European Pellet Conference

Dawn Stephens-Borg reflects on the European Pellet Conference 2022, which took place in Wels, Austria and online in April.
Hot on the heels of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which was cautiously optimistic on bioenergy, the European Pellet Conference felt like an opportunity for bioenergy industry actors to defend the sector's potential.
As the race to net-zero intensifies, particularly in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there are growing concerns among campaigners and the wider public that bioenergy is not a desirable option compared to other forms of renewables.
Energy prices have soared in the UK and overseas, further exacerbated by government pledges to stop sourcing oil and gas supplies from Russia. This has also impacted the wood pellet industry, as certification schemes like ENplus are no longer certifying Russian biomass. Now more than ever, the bioenergy industry must make its case, and the European Pellet Conference certainly felt like the right platform for this discussion.
Everyone in the industry wants biomass to be sourced sustainable and used effectively. Fortunately, there are an...