Highlights of Task Activities in 2007

· 2007 was the 1 st year of a new triennium for Task 31, with renewed mandate and increased participation.

· Finland rejoined the Task as a full participant, and the Netherlands, after participating as an observer for half the year, also became a full participant again.

· A successful Task planning meeting was held in Sweden in March.

· An international scientific/technical workshop and field study tour was organized by the Finnish Forest Research Institute  in Finland for the Task in August on the theme of ‘Sustainable forestry systems for bioenergy: integration, innovation and information', with 50 participants and 24 presentations.

· A CD of presentations from the Finnish workshop was produced and distributed.

· The workshop included a half-day ‘Meet the Industry' event arranged by the Wood Energy Network (Wenet).

· Proceedings of the workshop held jointly with IEA Bioenergy Task 30 in Western Australia in 2005 were published as a special issue of Biomass and Bioenergy.

· Two key chapters were drafted for a publication intended to be produced in collaboration with FAO on ‘Certification of forest fuel production systems: a solution for sustainable use of biomass from forest residues for energy'.

· Two case studies were in preparation to provide specific local illustrations of the general principles involved in sustainable forest biomass production for energy:

o Development and implementation of forest biomass production sustainability regulations in Sweden .

· Two of a series of country reports from participating countries were prepared.

· A technology synthesis report was drafted on ‘Sustainable forest fuel production' covering aspects of processes, woodfuel procurement and status, costs, and potential and barriers.

· Several contributions were made to an ‘Expert Consultation on Sustainable Biomass' organized jointly by IEA Bioenergy Tasks 29 (socio-economic drivers), 38 (greenhouse gas balances) and 40 (biotrade).