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International workshop on
Development of torrefaction technologies and Friday , 28 January 2011, 13.30 - 18.00 Central European Biomass Conference (CEBC), Stadhalle, Graz, Austria
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Workshop rationale and aim
Torrefaction is an interesting pre-treatment technology for biomass before pelletisation and/or combustion. It is a thermo-chemical process for the upgrading of biomass that is usually run at temperatures ranging from 200 to more than 300°C under the exclusion of oxygen and at ambient pressure.
This workshop gave a comprehensive overview of fundamentals of torrefaction, the main advantages of and the challenges in producing torrefied biomass. Ongoing R&D activities were shown, demonstration plants under construction or already in operation were presented and the latest state-of-science in torrefaction was discussed.
A major focus of the workshop was on logistic aspects of torrefied biomass and the possible impacts on global international bioenergy trade. International biomass trade of e.g. wood pellets, ethanol or biodiesel has been growing strongly in the past decade, but is still relatively small compared to other commodities. While the technical biomass potential would in theory allow for much larger quantities to be utilized, in practice the use is hampered by a geographical mismatch of supply and demand, and associated high logistical costs. Torrefaction is a pre-treatment technology that may help to overcome this barrier as it might enable the use of so-far unutilized biomass potentials, and may thus play a pivotal role for the future growth of bioenergy trade.
This workshop was attended by approx 250 participants from industry, policy makers, NGOs and academia. The event took place as a parallel session within the Central European Biomass Conference 2011 in Graz, Austria.