An overview of the biomass resource potential of Norway for bioenergy use

This paper provides an overview of the Norwegian biomass resources for bioenergy use, bioenergy market and frame conditions through a comparison with Denmark, Finland and Sweden, which have a leading role in bioenergy production in the European Union. Although the contribution of renewable energy in Norway is among the highest in Europe (58%), mainly due to hydroelectricity, bioenergy has a low contribution to Norwegian energy supply (6%). As the experience from the other EU Member States showed, long-term, stable policies and relatively strong incentives are needed to initiate and build up a bioenergy market. In Norway, there is still a significant available potential for increasing the bioenergy contribution to the energy supply. The abundance and relatively low prices of energy (i.e. fossil fuels and electricity), in connection with the need of high investment costs, did not favour so far bioenergy production. Additional forest biomass may be mobilized in Norway by more intensive management of currently exploited forests. However, there are several limitations related to topography, accessibility and economics. The biomass resources and the full range of technologies available for heat or electricity generation both at small and large scale that can provide good opportunities for increased bioenergy production. The experience gained in Denmark, Finland and Sweden may be relevant for Norway, as well as for other EU Member States, where there is a deficit of mobilization of biomass resources and insufficient industrial integration of bioenergy with other forest-based sectors.