EVENTS OF INTEREST

Africa Energy Information Forum

Paris, France

10-11 September 2001

This forum was organized by the World Energy Council (WEC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA). It was attended by approximately 29 representatives from international and regional organizations and individual countries (Algeria, Egypt, Swaziland, South Africa and the United States).

Mr M.A. Trossero, Senior Forestry Officer (Wood Energy) represented FAO at this meeting. The main conclusions were:

· Energy data and information currently available in Africa are inadequate at present for efficient market operations, a proper understanding of trade flows, the description of energy situations, energy forecasting analysis, assessing energy demand growth, energy planning and policy development.

· Harmonization of terminology, units and questionnaires used in the region is urgently needed.

For more information, please contact:
Miguel Trossero, at the address given on the first page.

1st International Congress on Biomass for Metal Production and Electricity Generation

Belo Horizonte, Brazil
8-11 October 2001

This was the first major technical forum and business meeting to demonstrate the capacity of planted biomass self-sustainable and new technologies for metal production and electricity generation in Brazil and worldwide. The congress attracted a large attendance of specialists, scientists, professionals, investors, national and international enterprises, governmental and non-governmental institutions as well as all those interested in planted biomass use to metal, fine chemistry production, electricity generation and CO₂ fixation credits.

The first day was dedicated to the opening session and a reception, and a short course on the fundamentals and practice of biomass carbonization, presented by Brazilian specialists to 60 participants. The course covered concepts, fundamental aspects and operational practices, focusing on the metallurgical requirements for charcoal production of a quality to be used in the iron and steel industry and other applications. The course will be repeated in other regions of Brazil and abroad (if required).

A total of 86 technical papers was presented and simultaneous translation was provided in English and Portuguese. Twenty-five countries were represented at the congress; out of a total of 370 participants, 50 were from abroad.

The following is a summary of the sessions:

· Biomass Production and Climate Changes: 13 oral presentations
· Biomass Carbonization: 14 oral presentations
· Biomass Based Carbochemistry: 18 oral presentations
· Biomass Based Primary Iron, Steel and Ferro-alloys Metallurgy: 18 oral presentations
· Thermo and Cogeneration Using Biomass: 23 oral presentations.

There were three technical visits:

· Vallourec & Mannesmann Tubes, the largest wood carbonization R&D centre in Brazil and the most recognized wood-seedling production site. The company produces and sells wood tar (bio-oil).

· Cia. Siderúrgica Pitangui, the DPC process developer. DPC (dry-pyrolysis-cooling) is a new, innovative, non-pollutant, high-efficiency process for log wood carbonization.

· Plantar S/A is a company specializing in forest services and products which also has an iron production unit. The company is ISO 9002 and FSC certified. With wide experience and its own technology, it produces 40 million clonal shoots of eucalyptus annually.

The success of the congress was due to the Brazilian tradition in biomass to energy uses, such as Pro-Alcool, the ethanol fuel programme, and the substantial use of charcoal to steel and iron-alloy production. More recently, rice husk, sugar-cane bagasse and wood residues have also become important feedstocks for energy generation.

All of the presentations are available in VHS format and a CD-ROM of the proceedings can be requested by e-mail ([email protected] ).

For more information, please contact:
Dr Ronaldo Sampaio,
Congress Coordinator,
RS Consultants Ltda.,
Rua Ribeiro Junqueira 161 - 30310 215,
Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
E-mail: [email protected];

or

Dr José D. Rocha,
Organizing Committee Member.
E-mail: [email protected]

1st Annual European Energy and Transport Conference

Barcelona, Spain
18-19 October 2001

The results of this conference have been posted on the European Commission's Web site.

For more information, please contact:
Mrs Christine Cordie,
European Commission,
Joint Interpreting

and

Conference Service,
rue de la Loi 200, B-1049
Brussels, Belgium.
E-mail: [email protected];
http://europa.eu.int/comm/energy_transport/en/bcn1_en.html

Taller sobre Madera para Energía

Buenos Aires, Argentina
26-28 de noviembre de 2001

El taller se ha realizado en el contexto de la actividades del proyecto FAO/UE GCP/RLA/133/EC - Información y análisis para el manejo forestal sostenible: Integrando esfuerzos nacionales e internacionales en América Latina.

Miguel Trossero, Oficial Forestal del Programa de Dendroenergía de la FAO, participó en el taller. Para mayores detalles sobre el taller se puede consultar el artículo que aparece en la sección News and Notes de este número.

Para más información, dirigirse a:
Miguel Trossero, en la dirección indicada en la primera página.

Bioenergy Australia 2001 - Realising the Potential for Bioenergy

Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
3-5 December 2001

For more information, please contact:
Emma Waygood, Conference Action.
Fax: +61 2 99565154;
e-mail: [email protected] ;
www.conferenceaction.com.au

Biomass and Energy Crops II Conference

York, United Kingdom
18-21 December 2001

For more information, please contact:

Mike Bullard, ADAS.
E-mail: [email protected]

Rio02 - World Climate & Energy Event

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6-11 January 2002

For more information, please contact:
Rio02 Secretariat.
Fax: +55 21 2906626;
e-mail: [email protected];
www.rio02.de

International Conference on Renewable Energy for Rural Development

Dhaka, Bangladesh
19-21 January 2002

For more information, please contact:
Prof. A.K.M. Sadrul Islam,
ICREFRD-2002,
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, BUET,
Dhaka 1000,
Bangladesh.
Fax: +880 2 8613046;
e-mail: [email protected]

FAO/IPCC/CIFOR Expert Meeting on Forest-Related Definitions

Rome, Italy
23-25 January 2002

FAO, jointly with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC), in cooperation with CIFOR, will host this Expert Meeting on Forest-Related Definitions. The meeting's objective is to review and harmonize forest-related definitions.

A considerable amount of global or regional information on forest resources is derived from national data. FAO has therefore developed forest-related definitions for national inputs to globally aggregated forest assessments and outlook studies. IPCC has developed forest-related definitions for use in issues common to land use, land-use change and forestry and climate change. Other organizations have developed other definitions for other purposes, such as monitoring biological diversity in forests. There is a need to improve the compatibility and consistency of definitions in order to permit comparability and thus improve the quality and usefulness of forest information, increase the synergy among organizations and use scarce resources more effectively for information monitoring, assessment and reporting.

There is a need for globally - and regionally - aggregated information on forest resources and forest ecosystems to:

· define the concept of, and monitor progress towards, sustainable forest management;
· assess the role of forests in climate change;
· assess the attributes and changes affecting forest biomes with respect to biological diversity; and
· analyse the social, economic and environmental roles of forests.

The information required differs between users but, with consistent and comparable definitions, it could be exchanged between different users.

The expected outputs of the consultation are:

· Identification of key forest-related terms whose definitions are critical to international processes.

· Review of biome-specific forest definitions as well as those for the terms "forest degradation" and "devegetation".

· Where possible, agreement on the definitions of these key terms; deriving working alternatives or an indication of how information using different definitions can be compared.

· Recommendations for consideration by relevant policy processes with respect to key definitions and their application.

· Planning of further steps to harmonize forest-related definitions.

The consultation will be conducted as follows:

· Experts will be invited in their personal capacity recognizing, however, that many participants will present viewpoints of their respective organization or country.

· To facilitate the process, the organizers will distribute background documents and the meeting will include presentations and working group discussions.

· The meeting will be held in English.

(Source: CLIM-FO 13/2001.)

For more information, please contact:
Mr Wulf Killmann,
Director, Forest Products Division, Forestry Department,
FAO,
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla,
00100 Rome,
Italy.
Fax: +39 0657055618;
e-mail: [email protected]

International Slovak Biomass Forum 2002

Bratislava, Slovakia
4-5 February 2002

For more information, please contact:
Miroslava Mitkova,
Energy Centre Bratislava,
Bajkalska 27,821 01 Bratislava 2,
Slovak Republic.
www.ecb ratislava.sk

International Conference on Techno-Commercial Aspects of the Decentralized Approach in Waste to Energy

Jaipur, India
1-3 March 2002

For more information, please contact:

Dr M.P. Poonia,
Conference Convener,
Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department,
Malviya Regional Engineering College,
J.L.N. Marg Jaipur - 302017,
India.
Fax: +91 141 702954;
e-mail: [email protected];
www.icwe2002.com

World Sustainable Energy Day 2002

Wels, Austria
6-8 March 2002

For more information, please contact:
O.Öe. Energiesparverband,
Landstrasse 45, A-4020 Linz,
Austria.
Fax: +43 732 772014383;
e-mail: [email protected];
www.esv.or.at/aktuelles/WEST/index_e.htm

BoisÉnergie

Lons le Saunier, France
4-7 April 2002

For more information, please contact:
François Bornschein
or
Cecile Pierron,
ITEBE,
BP 149, 28 boulevard Gambetta,
F-39004 Lons Le Saunier Cedex,
France.
Fax: +33 384 478119;
e-mail: [email protected];
www.wepshows.com

TechniBois Énergie

Quebec, Canada
2-4 May 2002

For more information, please contact:
François Bornschein or Cecile Pierron,
ITEBE, BP 149, 28 boulevard Gambetta,
F-39004 Lons Le Saunier Cedex,
France.
Fax: +33 384 478119;
e-mail: [email protected];
www.wepshows.com

Renewable Energy Forum

London, United Kingdom
13-14 May 2002

For more information, please contact:
Riad Mannan, Euromoney Conferences.
Fax: +44 (0)20 77798835;
e-mail: [email protected];
www.euromoneyconferences.com

Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems

Dubrovnik, Croatia
2-7 June 2002

For more information, please contact:
Secretariat, 2002 Dubrovnik Conference,
Energetika Marketing, Sokolska 25,
HR-10000 Zagreb,
Croatia.
Fax: +385 1 3772429;
e-mail: [email protected]

World Renewable Energy Congress VII

Cologne, Germany
29 June - 5 July 2002

For more information, please contact:
Prof. Ali Sayigh,
WREN, 147 Hilmanton, Lower Earley,
Reading RG6 4HN,
UK.
Fax: +44 1189 611365;
e-mail: [email protected];
www.wrenuk.co.uk

Renewable Energy Conference

Cologne, Germany
1-3 July 2002

For more information, please contact:
E-mail: renewenergy.helpline@ree dexpo.co.uk;
www .renewenergy.com

Renewable Energy 2002 Exhibition

Cologne, Germany
1-3 July 2002

For more information, please contact:
Forschungszentrum Julich GmbH,
Conference Service.
Fax: +49 24 61615333;
www.fz-juelich.de/wrec200 2

ECOS 2002 - 15th International Conference on Efficiency, Costs, Optimisation, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems

Berlin, Germany
3-5 July 2002

For more information, please contact:
Dr Frank Cziesla,
Technical University of Berlin,
Marchstr. 18, D-10587 Berlin,
Germany.
Fax: +49 30 31421683;
e-mail: [email protected];
www.ecos2002.tu-berlin.de

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