Economic and Cost-effective Use of Wood Waste for Municipal Heating Stystems

The economy of Latvia is undergoing a transition. As a result the energy sector offers the potential for considerable changes in terms of the structure of the sector, increasing energy efficiency measures and using renewable sources of energy. A number of economically profitable, cost-effective options for mitigating GHG emissions in the energy sector have been identified in the country's National Communication; i) energy efficiency: reduction of energy transmission and distribution losses, heat energy conservation in buildings and implementation of a system for analysis and control of energy consumption and ii) renewable energy: increased use of biomass in district heating systems, co-generation and of wind and geothermal energy. The increased use of biomass in district heating and co-generation looks very promising in terms of cost-effectiveness and reduction of GHG emissions. Especially in municipalities that will not be connected to the gas grid for the foreseeable future, due to the small current and anticipated future demand for gas, present an interesting potential for the proposed project.The proposed project is designed to remove barriers to the widespread use of wood waste for heat, hot water and electricity delivery at municipal levels in Latvia. It is intended to lay the foundation for larger future investments in this area. The project is expected to assist the Government of Latvia to meet its objective of achieving 8% GHG emission reduction of 1990 levels by the year 2010.