At the IEE contractors meeting in Brussels on 8th and 9th December, 40 projectleaders and -partners came together to present their projects and exchange their know-how. The meeting was organised by the EACI (Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation) and focused on the following topic "Solid Biomass for Energy: EU Policy implementation; Planning, Supply Chains & Market Intelligence". Altogether 22 projects were presented framed by presentations of the DG Agriculture, DG TREN and further European organisations. The project BEn was introduced by Katarzyna Zielewska from RDI, our project partner from UK. Representatives of our partner projects BioEnerGIS and MAKE-IT-BE were also attending this meeting.

The meeting was an interesting opportunity to learn about bioenergy-related activities in Europe. For BEn this conference was helpful to gather further information on the activities of other projects, especially those related to GIS, biomass potentials calculations and sustainability indicators. Various approaches of different methods which could also be useful for BEn were discussed and collaboration was encouraged.

We would like to thank the EACI for offering the possibility to take part in this meeting.

We are pleased to inform you that the BEn flyer is available in English. Please feel free to download the BEn flyer in the section "Services/Publications"

BEn team just finished work on the SWOT analysis in regard to the regional situation of bio-energy market in the 4 project model regions. The results (Deliverable 4.2) are available on our website in the section "Results":

• in English language for all project regions 
• in 4 national languages for the relevant regions respectively 

We hope that you will find this piece of work interesting and helpful for your biomass related activities. Within project BEn we will use it as one of the information sources and the next step towards development of the regional biomass master plans.  

From 10 through 11 September 2009, the third project meeting of the BEn project took place in the town of Łąck, which is part of the model region Pojezierze Gostynińskie in Poland. The meeting was held to present and discuss first results of project work and to work out and define next steps to take. After an intensive exchange of the work topics, the first day of the meeting was completed with a visit to model projects in the region.

The environmentally friendly Rural Centre of Ecotourism features a couple of different ecologically sound applications such as combined heat production (CHP) on the basis of biomass and solar thermal energy generation, including a biological water purification installation. The visit included also a wood chip heating system for district heating in Łąck and a straw heating plant for the generation of vapour for a bioethanol plant in Trebki. At the end of the tour, the BEn team had the possibility to learn more about the work of the Ecological Cultural Association ZIARNO in Grzybow.

On the second day of the meeting, the results established on the first day were discussed in more detail, and tailored working topics were elaborated.

The meeting was held in an enchanting and sound setting near Łąck which had an inspiring and positive influence on the working atmosphere.

The next project meeting is going to be held in North-East England in January 2010 and will focus, among other topics, on the presentation of a first prototype of the energy register.

In autumn this year, the second regional network meetings in the model regions (Umbria, Emscher-Lippe, North-East England Gostynin Lake district) are on the schedule.

Data for biomass potentials and data for energy sinks (i.e. buildings with energy consumption) in the model regions North East England, Umbria, Emscher-Lippe, and Gostynin Lake District are compiled via questionnaires and bilateral talks/interviews with the responsible authorities, companies and organisations. The multiple functionality of a future biomass energy register is explained and the usability as planning instrument and strategic decision-making basis will be pointed out. The future register will also be a transparent instrument to support the regional value-added chain and to strengthen the regional co-operation and investments in the biomass to energy sector.

The BEn-Forum offers a discussion platform for your questions or suggestions about the energy use of biomass, the energy register or your thoughts on the BEn-project. Your contributions are warmly welcome and you are invited to register here for free.

In the model regions the first regional network meeting took place. The presentation of the project BEn aroused great interest. Information on the kick-off meetings can be found here.

The second BEn project meeting with partners of all participating regions took place in Perugia. At the meeting in Italy an intensive discussion about the contents of the BEn-register took place. Furthermore the representatives reported about their first network meetings in Italy, Poland and England. Also the website was introduced to the audience. During the two-day meeting the Italian hosts organized a very interesting tour through the charming town of Perugia and presented some biomass plants of the beautiful Umbrian region.

We are happy to announce that the English and German version of BEn-Website is launched recently. The Italian and Polish site will follow soon.