Forest HEAT - online monitoring of forest biomass consumption
About this good practice
Bioenergy boilers are usually located in small municipalities with a little technical expertise about the technical management and no data and information are available in order to justify and communicate the decision to switch to bioenergy. Contracts are no clear and the Catalan wood chip market is not transparent about the offered product (moisture, ashes; chip size, units of measurement, …)
ForestHEAT supports the biomass system management and provides, in a very clear and easy way, data related to consumption, supplies, CO2 avoided emissions, forest area managed through the use of bioenergy, graphs, reports.
ForestHEAT creates synergies in the forest biomass sector, as the wood based energy makes sense almost in the 65% of Catalonia, where the forest management is essential for fire prevention and the preservation of forests and biodiversity. At the same time, bioenergy supports the mitigation and adaptation to climatic change, as it is a renewable and local energy source with a high thermal capacity and a stable price that contributes to the creation of local jobs.
ForestHEAT is a cross-platform application suitable for querying and editing data from any device with a data connection, whether from a desktop, tablet, or mobile device. Potential users are municipalities, bioenergy producers, energy service companies.
Resources needed
ForestHEAT was funded (around 20.000 €) by the county council of Girona (Diputació de Girona). Technical assistance and maintenance are in charge of Forest Sciences and Technology Center of Catalonia (one technical engineer).
Evidence of success
At the present, ForestHEAT is used by 28 heating wood biomass systems, with a total consumption of more than 5.000 t of wood chip, equivalent to more than 11.000 MWh.
More municipalities are demanding to be users of ForestHEAT and the goal is to implement this app all around Catalonia.
Potential for learning or transfer
Often there is a little social awareness about benefits related to the use of wood based energy. Most people refuse the idea to burn wood to get energy. ForestHEAT provides data and information to argue and communicate the decision to switch fossil fuel to bioenergy. Wood based energy contributes to forest management and it is essential for fire prevention and the preservation of forests and their biodiversity. At the same time, bioenergy supports the mitigation and adaptation to climatic change, as it is a renewable and local energy source with a high thermal capacity and a stable price able to the create local jobs.
ForestHEAT helps the biomass heating systems managers in drawing up contracts related to the wood chip specification (moisture, units of measurement, standard prices, …) and monitoring the quality of material provided.
This good practice is easily transferable to users located out of Catalonia. Potential users are municipalities, bioenergy producers, energy services co.