International conference on wood-based bioenergy

The conference, organized by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, was attended by about 90 people from 32 developed and developing countries. It was convened amidst growing interest in the use of logging and wood-processing residues and dedicated bioenergy timber plantations for energy generation, driven by concerns over energy security, climate change and resource-use efficiency.

The conference was held in Hannover, Germany, in conjunction with LIGNA+ 2007, the world's largest biannual international woodworking machinery fair. This allowed conference participants to see, first-hand, recent technological developments in wood processing and the use of wood-based biomass for energy generation. A study visit to a site near Hannover focused on the optimized use of wood-processing residues in the application of finger-jointing technology for the assembly of off-cuts combined with wood pellet-based heat generation for drying. A second site demonstrated the integrated local use of agricultural biomass (conversion to biogas) and forest-based wood residues as fuel for joint energy generation (electricity and heat) at the village/community level.

1. Wood-based bioenergy offers countries, including developing countries in the tropics, an opportunity to improve their energy security
2. Wood industries can use wood residues for the co-generation of energy, thereby increasing the cost-effectiveness of their operations and improving energy efficiency
3. The use of wood-based bioenergy, both in the wood industry and generally, can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions
4. The wood-based bioenergy sector needs to be developed on the basis of sustainable forest management
5. The international community should support the development of efficient and cost-effective wood-based bioenergy in tropical countries, including by facilitating the transfer of appropriate technology and investment

The final program, conclusions and recommendations, list of participants, and presentations by conference speakers are available for download below.