Small scale biomass heating systems: Standards, quality labelling and market driving factors – An EU outlook

In the present study a comparative evaluation of several existing quality labels and standards for small scale biomass heating systems (BHS) and the biomass fuels they use was performed. With the introduction of pellet fuels, biomass heating technology achieved enough maturity to successfully compete with oil/gas heating devices in terms of ease of use, utilization of energy and pollutant emissions. From indoor air quality and related health risks point of view, quality labelling of both BHS and fuel they use leads to stricter emissions, efficiency and safety requirements as compared to National and EU standards. Several measures supporting this green energy market in the active countries (Sweden, Nordic countries, Germany, France and Austria) were investigated. It was found that policies and financial incentives such as the Finance Law (2005–2009) in France and Market Incentives Programme (1999–2006) in Germany are the most successful. German regulations and quality label (Blue Angel) provide the stringent quality requirements for residential BHS. In Belgium, Wallonia is the most active region for biomass energy utilization (83.5 MW for residential heating in 2007). A quality label for small scale BHS however does not yet exist. An equivalent label ( Optimaz) exists for oil fired residential boilers. Emphasis has been placed upon using Optimaz as a reference and to compare with other existing quality labels. As a result, an effort had been made to move ahead in the preliminary study for development of a quality label for Belgian.