Energy potential of residue from wood transformation industry in the central metropolitan area of the Principality of Asturias (northwest Spain).

The development of modern cities favours the formation of metropolitan zones with urban and industrial areas. The central metropolitan area (CMA) of the Principality of Asturias (northwest Spain), takes up 9.6% of the territory and represents 78% of its population. The first and second wood transformation industries of the CMA generate rather large amounts of biomass residues suitable for both reclaim and energy valuation considering technical, economic, and environmental restrictions. The results obtained from the evaluation of the biomass and the bioenergy of these residues are 7.9 kt/year and 114.7 TJ/year, respectively. The location for the development of a densified solid biofuels plant to produce pellets from these available residues is proposed for the Siero municipality, which is in the CMA. The plant would have an annual potential production capacity for the conventional pelletization process equivalent to 10 MW of fuel output.