In 2004, primary solid biomass in Europe was 55.6 mtoe, rising to 58.7 mtoe in 2005. With this increase, the wish of the EU-25 to substitute part of fossil fuel originated energy consumption by solid biomass is starting to pay off. With the term ‘solid biomass’, the barometer means wood and wood waste, but also straw, crop harvest residues, vegetal and animal waste.

The leading biomass fuel is round woods, which are essentially consumed by households with a 46.1% share of the solid biomass market. Second are black liquors (a recycled by-product from the papermaking industry) with a share of 22.2%, followed by timber waste with 20.8%, other non-urban organic waste and vegetal matter with 9% and wood pellets with 1.8%. France is the leading European producer of solid biomass with a total production of 9.7 mtoe in 2005. But Finland, Sweden and Latvia produce the most solid biomass per inhabitant.

Also electricity production from solid biomass has increased markedly between 2004 and 2005 with a growth of 16.1%, according to the report mainly due to the establishment of combined heat and power (CHP) plants in Germany and the Netherlands. The development of fossil and biomass co-combustion in electrical power plants in the United Kingdom also contributed to this.

Finland is the leading European producer of biomass electricity with a biomass production of 87.1% of the total 10.2 TWh produced in 2005.

According to the Biomass Action Plan, the EU technical potential in 2010 is about 185 mtoe. With present policies, the European Commission estimated that the consumption in 2010 could reach approximately 150 mtoe. EUrObserv’ER however, forecasts that biomass primary energy consumption amounts to 103.7 mtoe in 2010; 46.3 mtoe less than foreseen by the Biomass Action Plan.