The 1^st Conference of the European Biomass Co-firing Network was held in Budapest from the 2^nd to the 4^th July. Over 60 European experts gathered to discuss the prospects for co-firing and future technological advances.

The experts made recommendations for future research and defined the research fields and policies that need to be strengthened in order to extend the application of the biomass co-firing technologies in Europe. This has been the first specific event entirely dedicated to biomass co-firing.

“Biomass co-firing is the most cost-effective means of producing energy from biomass as it can be added to an existing coal-fired power plant with only small modifications of the entire system”, explains Conference chairman Dr Schories from TTZ Bremerhaven in Germany in his opening speech. Indeed, co-firing is a near term, low-cost option for efficiently and cleanly converting biomass to electricity by adding biomass as a partial substitute fuel in high-efficiency coal boilers. It has been demonstrated, tested, and proved in all boiler types commonly used by electric utilities with little or no loss in total boiler efficiency.

During three days, the conference has enabled the discussion and exchange of experiences among researchers, policy makers and end users on the latest advances, the barriers to overcome in the next years and the role this renewable energy it has to play in the future.

The network plans its 2^nd conference in 2008 with a proactive outreach to end-users, such as utilities and potential investors to promote the broader implementation of biomass co-firing.