Wood pellets as a sustainable energy alternative in Portugal

Author

L.J.R. Nunes, J.C.O. Matias and J.P.S. Catalão

Renewable Energy, 2016, vol. 85, issue C, pages 1011-1016

Abstract: The pellet market in Portugal is a developing market where the main producers of wood pellets try to convince the small-scale buyer that wood pellets are a good alternative as a fuel because energy from them is cost-effective in long-term use. For this work, data about production, production capacity and consumption in Portugal were collected. Consumption levels are low since the majority of sales are exports. The different points of pellet production in Portugal have been located, and a price analysis has been made. To obtain data on the production capacity of the plants and get referrals from the market, the database Bioraise has been used in order to complement the information raised through prospecting and inquiries. Although it is noted that the pellet industry in Portugal is a sector in the initial stage of its development, the potential for growth is high, since internal consumption is low compared to the level of exports to other countries in which the pellet industry is booming. We conclude that the pellet industry is an important alternative in the Portuguese energy market due to the competitive price of this fuel compared to traditional fuels.

Keywords: Wood pellets; Wood pellets market; Alternative energy; Energy costs(search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations Track citations by RSS feed

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148115301609
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link:http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:85:y:2016:i:c:p:1011-1016

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable Energy is currently edited by Soteris A. Kalogirou and Paul Christodoulides

More articles in Renewable Energy from  Elsevier
Series data maintained by Dana Niculescu (repec@elsevier.com).

For further details log on website :
http://econpapers.repec.org/article/eeerenene/v_3a85_3ay_3a2016_3ai_3ac_3ap_3a1011-1016.htm