The current bioenergy uses and conversion technologies as well as future trends for the production of heat, power, fuels and chemicals from biomass are reviewed. The focus is placed in Austria, which is selected due to its high bioenergy utilization, providing 18.4% of the gross energy final consumption in 2017, and its strong industrial and scientific position in the field. The most common bioenergy application in Austria is bioheat with 170 PJ in 2017 mainly obtained from woody biomass combustion, followed by biofuels with 21 PJ and bioelectricity with 17 PJ. Bioheat has a stable market, where Austrian manufacturers of boilers and stoves have a strong position exporting most of their production. Future developments in bioheat production should go in the line of further reducing emissions, increasing feedstock flexibility and coupling with other renewables. For bioelectricity and biofuels, the current framework does not promote the growth of the current main technologies, i.e. combined heat and power (CHP) based on biomass combustion or biogas and first generation biofuels. However, an increase in all bioenergy uses is required to achieve the Austrian plan to be climate neutral in 2040. The current initiatives and future possibilities to achieve this increase are presented and discussed, e.g. mandatory substitution of old oil boilers, production of biomethane and early commercialization of CHP with a high efficiency or demonstration of advanced biofuels production based on gasification.

The market offers a broad range of different combustion appliances dedicated to residential heating with biomass. The effect of fuel properties on the formation of slag and emissions varies and the technology influences the impact to a certain extent. The applicability of biomass fuels is not only determined by operational settings but also by the design of boiler components as grate area and combustion chamber. Aspects as the fuel load on the grate, residence time, geometry of grate and combustion chamber design, as well as feeding and de-ashing influence the extent of slag formation and emission release. The determination of characteristic numbers by means of constructional measures allows a systematic comparison and - in a further step - an assessment/categorization of combustion technologies. After conducting a boiler survey relevant parameters regarding grate, combustion chamber, feeding, and ash removal were gathered. Characteristic numbers were specified in order to compare technological aspects. The results of this study allow the investigation of the influence of the combustion technology on the performance. They will assist the systematic and targeted design of small-scale boilers and the optimization of combustion appliances in future, especially when it comes to fuel-flexibility.

Experiments have been conducted in a batch fixed bed lab-scale reactor to investigate the combustion behaviour of three different biomass fuels, poultry litter (PL), blend of PL with wood chips (PL/WC) and softwood pellets (SP). Analysis of the data gathered after completion of the test runs, provided useful insights about the thermal decomposition behaviour of the fuels, the formation of N gaseous species, the release of ash forming elements and the estimation of aerosol emissions. It was observed that the N gaseous species are mainly produced during the devolatilisation phase. Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) was the predominant compound in the case of SP combustion, whereas ammonia (NH3) displayed the highest concentration during the combustion of PL and blend (PL/WC). With reference to ash forming elements, the release rates of potassium (K) and sodium (Na) range between 15–50% and 20–37% respectively, whereas the release rate of sulphur (S) falls between 54–92%. Chlorine (Cl) presents very high release rate for all tested fuels acquiring values greater than 85%, showing the volatile nature of the specific compound. The maximum potential of aerosol emissions was estimated based on the calculation of ash forming elements. In particular, during PL combustion the maximum aerosol emissions were observed, 2806 mg/Nm3 (dry flue gas, 13 vol% O2), mainly influenced by the release rate of K in the gas phase. Fuel indexes for the pre-evaluation of combustion related challenges such as NOx emissions, potential for aerosols formation, corrosion risk, and ash melting behaviour have also been investigated.

The optimal design of microgrids with thermal energy system requires optimization techniques that can provide investment and scheduling of the technology portfolio involved. In the modeling of such systems with seasonal storage capability, the two main challenges include the low temporal resolution of available data and the non-linear cost versus capacity relationship of solar thermal and heat storage technologies. This work overcomes these challenges by developing two different optimization models based on mixed-integer linear programming with objectives to minimize the total energy costs and carbon dioxide emissions. Piecewise affine functions are used to approximate the non-linear cost versus capacity behavior. The developed methods are applied to the optimal planning of a case study in Austria. The results of the models are compared based on the accuracy and real-time performance together with the impact of piecewise affine cost functions versus non-piecewise affine fixed cost functions. The results show that the investment decisions of both models are in good agreement with each other while the computational time for the 8760-h based model is significantly greater than the model having three representative periods. The models with piecewise affine cost functions show larger capacities of technologies than non-piecewise affine fixed cost function based models.

Steam gasification enables the thermochemical conversion of solid fuels into a medium calorific gas that can be utilized for the synthesis of advanced biofuels, chemicals or for heat and power production. Dual fluidized bed (DFB) gasification is at present the technology applied to realize gasification of biomass in steam environment at large scale. Few large-scale DFB gasifiers exist, and this work presents a compilation and analysis of the data and operational strategies from the six DFB gasifiers in Europe. It is shown that the technology is robust, as similar gas quality can be achieved despite the differences in reactor design and operation strategies. Reference concentrations of both gas components and tar components are provided, and correlations in the data are investigated. In all plants, adjusting the availability and accessibility to the active ash components (K and Ca) was the key to control the gas quality. The gas quality, and in particular the tar content of the gas, can conveniently be assessed by monitored the concentration of CH₄ in the produced gas. The data and experience acquired from these plants provide important knowledge for the future development of the steam gasification of biomass.