“Jönköping is the world’s bioenergy capital!”
The assessment sums up the World Bioenergy trade fair and conference held from 25-27 May 2010, and was made right at the start of the event by Miguel Trossero of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

“This exceeds our wildest expectations. We’ve met exactly the right people here at this fair. It’s unbelievable.”
Johan Dagman, one of the men behind the ebeaver, is having a hard time finding the words to describe his success: Three days of the fair and three machines sold!

All the scenarios have the same result: a hundred percent renewable energy. The only difference is the time frame. That was the conclusion of Horst Rütel of the International Geothermal Association at the final session of the World Bioenergy conference.

A mobile chipper that can be powered by a good-sized agricultural tractor lowers the bar for becoming a supplier of wood chips.
The machine is called the Bruks 605 and was presented at the World Bioenergy trade fair in Jönköping, Sweden.

The biggest volumes of biofuel raw material are in the forest but the agricultural sector can also contribute more renewable energy. At least, so says the Swedish Board of Agriculture, which had a stand at World Bioenergy 2010.
“Willow, reed canary grass and rapeseed are some of the energy crops with major potential,” says Tobias Kreuzpointner, responsible for business and landscape development at the Board. “But there are also good opportunities to produce energy from agricultural byproducts – for instance, biogas from manure.”

Sveaskog owns 3.3 million hectares of productive forest land and is thereby Sweden’s biggest forest owner. By taking part in World Bioenergy 2010 the company hopes to make international business contacts in the biofuel sector.

Kahl’s new method of making fuel pellets from wood chips met with great interest at the World Bioenergy fair in Jönköping, Sweden.
“The same equipment functions as both a mill and a pellets press,” says the German company’s Swedish representative, Patrik Pålsson.
The new mill and pellets press comes in several sizes. The biggest one processes five to six tonnes an hour. The dual function is possible thanks to the use of flat dies instead of the traditional ring dies.
“The dies get worn and whatever type they are, you have to replace them regularly,” Pålsson says. “That takes under an hour with this machine, which is fast even compared to presses with ring dies.”

It isn’t competition for nutrients that make densely planted trees give a worse yield per hectare. The problem is actually genetics.
So said World Bioenergy Award winner Professor Laércio Couta at the World Bioenergy conference in Jönköping, Sweden.

With annual production of 460,000 tonnes of pellets, Graanul Invest is one of the world’s biggest pellets producers. But the company, which is based in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, isn’t satisfied yet:

“We see exciting growth markets in places like the UK and southern Europe,” says Graanul Invest board member Rain Silivask. “So we’re preparing to increase our capacity by adding two new production plants in Lithuania and one in the US. Together they will increase our capacity by another 320,000 tonnes.”

“The basis is a Morbark 3800, which we’ve equipped with a rotary base, tracks, cab and grapple boom. The result is a chipper that can easily navigate forest roads. Because it’s completely mobile, one operator can manage the entire process from the raw material to the finished chips in containers.”

Sugar beets from Europe can help solve the conflict between food and bioenergy in the developing world.
“Sugar beets have greater energy content than sugar cane but require rotation with other crops,” explained Jan Öhrvall at the World Bioenergy conference in Jönköping, Sweden.

World Bioenergy 2010 organises daily study tours during the conference. One of the tours focused on bioenergy from agricultural sources and stopped at Viken farm outside the town of Falköping. The farm is one of Sweden’s most modern dairy farms.
“We have 520 milking cows here and work on a long-term basis with breeding and feed trials,” says Anette Knutsson, CEO at Viken.
All the office buildings and homes on the farm – a total of 12,000 square meters (129,000 sq. ft.) of indoor space – have been heated for several years now by rapeseed (canola) oil pressed on the farm.
“The benefits are both financial and environmental,” she says.

“Always start by making your buildings more energy efficient before you buy a heating system based on bioenergy.”
The advice came from Nils Tunströmer during a study tour as part of the World Bioenergy conference and trade fair in Jönköping, Sweden.

“We want to create a sustainable society and in that context we regard biogas as one of the most important energy sources of the future,” says Åsa Burman of Göteborg Energi. “That’s why we’re investing in having one of the world’s biggest and most modern biogas plants in operation by 2012.”
She is the manager of the project called GoBiGas and described it at a seminar at World Bioenergy 2010.

Just put in an order for a customer or supplier and hey presto! they’re supplied. Business matchmaking was at record levels at World Bioenergy 2010 in Jönköping, Sweden.
“160 companies from 35 countries have met within the space of a day and a half,” said Ellen Carlsson of LTC Enterprise Europe Network.

Bracke Forest promises lightning-fast roadside clearing, but behind that slogan lies new technology that makes stand thinning and clearing more efficient, which in turn can increase the availability of biofuel.

“After the first World Bioenergy fair in 2004 I had about 20 units in operation in Sweden and there were many people who didn’t believe in my concept of small-scale pellets production,” Mikael Wallin says with a smile. “Now we have 140 units operating all over the world. The latest countries to receive a visit from Sweden Power Chippers were Canada and New Zealand.”

From one side it looks like an ordinary shipping container.
From the other side it appears to be a perpetual motion machine which spins, hisses and makes a variety of other noises.
From the inside, the Solbien EWA Fermenter from the Czech company Agro Eko is a highly mechanised system for the rapid composting of waste.

Biogas made from byproducts is the vehicle fuel that offers the most environmental benefit. That’s the conclusion of research done by the Faculty of Engineering at Lund University, Sweden.
“In the worst case the climate effect is reduced by 60 percent compared with diesel and petrol fuels,” says researcher Pål Börjesson.

The Danish company Fumo is putting the automatic control technology of district heating plants into the hands of ordinary householders.
“Our new boilers have two built-in computers that control everything,” says Kim Kristofferssen, demonstrating the control panel on one of the smaller boilers.

The Austrian company Schaller is using Bluetooth to send users of chips and other biofuels speedy information about the fuel’s moisture content.
“The truck driver just fills this container with chips and the data reaches the user a few minutes later,” explains sales manager Wolfgang Hasenhütl.

The Walki Biomass Cover is a paper-based material used to cover and protect stored energy wood from rain, snow and frost. The resulting higher level of dry matter increases the energy content of the biomass.
“Covering your energy wood saves you time and money,” says Magnus Andersson of Walki.

More horsepower plus new hydraulic and operating systems.
Those are some of the innovations on John Deere’s new bundler, the 1190E, which is being shown for the first time at World Bioenergy in Jönköping, Sweden.
“Machines for handling biomass are an important part of our product mix,” explains Per Väppling, marketing manager for John Deere in Sweden and Norway. “Demand is constantly increasing and we want to help forest contractors to exploit the new income opportunities offered by the expanding energy market.”

“How much diesel is it acceptable to use to produce green energy? Harvesting thinnings with a big machine is like eating with a pair of cudgels. We offer an alternative that harvests bioenergy in an energy-efficient way and has minimal environmental impact.”
The speaker is Johan Dagman, one of the men behind the ebeaver, the radio-controlled mini-harvester that drew big crowds at the Elmia Wood international forestry fair in 2009. Since then the ebeaver has advanced from the prototype stage to mass production. At Elmia World Bioenergy the machine was displayed for the first time in its new guise.

“Time is precious and we have to act now!”
With those words Sweden’s Minister for Agriculture Eskil Erlandsson inaugurated the World Bioenergy conference and trade fair at Elmia in Jönköping, Sweden.

Bioenergy doesn’t have to consume resources – on the contrary, it can save important environmental assets. Brazilian researcher Laércio Couto and his team have proved just that, and for this work he is the first recipient of the World Bioenergy Award.

“Our new Pan Grinder Mill crushes chips into pelletable material via an efficient grinding process,” explains Patrik Pålsson, product manager at Roland Carlberg Processystem AB, which is the Swedish agent for KAHL. “The chips are fed into the top of the mill. Roller shells press the chips against a horizontal sandwich plate and out comes finely ground material.”

World Bioenergy is the leading global meeting place for the bioenergy sector, featuring a trade fair, conferences and a wide range of study tours. The event is held every second year and the doors reopen this year on 25-27 May. The world’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of bioenergy-related equipment and services are exhibiting at the fair. Visitors from around the world have come to browse the fair and participate in the conference and excursions.