Bioenergy 2020+ prepared a report on the European Wood-Heating Technologies by order of NYSERDA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

In addition to an overview on combustion technologies and emissions from biomass appliances, European and national regulations, emission control technologies, bio-fuel requirements and non-woody bio-fuel aspects are presented. The heart of the report consists of a summary of the thermal efficiency and emissions performance of biomass heating technologies in Austria, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. A survey of the boilers in these countries shows that those in the Top 25% of thermal efficiency and emissions performance greatly exceed not only the current European Standard (EN 303-5) performance requirements (classes 1, 2, and 3) but also the proposed requirements (classes 4 and 5). It was thus concluded that technology forcing policies, regulations, and eco-labeling efforts have clearly resulted in the substantial improvement of the available technology in Europe. A key aspect of the report is that these performance characteristics are presented in terms of American methodology and units.

The report provides critical information to assist NYSERDA in developing a high-efficiency biomass heating market and to assist the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in assessing the current top performing technology. The report provides a framework upon which revisions of the residential wood heater New Source Performance Standard are to be based.

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2010-05-12