Title:
An Overview of Charcoal Production in Portugal
Author(s):
Neves, D., Charvet, F., Silva, F., Figueiredo da Silva, J., Tarelho, L.A.C., Nunes, T., Gonçalves, C., Ruivo, L., Matos, M.A.A.
Document(s):
Paper
Poster
Abstract:
Charcoal production has often been neglected in national or regional plans/studies dealing with the management of forest biomass residuesin Portugal. However, charcoal is one of the oldest biofuels produced in Europe, especially used in metallurgy activities and as cooking fuel, with production sites and methods known for millennia. Likewise, some Portuguese villagesare well known for their historical link with charcoal production, although the current situation of this activity at the national level is poorly known. To promote more efficient charcoal production, basic data regarding the widely used feedstocks, technologies, infrastructure,and main products/by-products were collected through an extensive field monitoring program combined with the analysis of satellite imagery. Our results show that charcoal production in Portugal mainly relies on rudimentary technologies and traditional methods, with rather scarce development in the last decades. The results also show that charcoal production is an important economic activity in the southern part of the country, as evidenced by the number and size of active production sites reported in this work, thus playing a relevant role in the management of certain woody residues and producing considerable amounts of valuable products for well-established markets in Portugal and Europe.
Keywords:
biomass, charcoal, pyrolysis, wood, carbonization, kiln
Topic:
Biomass Conversion to Intermediate Bioenergy Carriers and Sustainable Biofuels
Subtopic:
Pyrolysis
Event:
30th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
5BV.10.18
Pages:
980 - 985
ISBN:
978-88-89407-22-6
Paper DOI:
10.5071/30thEUBCE2022-5BV.10.18
Price:
FREE
