Last June, Up_running Apulian partners launched three focus groups in Foggia, Bari and Manduria addressed to the main stakeholders targeted by the project. The main aim of these events was to collect needs and opportunities expressed by these potential bio-energy value chain promoters in order to share a common position to make it start.

By a strict collaboration between UFG and DARe which represent the technical and agrarian partners in the project, 60 to 70 attendees, namely biomass producers (farmers and service companies), machinery builders, plant producers, technical assistance companies, energy producers…. have been invited and consulted on two key questions:

1. Which are the main barriers hampering the APPR biomass valorization.
2. How could drive a potential value chain.

According to these questions, the most relevant barriers the attendees listed are the following:

• logistics: starting from the collection until the storage of the biomass.
• No clarity about the best energy product to be used in the plant. Shredded or chipped biomass?
• No right economic return for all the supply chain actors.
• Transport costs.
• Low interest of farmers.
• Low remuneration of biomass delivered to the final consumers.

On the other side, the main opportunities could be:

• Exploitation of the Regional Development Programme economic resources.
• Creation of Operational Group.

The participants expressed their full interest to join the project activities and to provide further information to support the main project scope.

They will take part to the final event to be organized on next September in Bari (to be confirmed) and participate to the demonstration activities to be started within the next months.

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