The trade of global bioenergy commodities, such as ethanol, biodiesel and wood pellets has been growing exponentially in the past decade, and have by 2013 reached true “commodity” volumes, i.e. tens of millions of tonnes traded each year, and billions (both in US$/€) of annual turnover. IEA Bioenergy Task 40 was founded in 2004 and is now in its 4th triennium. For the past 9 years, task 40 has monitored the developments in international bioenergy trade, including the organization of about 20 workshops on trade-related topics, and the publication of over 100 studies, country reports, newsletters, etc. The amount of material produced over the years and insights gained in how biomass markets and international trade of biomass and biofuels has developed is impressive. Besides that the group has produced overviews and insights, also a large amount of practical experience has been brought together in what works and what doesn’t. Last but not least, based on all this, there are clear(er) views on how to proceed to build working sustainable international biomass markets in the future. This book compiles those lessons and insights into an easily accessible book publication.

Logistical barrier are tied to feedstock harvesting, collection, storage and distribution. Current crop harvesting machinery is unable to selectively harvest preferred components of cellulosic biomass while maintaining acceptable levels of soil carbon and minimizing erosion. Actively managing biomass variability imposes additional functional requirements on biomass harvesting equipment. A physiological variation in biomass arises from differences in genetics, degree of crop maturity, geographical location, climatic events, and harvest methods. This variability presents significant cost and performance risks for bioenergy systems. Currently, processing standards and specifications for cellulosic feedstocks are not as well-developed as for mature commodities. Biomass that is stored with high moisture content or exposed to moisture during storage is susceptible to spoilage, rotting, spontaneous combustion, and odor problems. Appropriate storage methods and strategies are needed to better define storage requirements to preserve the volume and quality of harvested biomass over time and maintain its conversion yield. Raw herbaceous biomass is costly to collect, handle, and transport because of its low density and fibrous nature. Existing conventional, bale-based handling equipment and facilities cannot cost-effectively deliver and store high volumes of biomass, even with improved handling techniques. Current handling and transportation systems designed for moving woodchips can be inefficient for bioenergy processes due to the costs and challenges of transporting, storing, and drying high-moisture biomass. The infrastructure for feedstock logistics has not been defined for the potential variety of locations, climates, feedstocks, storage methods, processing alternatives, etc., which will occur at a national scale. When setting up biomass fuel supply chains, for large-scale biomass systems, logistics are a pivotal part in the system. Various studies have shown that long-distance international transport by ship is feasible in terms of energy use and transportation costs, but availability of suitable vessels and meteorological conditions (e.g., winter time in Scandinavia and Russia) need to be considered. However, local transportation by truck (both in biomass exporting and importing countries) may be a high-cost factor, which can influence the overall energy balance and total biomass costs.