Bioenergy in the Nordic-Baltic-NW Russian Region

The status of use of bioenergy, the current barriers for increased use and the future use of bioenergy in the Nordic-Baltic-NW Russian region is described in this report. In this region, forests are abundant and a long tradition of growing agricultural crops is evident. Therefore, there are sound possibilities for an increased future use of bioenergy, which can become an important part of a sustainable energy supply. However, bioenergy production is a juvenile industry, where political decisions are of prime importance for lifting the utilisation of bioenergy to the full impact on economy and environment. A number of the main technical bottlenecks have already been solved and biofuels are used on a relatively large commercial scale today. A full scale technical development of the bioenergy area must be market driven, but the technology is just below the threshold level where it will attract the large scale investments needed to establish a market. Holistic strategies and interdisciplinary efforts taking all part of the bioenergy chain into account is important. Political support in the form of limited subsidies or mandatory use of bioenergy will have a large positive impact on the creation of a commercial market with committed involvement from the industries.