conversion figures are given below for the different applications. The typical calorific value of wood is 18GJ/t, which should be compared to heating oil (42 GJ/t) that it aims at displacing. The conversion into electricity in thermal power plant has an efficiency ranging between 20-40% (Puig-Arnavat, et al., 2010). The gasification is a thermochemical partial oxidation process in which carbonaceous substances are converted into gas commonly referred to as syngas (synthesis gas), consists mainly of H2, CO, CO2, N2 (Ruiz, et al., 2013). The gasification efficiency is defined as the ratio between the “available energy” contained in the final synthesis gas and in the biomass, and is around 85% (Puig-Arnavat, et al., 2010). The versatility of gasification is that it can produce H2, methane or other liquid fuels, and can thereby meet the demand for electricity, vehicle fuel or thermal energy.

6 Forestry Owners Association the Garraf Massif region Forests in Catalonia can be divided into four types according to ownership and management: State/government ownership (state forests); Local administration forests; Forest in consortium (private ownership and public administration management); and Private forest ownership. The number of registered private owners is 3,440 with a total surface of 455,216 ha. It has increased since the creation of the Forest Ownership Center, 20 years ago (Navarro P. et al., 2010).

The Forestry Owners Association in the Garraf Massif region is of public-private nature (local administration type), which makes it the first to be constituted under this composition in Catalonia. This has been motivated mainly due to the necessity to achieve a better long-term forest management strategy.

Garraf Forest area is over 12,000 hectares and its production capacity of forest chip for thermal use is at least 5,000 tons a year. This production capacity can be strengthened if they could be incorporated pruning from vineyards and urban areas. The resulting biomass could generate enough thermal energy to replace fossil fuels such as diesel or LPG facilities now used in the region, which would mean a reduction of more than 50% of the costs of consumption. The partners have approved a working plan for 2013, and it consists in organizing a public presentation, make the association 7 grow, and develop a conjunct plan around the Garraf Massif and initiate a study of economic and financial viability of the production and marketing of biomass in the Garraf (La Vanguardia Newspaper, January 2013).

7 Governmental policy regarding biomass for energy production A recent conference held in Madrid by the Spanish Biomass Union identified a lot of the problems that hinder the development of biomass in Spain. Some of the most important ones, if not all, have to do with the governmental policies or the lack of policies to promote energy production from biomass in favour of other technologies. Spain benefits from an enormous potential of biomass feedstock, but the new rules introduced by the government have been obstructing the development of the sector. Although the majority of the measures are trying to help the country overcome the economic crisis, the evolution of biomass would not only help the government to achieve monetary goals through economic growth and the creation of thousands new jobs, but would also help them achieve the binding targets set by the European Union regarding greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, the impact of a growing biomass sector can be considered positive for many aspects of the society despite the initial costs that have to be taken, according to the conclusions from the Biomass Union meeting. Another sector that the implementation of biomass for heat and power will help is the building sector. Both in energy costs as well as the in environmental footprint of individual buildings major reductions can be achieved.

7.1 Biomass development and policies in other European countries: the Swedish example Sweden has extreme amount of biomass capacity, especially in the northern part of the country. However, Swedes did not exploit this capacity to large extent until the beginning of the 1980s. Several factors contributed to the expansion of the use of biomass by 88% from 1980 to 2002. The share of biomass has been constantly growing since then and reached 23.1% of the total primary energy supply of the country in 2009 according to the data from IEA. The vast amounts of forests that cover most of the country, the very large forest industry as well as the extensive presence of district heating systems throughout the whole country have helped biomass to play a significant role in Sweden’s energy mix. However, the major credit for this growth has to be given to the tax reform that occurred in 1991 and made the biomass industry more profitable and, thus, competitive compared to oil for example that was dominating the energy mix until then.

In 2002 most of the biomass was used in the forest industry (57%) and the district heating system (30%). Although almost no biomass was used in the district heating systems back in 1980, in 2002 26 TWh and 42 TWh in 2009 came from it, accounting for a total 43% and 70% respectively of all the fuels used in the district heating systems throughout the country. The increase in the industry sector was not as much (almost 40% in 2002), mainly due to the lower taxes on fossil fuel and the fact that already from 1980 a big share of industrial applications were carried out using biomass or by-products.

The high carbon taxes that were introduced in 1991 seem to have boosted the expansion of biomass in Sweden. The system was based both on carbon tax and energy tax on fuels. From 1991 to 2009 the price of the carbon tax has gone up from nearly 25 €/tonne CO2 to around 115 €/tonne for the district heating production and other private consumer. For sectors subject to international competition such as industry the tax levels are significantly lower at around 35 €/tonne. However, fuels used for producing electricity are free from the carbon tax and the energy tax leading every CHP power plants to declare the dirty fuels for electricity production and biomass for heat, in order to avoid paying the taxes. This is an issue that might need to be addressed in the future.

8 Discussion

8.1 Strategies necessary to increase biomass consumption in the region and to obtain an economically viable production It is estimated that for every 10,000 tons of wood collection it can be created nine direct jobs) and 13 indirect jobs. This would mean in the case of Garraf the creation of more than 40 new jobs (Martinez Lozano, S. 2009). In addition, the average price of biomass is on average 75% cheaper than diesel, so all the amortization periods are much shorter. In the Garraf is estimated that the energy bill is around 180 million euros a year and much of this cost could be reduced by implementing large biomass boilers for large buildings and small and medium-sized boilers for schools and SMEs. Recall that in Europe more than 64 million households use biomass as fuel.

8.2 Strategies to achieve and promote awareness, social acceptance and community participation of biomass use The problem of this kind of energy and others are that many times we cannot find out the real cost of its production. It looks that with the new area of internet (all & now!) it is getting more difficult to spread general messages to educate about some aspects. In this case it is a priority that people could now about the real costs of each kind of energy, including all the life cycle analysis, so at the end the consumer could decide which one he would prefer. This movement to inform about these aspects should be promoted by the governments, but we must realize that the energy companies have a tremendously power and influence on authorities.

Regarding to the social acceptance, it is important to consider that the promotion of forestry biomass improve the creation of jobs in the field of forestry waste since the mechanization of forestry work require quite specific characteristics, and most of these forest jobs have to be done manually. As they are hard and costly work, it is necessary a lot of workforce, therefore the realization of forestry work can contribute significantly to reduce the unemployment rate, with little financial investment if the product obtained has good output market.

8.3 How can other forest uses be boosted? (Agriculture, tourism, livestock, farming) There are products that are compatible with forest management and should be empowered to increase profitability. For example, and according to the director of the sector of the European Forest Institute Mediterranean, Marc Palahí, everything related to the cultivation of mushrooms and pine nuts, or the use of timber from forest clearing.

It also represents a substantial potential for opening a new alternative market of ecotourism. From a landscape management perspective ecotourism may work as an environmental service and facilitate financial returns to nature and forest dependent households and communities. There is the challenge to adequately organize local communities and other involved stakeholders and to develop and implement successful strategies.

From another perspective, arise a new possibility to organize guided visits to the generation plants or biomass heaters, can be a valuable opportunity to get an educational element that promotes biomass sector.

9 Conclusions Biomass is considered a kind of energy yet the potential is much greater that consider it only one more kind of renewable energy. Biomass is an industry that moves an entire sector and has barely influence over other industries.

The comfort and easy accessibility we are having for other types of energy, such as natural gas, oil, nuclear, had pushed into the ground an excellent renewable energy like biomass.

Biomass industry is strategic as a renewable energy and as an industrial sector because it has economic benefits by creating economic activity and growth; social benefits thanks to job creation, and environmental benefits, reducing fire risks and reducing our impact on the environment.

And precisely "capitalization forest" is one of the biggest problems in the area and especially in Catalonia. Every year in Catalonia the brush or undergrowth of forest grow by 200,000 m3 and they only extract 500.000m3. Although the energy potential this is difficult many times because of the accesses and the cost (between 400 € and 750 € per year).

The emergence of cooperatives such as the forestry owners association of the Garraf Massif is a solution and opportunity to enhance the use of biomass. However the high cost of labour in the forestry sector and the low price of wood is a barrier to its development. Perhaps the rising prices of fossil fuel based energy or increasing pressure to obtain the actual cost of energy production (which includes the entire life cycle energy costs) can lead to a boost in the use of biomass.

10 Bibliography Carneiro, P. & Ferreira, P., 2012. The economic, environmental and strategic value of biomass. Renewable Energy, Volume 44, pp. 17-22.

Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals, 2013. creaf.uab.cat. [Online] Available at: http://www.creaf.uab.cat/iefc/pub/Catalunya/Biomassa.htm [Accessed 20 May 2013]. Cultura Energètica, 2012. El mercat emergent de la biomassa, Barcelona: Institut Català d'Energia. de Wit, M. & Faaij, A., 2010. European biomass resource potential and costs. Biomass and Bioenergy, 34(2), pp. 188-202.

DIRECTIVE 2009/28/EC, 2009. eur-lex.europa.eu. [Online] Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/biofuels/biofuels_en.htm [Geopend 18 February 2013].

EDER Estratègia per al Desenvolupament de les Energies Renovables a la Comarca de La Selva. Diagnosi dels Sectors Vinculats a la Biomassa a la Comarca de La Selva. Ajuntament Santa Coloma de Farners, 2009.

EEA, 2006. How much bioenergy can Europe produce withour harming the environment, Copenhagen: European Environment Agency.

Generalitat de Catalunya, 2013. Institut Català d'Energia. [Online] Available at: http://www20.gencat.cat/portal/site/icaen/menuitem.0e77dd7d3736725fc644968bb0c0e1a0/?vgnexto id=8a0659aaac908310VgnVCM2000009b0c1e0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=8a0659aaac908310VgnVC M2000009b0c1e0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default [Accessed 20 May 2013].

Infobiomassa, 2013. infobio.ctfc.cat. [Online] Available at: http://infobio.ctfc.cat/?p=7864&lang=es [Accessed 20 May 2013].

Institut Català d’Energia. El mercat emergent de la biomassa forestal. Generalitat de Catalunya, 2012. Cultura Energètica Número 180.

JOHANSSON, Bengt. Biomass and Swedish Energy Policy. Lund university, Environmental and Systems Studies, 2002.

JOHANSSON, Bengt. Biomass in Sweden – Historic development and future potential under new policy regimes. Lund university, Environmental and Systems Studies, 2004.

Martínez Lozano, S., 2009. Evaluación de la biomasa como recurso energético renovable en Cataluña, Girona: Universitat de Girona.

NAVARRO MAROTO, Pere J.; RODRÍGUEZ BAYO, Judith; CODINA I PALOU, Mireia; DOMÍNGUEZ I TORRES, Gloria; y LÓPEZ VICENS, Ignacio. Prospects for the market supply of

11 wood and other forest products from areas with fragmented forest-ownership structures. Centre Tecnològic Forestal De Catalunya (CTFC), Forest Harvesting and Biomass Area, March 2010.

PAPIÓ, Christian. Respuesta al fuego de las principales especies de la vegetación de Garraf (Barcelona). Orsis, 1996, vol. 3, p. 87-103.

Puig-Arnavat, M., Bruno, J. C. & Coronas, A., 2010. Review and analysis of biomass gasification models. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 14(9), pp. 2841-2851.

Ruiz, J. et al., 2013. Biomass gasification for electricity generation: Review of current technology barriers. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 18, pp. 174-183.

SABATÉ JORBA, Santiago; SALA SERRA, Anna; GRACIA ALONSO, Carlos. Análisis de la ocupación del espacio después del fuego en matorrales de Quercus coccifera y Pistacia lentiscus en el Macizo de Garraf (sw de Barcelona). Mediterránea. Serie de Estudios Biológicos, N. 12 (mayo 1990); pp. 27-46, 1990.

SERRASOLAS, I.; FERRAN, A.; VALLEYO, V. R. Recostruccion de los horizontes organicos tras el incendio en la garriga del macizo de Garraf (Barcelona). Options Méditerranéennes, Série Séminaires, 1989, vol. 3, p. 107-110.

Verkerk, P. J. et al., 2011. The realisable potential supply of woody biomass from forests in the European Union. Forest Ecology and Management, 261(11), pp. 2007-2015.