A consortium led by the Austrian Energy Agency (AEA) developed the project "Uptake of Solid Bioenergy in European Commercial Sectors (Industry, Trade, Agricultural and Service Sectors) – Bioenergy for Business" for the EU-Programme Horizon 2020’s Call 2014 (LCE14). The project partners include a combination of energy agencies, national biomass associations and research-oriented partners with specialized knowledge on biomass from Northern, Southern, Central and Eastern Europe (Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, European Biomass Association (AEBIOM), Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Croatia, Greece, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine). The goal of this project is to support and promote the (partial) substitution of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) used for heating, by available bioenergy sources (industrial wastes, forest biomass, straw and other agricultural biomass) in the partner countries and beyond. In this context, the project will contribute to increase much-needed security of energy supply through lower dependence on fossil fuels from politically volatile sources. Target groups are, on the one hand, owners and operators of industrial heating plants (for private or district heating). On the other hand, actors who play an important role with regard to the value chain and to framework conditions crucial for the use of bioenergy heat will also be involved. Activities will be tailored to the needs of actors relevant to promising market segments in the industrial, commercial, services and agriculture sectors. Results of the project will include information about market potentials, capacity building/training, decision-support tools and communication activities targeted at relevant stakeholder, tools to support the careful assessment, planning and implementation of such projects, and dissemination of “best-practice” business models. Additionally, information about “best practice” support measures and policies will be made available.

BioRES is proposed by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in cooperation with the European Biomass Association, the Agricultural Chamber of Styria/Austria, C.A.R.M.E.N marketing network for renewable resources (Germany), the Finish Forest Technology Centre METLA, regional energy agencies in Croatia and Slovenia, and the national biomass associations in Bulgaria and Serbia. BioRES aims at introducing an innovative concept of Biomass Logistic and Trade Centres (BLTCs) in Serbia, Croatia, and Bulgaria on the basis of cooperation with technology leaders from Austria, Slovenia, Germany, and Finland. This will help increasing the demand for woody bioenergy products (processed fire wood, wood chips, wood pellets, and wood briquettes) in these countries and contribute to the achievement of EU targets set out in the RES Directive (2009/28/EC). BioRES identifies priority locations for new BLTCs, assesses regional potentials for the production and use of woody bioenergy products, and initiates local stakeholder dialogues involving both producers and potential users of woody bioenergy products (WP3). BioRES initiates the establishment of community-based investor groups, conducts feasibility studies and provides support for BLTC business plans as well as for sale agreements on supply and demand side, and helps for the start of operations of new BLTCs (WP4) on the basis of EU best practices (WP2). BioRES promotes local consumer information and awareness building (WP7) as well as the development (WP6) of local capacities at all stages along the regional supply chains for quality-controlled woody bioenergy products from sustainable forestry (WP5). Outcomes of BioRES will be exchanged with stakeholders in all EU28 Member States (WP8). The innovative concept for new BLTCs builds upon the results of numerous previous and on-going European programs, in particular BIOMASS TRADE CENTER II, FOROPA, SolidStandards and BIOREGIONS.

ENABLING is the initiative of 16 partners in 13 EU and associated (IL, NO) countries. The main goal is to support the spreading of best practices and innovation in the provision (production, pre-processing) of biomass for the BBI (Bio-Based Industry). In particular, ENABLING aims at creating appropriate conditions for the development of efficient biomass to BBPs (Bio-Based Products and Processes) value chains. The consortium’s vision is that Europe bears a huge potential for optimising the supply of biomass into innovative bio-based processes and products. Upscaling biomass production and pre-processing, and combining streams towards the BBPs with those of more traditional bioenergy chains would enhance at least three interlinked types of impact. a) biomass production gains scale to meet higher demand in both sectors (bioenergy and the BBI); b) the reinforcement of biomass supply for the BBI benefits smaller BBI players, helping them diversify and consolidate biomass input sources; c) reinforcing the biomass and BBPs linkages may contribute to job-creation, due to the increased need for specialised workers. To realise such potential, ENABLING also anticipates its longer term exploitation pathways. In the intention of the consortium, the project should aggregate and engage partners for the establishment of a permanent innovation brokerage platform, likely to become in the future, one of the main marketplaces and innovation transfer accelerators at European level. In this sense, the project organises its work around two building blocks: one relates to animating the stakeholders (on the farming and BBPs sides), identifying best practices, turning them into easy to access content (in the EIP format) for their potential users and providing stakeholders with coaching and guidance on innovation. The other one looks at future developments, with the consolidation, in a self-sustainable way, of the innovation brokerage platforms after the end of the EU funded initiative.