Abstract

Recent decades have seen a strong increase in bioenergy utilization in Sweden, from 52 TWh in 1983 to 128 TWh in 2013. Much of this increase has been achieved by replacing fossil fuels with different forms of bioenergy in district heating. Increased use of bioenergy is generally seen as key to reducing fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy security.However, replacing fossil fuels with solid biomass fuels in stationary heat and power generation entails significantly more complicated fuel supply logistics, with geographically scattered material associated with storage difficulties and low energy density. Given these risks and challenges and the key role of biomass-based district heating in the Swedish energy system, disturbances in fuel supply to district heating could potentially be an energy security issue.Through literature studies and interviews with employees at 18 district heating plants, we mapped present and future risks and risk management strategies in district heating supply in the Malardalen region, south-east Sweden. We found that although small disturbances to fuel supply are not uncommon, the likelihood of heat supply failures due to fuel supply problems is low. Risk awareness is generally high among fuel supply managers, with widespread use of multilevel redundancies and diversification as key risk management strategies. However, fuel supply to plants is highly dependent on functioning truck transport and, consequently, availability of diesel fuel for trucks. Risk management can be strengthened further by implementation of forward-looking risk assessments that are less reliant on past experiences. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Bioenergy; District heating; Logistics; Supply chain risk management; Energy security; Climate change adaptation

Published in

Biomass and Bioenergy
2016, Volume: 90, pages: 70-77
Publisher: PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

SLU Authors

• Eriksson, Anders

  • Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Sjöström, Joar

  • Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Anerud, Erik

  • Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG7 Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
SDG13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
SDG12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns


UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2016.03.015

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/82916