Next to the European portal www.bioxchange.com, BioXchange currently includes national portals for The Netherlands (www.bioxchange.nl), Belgium, Germany, Poland, Austria and the United Kingdom. Ecofys started BioXchange together with ‘Reststoffenbeurs’ (Waste Exchange), the Belgian 3E and the British Energy for Sustainable Development (ESD). The Polish and German subsidiary companies of Ecofys contributed to the set up of the sites in their respective countries.

The Biomass Trading Floor brings together supply and demand for biomass in Europe. Although there is a large potential for biomass in Europe, suppliers and purchasers of biomass are often not able to find each other. Suppliers of all kinds of biomass for energy purposes, such as forest wood and residues, pellets, other types of solid biomass and liquid biomass, can enter the site. The expectation is that the majority of the purchasers will be energy companies.

BioXchange is not a full-scale exchange. It brings parties together, but it doesn’t take care of transactions. However, in the near future Ecofys will be able to assist in supporting such actions as arranging transport for the biomass. Ecofys is now developing these disciplines.

Ecofys and the contributing companies expect that the European market for biomass will grow in the coming years. The EU has set ambitious targets regarding the implementation of biomass energy. To achieve these targets, the energy potential for biomass in the EU has to be exploited to a much greater extent within a limited timeframe. The increase in price of fossil fuels such as oil and gas could also stimulate the use of biomass for energy purposes.