The World Sustainable Energy Days (WSED) is the largest annual exhibition in this field in Europe which is held in early March in Austrian Wels. WSED 2010 were held on 2 - 7 March 2010.

European Pellet Conference has been the part of the exhibition for several years. The greatest experts on the pellets not only from Europe but from around the world used to participate in the Conference. There was no exception this year. But it is sorrowful that the only Slovak participants were the representatives of BIOMASA, Association of legal entities from Kysucky Lieskovec. We enjoy it but it is poor representation of Slovakia. Unfortunately this is the confirmative signal of joyless relationship between Slovakia and renewable energy sources.

During last ten years in Austria, Germany or in Scandinavian countries and last year also in Bohemia erupted the pellet madness and today every interested person receives almost 100% state grant from well sold emission (in Slovakia hardly 20%). The reason is that these countries realize the value of financial support for renewable energy sources returning to their economy countless. Slovakia is financing nuclear energy and natural gas and thereby Russia is supporting. This is the reason for Slovak economic stagnation if only not for its regressing.

But what was at the conference: very good signal is that the pellet prise is stabilized throughout the Europe and pellet heating is approximately 25 to 30% cheaper than natural gas heating. It is sad that more than 50% of Slovak production is leaving our borders. There are new players at the pellet market and the only American factory in Florida annually produces several times more pellets (500 000 tons) than the whole Slovakia. These are being stowed to 5000 tons tankers and exported to the Europe. The pellet production of Northern Russia is so high that the natural gas consumption in Western Europe decreases. That’s why North Stream and South Stream gas lines constructors are unhappy because of their unfulfilled economic expectation and their projects will probably fail despite the massive political support. Europe is worry about unstable Russia and its satellites and after the Ukraine Communist Party’s victory there is no reason for constructions of these streams.

Once again the exposition attended many Austrian, German, Czech, Italian as well as Scandinavian stove and boiler room producers not only for pellet heating. Amazing energy efficient solutions for everything (building, heating, air conditioning, stoves, fireplaces, boiler rooms, greenhouses, bathrooms or swimming pools, …) brought fantastic inspiration. There were also a few of envious Slovak visitors looking at new world progress and what we just listen about from Slovak media by the presentation of Mochovce, Bohunice or social state.

Using the renewable energy sources generates huge amount of permanent jobs, more than permanent declining automobile industry. The timber production and processing is enhancing as well as the furniture, building and engineering industry. In every major municipality in Austria there is somebody producing boiler rooms, another one is producing fuel or services and somebody who is sitting in his office intermediates loans or grants. This way the money is still rotating in the village, district, region or country. And nobody is interested in promises but only in fact that it works well. “I will sell you boiler room and you fuel to me. I will grow the rape, you will produce biodiesel and we will sell it to the carrier who drives the ecologic school bus.”

Illusion, utopia? No! A well - run company.