La biomasse, activité alternative au développement des zones rurales

b) «Biomass Heating contractor off the year 2000 », a national competition

Since the Nineties, several communes in Finland started to invest in systems of heating functioning with the biomass for the communities, such as the schools or the old people's homes. At the same time, of the farmers made of new agricultural companies, « heating contractors », which provides energy starting from wood. One « heating company » can be a co-operative, a limited company, an amalgamation or individual, which sells energy. These companies generally have a local activity and the principal fuel is wood. The fuel comes from the forest of the company or a close forest. At the end of 1999, surroundings eighty companies produced energy for the municipal buildings or of industries.

Company VTT Energy, principal partner of the competition, in co-operation with Justified, information center of Finnish energy, and the ministry for the trade and L '' industry organized a competition national which bears the name of : «Biomass Heating Entrepeneur off the year 2000 »^38(*).

This competition supports the local entreuprenariat, the use of wood coming from close forests like fuel and the creation of jobs, in particular in rural medium.

The principal objective of this competition is to promote the entreupenariat in the field of energy and to put it at the row of a true industry. This industry comprises certain advantages :

· to ensure a permanent activity the farmers and the owners forester

· to ensure the maintenance of the forests

· to decrease the use of fuel oil and electricity

· to instigate the local economy

One of the ambitions of this competition is to increase the number of plants usable like fuels. There exists for the moment 100 varieties of energy plants. The competition wishes to make pass this figure to 1.500 plants in ten years.

In order to find the best projects, VTT Energy suggested A Motiva organizing a national competition, first took place on April 11, 2000, with at the same time a conference. This competition should take place during three years.

* ³⁸ Document Internet, Agores, http://www.agores.org/CTO/Catalogue_Summaries/Biomassheat.pdf, consulted the 06.03.01