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DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR PRODUCING WOOD PELLETS IN LATVIA

Lāsma Līcīte

Abstract

Renewable energy sources, including wood pellets, are increasingly used in the world to reduce CO2 emissions from the production of electrical and thermal energy. One of the largest producers of wood pellets in Europe is located in Latvia; it is a significant exporter of wood pellets on the European scale, exporting approximately 90% of the total quantity produced and supplying the remaining 10% to the domestic market. Even though there are favourable conditions for wood pellet production, industrial consumption of the wood pellets is hindered by a lack of power plants running on coal. Therefore, the research aim is to examine opportunities for expanding the production of wood pellets in Latvia. The research has found that at present the production of wood pellets is one of the fastest growing industry segments as well as the consumption of wood pellets tends to increase. In the period 2008-2017 in Latvia, the output of wood pellets rose four-fold, which was provided by 15 wood pellet producing enterprises. Examining the opportunities for producing wood pellets, three scenarios were designed: expanding wood pellet torrefaction, promoting wood pellet use by households by introducing support mechanisms and promoting wood pellet production and exports. According to experts, promoting wood pellet production and exports was the most efficient scenario, which requires a supportive legal framework and fiscal policy.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgem2019/4.1/s17.016

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