EUROPRUNING - A NEW DIRECTION FOR ENERGY PRODUCTION FROM BIOMASS

Article history: Received: February 2014 Received in the revised form: June 2014 Accepted: July 2014 One of the possibilities of biomass potential increase on the energy market is the utilisation of agricultural residues in the form of prunings coming from orchards and permanent plantations (fruit tree, vineyards and olive grove prunings and branches from up-rooted trees). The issue of such biomass acquisition for energy purposes in Europe is not fully developed and several aspects still require investigation and/or solutions. The result of that unsolved subject is EuroPruning project realised in the frame of FP7 which is focused on the development of new improved logistics for pruning residues. The paper presents the main goals and assumptions of the EuroPruning project. The methodology and the range of the research works related to harvesting, transport and storage of prunings is described, as well. Attention was paid as well to the environmental, economic and social aspects that are going to be analysed during the project realisation.