Bioenergy production and utilization in different sectors in Sweden: A state of the art review

Abstract

In the continual desire to reduce the environmental footprints of human activities, research efforts to provide cleaner energy is increasingly becoming vital. The effect of climate change on present and future existence, sustainable processes, and utilizations of renewable resources have been active topics within international discourse. In order to reduce the greenhouse gases emissions from traditional materials and processes, there has been a shift to more environmental friendly alternatives. The conversion of biomass to bioenergy, including biofuels has been considered to contribute to the future of climate change mitigation, although there are concerns about carbon balance from forest utilization. Bioenergy accounts for more than one-third of all energy used in Sweden and biomass has provided about 60% of the fuel for district heating. Apart from heat and electricity supply, the transport sector, with about 30% of global energy use, has a significant role in a sustainable bioenergy system. This review presents the state of the art in the Swedish bioenergy sector based on literature and Swedish Energy Agency’s current statistics. The review also discusses the overall bioenergy production and utilization in different sectors in Sweden. The current potential, challenges, and environmental considerations of bioenergy production are also discussed.

Land-use patterns of energy crops in the agricultural landscape

“…Nearly 40% of Swedish energy use comes directly or indirectly from bioenergy, up to 140 TWh (Svebio 2020). To explain this success, three main factors have been proposed: the availability of raw biomass, a good tax system e.g., carbon tax on fossil fuels to encourage using biofuels (McCormick and Kåberger 2005), and the general use of district heating systems in the main urban areas (Parikka 2004;Amiandamhen et al 2020).…”

“…Since then, financial support has also been applied for the production facility investment and pilot project implementation related to electricity production from biofuels (Hillring 1998). Over the years, the Swedish government has applied different tax exemptions to the different types of biofuels to encourage their consumption (Amiandamhen et al 2020). Besides this, introducing a CO2 tax has helped the prices of biofuels to be more competitive with fossil fuels (Hillring 1998;Mahapatra et al 2007).…”

Valorizing Assorted Logging Residues: Response Surface Methodology in the Extraction Optimization of a Green Norway Spruce Needle-Rich Fraction To Obtain Valuable Bioactive Compounds

“…25,26 Forest biomass can also be converted into biopolymers, 27 bioplastics, 28 foams/emulsions, and coatings 29 and used as a potential feedstock for liquid biofuels. 10 Currently, no remarkable utilization of logging residues or needle-based extractive compounds exists in Finland or Sweden. Since there is no industrial utilization of this biomass assortment as a source of biochemicals, methods for its refining require development.…”

“…Forest litter plays an essential role in the formation of soil humus, which is crucial for soil fertility and nutrient cycling . Therefore, logging residues are mostly left at the sites to release the nutrients back to forest soils. , However, to achieve the renewable energy targets (e.g., in the European Union, Directive 2009/28/EC), there has been a recent increase in the utilization of logging residues for forest-based bioenergy production, − while the high cost of logging residue transportation and dry mass losses discourage bioenergy production from these types of biomasses . Besides nutrient recycling and bioenergy production, logging residues offer potential as alternate lignocellulosic materials for several higher value applications, such as reinforcement biomass for biocomposites and growing media .…”

“…At the same time, the global market for extractives and other biobased products is growing . Forest biomass-based extractives are potential raw materials to produce a range of added-value products, such as pharmaceuticals or cosmetic ingredients, platform and specialty chemicals, and dietary supplements. , Forest biomass can also be converted into biopolymers, bioplastics, foams/emulsions, and coatings and used as a potential feedstock for liquid biofuels …”