Methodological accounting tool for Climate and Energy Planning in a Norwegian municipality

The aim of this study was to propose a methodology to support the production of Climate and Energy Plans in Norwegian municipalities by analyzing whether locally available woody biomass, specifically forest logging residues, within the municipality (in this case, Fredrikstad), could cover the demand for heating in municipality buildings over the next 20 years. Three different tools, a geoprocessing tool for forestry (GEOSKOG), a methodology for environmental assessment (Life Cycle Assessment) and a tool for processing geographical data (Geographical Information System), were used in combination with energy data related to municipal buildings. The goal was to quantify the share of energy end-use (heat) that could potentially be replaced by bioenergy from forest logging residues and to calculate the potential GHG benefits from this substitution. The annual heating demand for municipal buildings in Fredrikstad currently heated by electric and oil boilers was 9.3 GWh. The potential annual GHG savings from the bioenergy substitution of fossil fuel (oil) boilers and electric boilers (Norwegian and Nordic electricity mix) equaled 292 tonnes CO2-eq, 95 tonnes CO2-eq and 535 tonnes CO2-eq respectively.