Abstract
ABSTRACT Faced with the transition in the global energy structure with the shift in consumption of fossil fuels to renewable and clean sources, there has been an increase in the demand for forest biomass for energy purposes, especially wood pellets, and imports have grown in recent years. Therefore, this study analyzed the world concentration of pellet imports from 2012 to 2018. Data on pellet imports were obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the following indicators were used to measure the concentration: Concentration Ratio [CR(k)], Hirschman-Herfindal Index (HHI), Theil Entropy Index (E), Gini Inequality Coefficient (G) and the Hall-Tideman Index (HTI). The results showed a growth of 16.67% p.a. of global pellet imports, from 8.76 million tons (t) in 2012 to 22.15 million tons in 2018. The CR(k) indicated very high concentration for countries and high in the subcontinents. The HHI showed a high concentration for continents and subcontinents and a moderate concentration for countries. Entropy and HTI corroborated the analyzes found in the HHI. The G pointed out strong inequality for all territorial levels and showed trends towards a reduction in inequality as of 2015. The reduction in the concentration in the final years of study is related to the expansion and technological diffusion of energy conversion of the densified biomass, which makes this fuel more affordable.
Highlights
There has been a change in the global energy structure and an increase in the demand for energy from renewable sources to replace oil and its derivatives in recent decades (Nunes et al, 2016)
Faced with the transition in the global energy structure with the shift in consumption of fossil fuels to renewable and clean sources, there has been an increase in the demand for forest biomass for energy purposes, especially wood pellets, and imports have grown in recent years
Data on pellet imports were obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the following indicators were used to measure the concentration: Concentration Ratio [CR(k)], Hirschman-Herfindal Index (HHI), Theil Entropy Index (E), Gini Inequality Coefficient (G) and the Hall-Tideman Index (HTI)
Summary
There has been a change in the global energy structure and an increase in the demand for energy from renewable sources to replace oil and its derivatives in recent decades (Nunes et al, 2016). The United Nations (UN, 2012) outlined actions so that countries around the world would have access (in terms of prices and quality) to sustainable energy by 2030. In response to the concern about climate change and its effects, 195 countries signed an agreement in 2015 through the Paris Climate Change Conference (COP21), which encouraged the transition to lowcarbon, cleaner, renewable and sustainable energy (Johannsdottir and Mcinerney, 2016). Biomass will provide 7.5% of energy generation by 2050 on a global scale, reducing 1.3 billion tons of CO2 equivalent emissions per year. Densified biofuels, such as pellets, become an alternative in the world energy market, making it feasible to meet the targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The use of pellets has an impact of six times less than fuel oil per kWh generated in residential use (Caraschi and Garcia, 2012; Kovalyshyn, 2019; Pinel, 2013)
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