Science - March 23, 2011
Wood chip power too pricey without subsidy
Harvesting wood for generating electricity is only economically viable at current market prices with government subsidies. This has emerged from research conducted by the Science Shop for three agricultural nature associations in the Achterhoek in the eastern Netherlands.

LEI researcher Elsje Oosterhof expects an increase in the demand for wood biomass. In Germany the price of wood chips is around 2.4 cents per kWh. She expects market prices to go up. Harvesting wood chips from wood pruned during landscape maintenance is becoming more and more profitable. The report can be downloaded from www.wetenschapswinkel.wur.nl.