The districts of Lithuania with low heat demand density: A chance for the integration of straw biomass

District heating sector is one of the most important sectors of Lithuanian energy industry. Consequently, low-cost bioenergy sources could play an important role in developing biofuels based on the so-called second-generation feedstock and decentralized energy supply for remote rural areas with low heat demand density. The present amount of biomass straw is already considerable in Lithuania but the potential is even much higher. It is assumed that the share of firewood in the balance of RES will decrease significantly – from 86.7% in 2009 to 55% in 2020 and future decisions on the acceptability of new substitutes must be found. The most important factors that could hasten the diffusion of straw combustion technologies for heat-only boilers (HOBs) in order to contribute to a local fuel and low-emission energy infrastructure are political issues, reduction in existing technical thresholds, market and economic conditions, international cooperation activity, and broad experience through wood residue combustion.The collected data indicated that under conditions in Lithuania, biomass straw combustion is prospective mainly to be used for heat production in small and medium scale units of 0.6–5.0 MW_th capacity as well as in large scale installations where multi-biomass strategies are foreseen.