14 July 2010: The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) is providing assistance in identifying opportunities to introduce algae biomass production in the Russian Federation through a project on the development of sustainable biomass trade and export opportunities.

The project, launched in September 2008, aims at the development of regional biomass action plans (RBAPs) in selected regions, to help the private sector and regional governments develop a coordinated approach to foster the integration of the regional biomass sector with the forestry, agricultural, electricity, municipal heating, waste and recycling sectors. The project has so far promoted a variety of initiatives in the use of biomass, including the conversion of boiler houses for municipal district heating to the use of biomass and the introduction of cofiring of biomass in coal-fired power plants.

The project is now to explore opportunities for the introduction of algae biomass production as part of its work to introduce RBAPs, which is expected to increase the number of regions that can be involved and give a new impetus for regional governments to work on capacity building, cooperate with the private sector and make further investments in the development of the biomass sector. [UNECE Press Release]