Informative film "Reed for bioenergy and construction" is produced by State Ltd. "Vides projekti" in frames of the project "COFREEN - Concepts for using reed as local bioenergy and building material".

You are welcome to watch the film on Youtube.com - Reed for bioenergy and construction (27 minutes)

If you want to receive DVD copy, please contact project manager Aija Zučika, telephone +371 67215068.

Film is produced by State Ltd. “Vides projekti” Film Studio in 2011. Script author and director is Guntars Graiksts.

In northern countries the use of reed as a renewable biomaterial is negligible. Earlier studies have shown that reed can be used as a supplementing energy source. However the practical solutions for cost effective and sustainable use of reed as biofuel have not been developed. The new fuel preparation and composition technologies for power plants and boiler houses allow for better utilization of reed biomass in energy production. In Estonia and Latvia reed has been used as a roof material for a long time. This creates a need to find use for surplus from reed roof construction, because almost half of the cut material is unsuitable for reed roofs. Reed has good properties for ecological and sustainable construction. In Estonia reed has been used also as insulating material, but in Finland there has not been a market for reed construction. Further research and trials are needed for construction and energy saving material development.

The main objective in this project is to create local solutions to utilize reed biomass in fuel and construction material production, thus improving the ecological and economical sustainability in communities. The best and most cost-efficient ways to harvest, pre-process, transport and process the reed to energy are developed in three different model areas in Southern Finland, Estonia and Latvia, producing three different reed utilization concepts. Reed used as an insulating material for buildings are developed in Finland and Estonia. Creating a management plan for the utilization of reed beds in these areas assures the optimal and sustainable utilization of reed. Other goals are to encourage local people to reed-entrepreneurship by creating business models, enhancing the implementation of harvesting subsidy for reed and develop a bioenergy curriculum for educational institutes.

The long term objective is to increase the use of reed as a local renewable bioenergy and construction material source in the whole programme area. The various models created during this project in Finland, Estonia and Latvia will be presented as practical examples. The know-how gathered during this project is shared between the partners and other Central Baltic programme area countries.

COFREEN is a cooperative project funded by CENTRAL BALTIC INTERREG IVA PROGRAMME 2007-2013, with partners from Finland, Estonia and Latvia. Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland) is the lead partner, and other partners include ELY Centre for Southwest Finland (Finland), Peimari Group of Further Education and Training (Finland), Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia), Estonian University of Life Sciences (Estonia) and Vides Project (Latvia). The project will be executed over three years and it ends in April 2013.


Additional information: Aija Zučika, project manager, phone +371 67215068