International. In around 245,000 installations in 2017 in Spain, the implementation of biomass as a heating fuel prevented the emission of 3.85 million tons of carbon dioxide, which can be compared to what 2.6 million vehicles pollute in a year.
This report was carried out by the Biomass Observatory, which belongs to the Spanish Association for the Energy Valorization of Biomass (Avebiom), and which makes a rigorous study of the evolution of these stoves and boilers.
The president of Avebiom, Javier Díaz, said in this regard that in Spain "we could advance much more quickly in the use of the biomass that our forests treasure, an activity that would have a very direct impact on the improvement of their conservation, generating employment and wealth, in addition to avoiding accidental fires or facilitating extinguishing tasks, in the event that they occur".
To boost this activity, Avebiom calls for concrete measures, especially of a fiscal nature, such as the reduction of the Real Estate Tax (IBI), of a municipal nature, or the application of a reduced VAT to biomass, as in other countries (United Kingdom (5%), Belgium and Luxembourg (6%), Germany (7%), France (10%), Latvia (12%), Austria (13%), Ireland (13.5%) and czech Republic (15%).
In 2017, the installed capacity increased by 1,106 megawatts, which has made it possible to generate 1,245 kTEP (kilotons of oil equivalent), comparable to a lower consumption of 1,470 million liters of heating oil, according to Avebiom.
