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Many countries have limited low-cost biomass resources to satisfy their own demand for bioenergy; consequently, international trade in biomass in various liquid and solid forms is ­increasing. The aim of this study is to present a quantitative overview of the development of international biomass trade for energy purposes. This paper focuses on the main biomass producing and consuming countries, as well as exporters and importers of liquid and solid biofuels, such as wood pellets, biodiesel, and bio-ethanol, and biomass products, for example industrial roundwood. The study ­discusses changes in trends that have occurred over the past decade, and investigates emerging energy ­biomass trade streams. Due to increased demand for wood pellets from the heating and ­industrial sectors, global wood pellet markets and international trade have increased significantly in the past decade. The United States and Brazil remain leaders in bio-ethanol production with about 45 Mt and 24 Mt respectively. In recent years, Asian markets such as China (industrial roundwood), South Korea (wood pellets), Malaysia, and Indonesia (palm oil) have developed considerably. In the EU-28, more than 60% of total palm oil consumption is used for energy purposes. The EU is the global leader in biomass for energy utilization and also the main importer of most biomass products, particularly wood pellets.

Many countries have limited, low-cost biomass resources to satisfy their own demand for bioenergy. International trade of biomass in various solid and liquid forms is consequently increasing. The aim of this study is to present a quantitative overview of the development of international biomass trade for energy purposes, including a discussion of methodological issues. The paper focuses on the production, export, and import of solid and liquid biofuels, including industrial roundwood, wood chips, fuel wood, wood pellets, biodiesel, and bioethanol. The study highlights changes in trends that have occurred over the past decade. Trade on global bioenergy markets is increasing: total trade of biomass for energy purposes is estimated as having increased twofold from around 780 PJ in 2004 to 1250 PJ in 2015. Despite the importance of the bioenergy market and the growth of biomass trade for energy, accurate evaluation of energy-related biomass trade faces several methodological challenges, such as uncertainties in international statistics, inconsistent data regarding export and import ­volumes, as well as limited information about the final use of traded products.

Biomass can be used for energy purposes by either combustion to heat and power or refining into solid and liquid biofuels. The majority of biomass is used for residential purposes in developing countries. Modern biomass use in industrialized countries is increasing, and more and more biomass is also traded to be used for energy purposes. The purpose of this paper is to locate the 15 largest ethanol, biodiesel, and wood pellet plants. Facilities generating heat, steam and electricity were left out. Secondly it is not generally known what share of biomass users are large plants. Also an effort is made to find out how much these large-scale biomass refining plants use imported feedstock. For the most part, very large industrial processing facilities are found in a small number of countries. The largest ethanol mills are found almost exclusively in the United States, with one very large plant in the Netherlands. The distribution of biodiesel and wood pellet plants is more dispersed. The countries with the most large biodiesel plants include the USA, Brazil, Spain, and the Netherlands. The countries with the most very large wood pellet plants include the USA, Canada, Russia, and Germany. Torrefaction and pyrolysis technologies are still rarely used on industrial scale. Ethanol and wood pellet plants tend to be sourced from local feedstocks, while biodiesel plants are much more likely to use imported feedstocks or a mix of imports and local biomass. All of these fuels are increasingly traded through the international market. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd