Executive Summary
One task of the DiBiCoo project is mapping the export opportunities for European biogas technologies and services from the industry perspective. For this purpose, a Biogas Industry Stakeholder survey was conducted, which collected input on the main challenges and trade barriers for the export of European biogas technologies and services, on preferred non-EU import countries, on desired requirements and functionalities of the DiBiCoo Online Information System as well as on desired support for capacity building in importing countries. The survey was distributed among EU biogas stakeholders by the project partners EBA, FVB and AKBOE.
This report describes in detail the results of this Biogas Industry Survey. The most important conclusions are:
- The most important trade barriers for exporting European biogas technologies and services are a lack of subsidy schemes related to biogas in non-EU countries, the lack of a stakeholder network of European companies in non-EU countries and the difference in technical requirements in non-EU countries compared to EU-countries. The DiBiCoo project can be of great importance to reduce mainly the second barrier.
- The most preferred non-EU import areas for European biogas technologies and services are Asia and North America. The high opportunities in Asia are according to the survey results due to an abundance of raw materials and a high need for energy. For North America, a lack of own competence and environmental awareness are mentioned.
- The biogas stakeholders in the survey indicated their preference to use the DiBiCoo online information system as a promotional tool and as a starting point to build-up relations in non-EU countries. There was only minor interest in using the tool as marketplace to sell their products and services. As a result, the type of information that stakeholders want to provide in the tool is basic information about the company and its services and products. 85% of the respondents indicated to be interested in the number of company profile visits on the online tool and 81% in the country from which the activity originates.
- Regarding the type of face-to-face capacity building measures, the respondents show preferences for conferences and networking events, together with site visits. According to the survey, the kind of stakeholders from non-EU countries for which face-to-face training are most urgently needed are policymakers and planners. Project development and project management, together with technical knowledge are indicated as most needed basic knowledge. Therefore, these topics should be dealt with in organized face-to-face capacity building events.
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