La biomasse, activité alternative au développement des zones rurales

c) Biomass and agriculture

Forest residue and the firewood combustion or agricultural is the principal technology implemented in the EU to exploit the renewable sources of energy, but its contribution to the energy production progresses less quickly than that of other sources of biomass (Appendix 15). The production of vapor and heat constitutes the most frequent application, whereas the production of electricity plays a role rather limited in this respect (less than 3% in 1996). To a large extent (2/3 according to estimates'), the firewood consumption by the households is not the any commercial exploitation object.

In 1996, the incineration of 12% of urban waste in the Member States gave place to a recuperation of equal energy, on the whole, to 5,1 million tons oil equivalent.

The forest statistics of the EU give a report on an increase in the production of firewood (+ 16% between 1991 and 1995) as of a reduction of the deficit of the trade balance of this product with third countries (Appendix 16).

The importance of the firewood varies according to the Member States. In 1995, the eight Member States in which the share of the firewood was lower than the Community average produced a third of the firewood of the Community, but two thirds of the whole of the roundwood.

Parallel to the practice of cultures at energy ends, the agricultural sector also contributes to the energy production by the means of the activities related to the digestion of the agricultural liquid manure (26,3 ktep in 1996) and the valorization of the effluents of agroalimentary industry (103,2 ktep in 1996).

The anaerobic digestion of organic waste knows a fast expansion in the EU. The recourse to this practice is explained primarily by reasons of an environmental nature, but the recuperation of energy is a welcome by-product.

The vegetable material with fast growth (energy cultures) offers important possibilities of short-term development, since the grounds put in fallow can be used at ends of energy production within the framework of the reform of the CAP. The mode of freezing of the grounds for the production of nonfood cultures is applied from the marketing year 1993/94 (harvest of 1993). For the marketing year 1995/96, one estimates that 60% of the raw materials produced on the cold grounds were used at energy ends. There are two categories different of outlets for the renewable energy resources coming from the grounds put in fallow: liquid bio-fuels and solid bio-fuels. The woody cultures cover the perennial lignocellulosic vegetable productions (poplar, willow, etc), which lend themselves to a direct combustion. The oleaginous cultures relate to the oleaginous seeds (colza, sunflower, etc), of which are extracted from vegetable oils intended to be transformed into substitute product of Diesel oil. The cultures of plants with sugar or starch allow the production of ethanol by fermentation of glucose or the starch-based matters^29(*) after hydrolysis.

The total output of bio-diesel in the European Union, based on only oleaginous seeds coming from grounds put in fallow, was 300.000 to 500.000 tons in 1994.

The farms of big size (>100 ha of agricultural surface usable) have more of two thirds of the grounds devoted to nonfood productions, but also more half of the unit of the grounds placed under mode of assistance. The grounds used for the production of agricultural raw materials nonfood cover however less than 1% of the total surface cultivated by these exploitations. 

The mode of freezing of the grounds applied since 1993/94 within the framework of the reform of the CAP very strongly influenced the way in which the grounds are managed by their owners. Although the rotation of crops remains the principal mode of management of the fallow, the farmers also developed other activities on their grounds. This practice, including an important component of the renewable sources of energy, is the second most important use of the cold grounds profiting from the mode of assistance^30(*).

In the agricultural sector, the production of renewable energy matters offers prospects as a complementary source of income for the farmers. The farm accountancy data network (RICA) recorded micro-economic data on the nonfood oilseeds cultures since 1995, even 1994 for certain Member States. If information available does not make it possible to paint a general picture of the situation at community level, the analysis of the existing data does not reveal any less certain convergences.

For the subset of data RICA established for Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Denmark in 1994, 1995 and 1996, the distribution of the exploitations is identical to that highlighted by the investigation into the structure of the farms of 1995. The exploitations producing of the nonfood oilseeds are larger in terms of surface, but also from the point of view of the standard economic indicators used by the RICA. For each above mentioned Member State, the share of the ascribable production to the nonfood oilseeds is negligible; the major part of the income comes from the subsidies. Compared to the acreage, the production of the nonfood oilseeds also is very limited, since these cultures cover 12% of the surface, but account for only 1,5% of the production.

* ²⁹ Definition of the illustrated Petit Robert  : «  of the family of the starch  », p 50

* ³⁰

Payment (the EEC) N° 1765/92 of the Council (article 7 (4)). Payment (the EEC) N° 334/93 of the Council provides an exhaustive list of the raw materials and finished products likely to profit from the mode of assistance.