An energy source of the past and future.

(From The Slovak Spectator)

Byline: Marta Iurianova Spectator staff

Slovakia to use 1.37 million tonnes of forest biomass a year for energy purposes by 2010 THE SLOVAK government wants to support the production of energy from forest biomass. The state considers biomass to be cheaper and more environmentally friendly than energy sources currently used. The Economy and Agriculture Ministries, which have prepared the proposal on the possibility of using forest biomass for energy purposes, also emphasize that the current exploitation of fossil fuels is increasing, which negatively influences the environment. Ivan Bureik, external expert of the environmental NGO 1/4udia a voda (People and Water), said: "The advantages of energy production from forest biomass are unquestionable. The price of acquiring energy out of wood is only a half of that of natural gas." Forest biomass, produced from trees, has an irreplaceable role in the decreasing of greenhouse gases, of which the most significant is carbon dioxide. When growing, trees remove this compound from the atmosphere. "Using forest biomass for energy purposes has a neutral environmental impact. Green trees consume carbon dioxide, which they again release when they are incinerated as biomass," explained Bureik. According to the government, Slovakia has favourable conditions for producing forest biomass energy. "You can use almost any form of wooden materials as forest biomass for energy purposes. It can be wooden waste from, for example, the furniture industry, or it can be wood from trees raised specifically for energy purposes. There are plenty of fast-growing trees," Bureik said. Forests in the Slovak Republic cover an area of more than 2 million hectares, which represents about 43 percent of the country's territory. Since 1970, wood reserves have been gradually growing. Today the reserves reach 432 million cubic metres. The year-on-year increase of wood reserves in 2002 was 7.6 million cubic metres. The annual volume of wood waste from forestry that could be used as biomass is 750 thousand tonnes. The government also plans to widen the reserves by planting "energy forests", mainly of fast growing poplars and sallows, over an area of approximately 45.5 thousand hectares. "The overall annual potential of Slovakia for the production of forest biomass convenient for energy usage will reach approximately 1.37 million tonnes by 2010," says the project proposal, on which the government is about to decide. The Slovak government also sees possibilities in the wood industry, which produces 1.41 million tonnes of wooden waste a year with an overall energy value of 17,570 terra joules. Wood industry factories are among the biggest energy consumers, leading proponents of the plan to believe those companies ...