Due
to the limited availability of fossil energy resources
the public interest in renewable energy, referred to as
bioenergy on the base of both plant material and animal
waste, has considerably increased in recent years.
Biomass such as lignocellulose, cellulose (e.g. timber,
straw), vegetable oil (e.g. rape and sunflowers oil),
sugar- and starch plants (e.g. sugar beets, maize) or in
terms of organic residues (animal slurry, organic wastes)
is widely recognised as the most important source of
renewable energy. Even though in Germany, according to
mid- to long-term estimations, 10 to 30 %
of the energy demand can be
provided by means of biomass, it is only 1 % that is
used at present. Other countries have proven that
considerable increases in renewable energy can be
achieved. In Austria, e.g., about 20 % of the demand is
covered by energy from biomass. For the farmer, the
production of bioenergy from agricultural crop land
offers new opportunities for income maintenance. With
respect to the required steps for the production and
utilisation of bioenergy the present research program
will be structured in a way that recent research work
and product lines developed at the ATB can be integrated.
In the field of producing biomass of various qualities
data from previous studies are available. Interesting
developments in the fields of plant breeding and organic
wastes will be
outlined
and integrated in current research projects. Treatment
and conversion is the generic term for the processes
that bring bioenergy in a utilisable form. This includes
drying and packaging of wood, production of biogas from
organic wastes and energy crops, or the conversion of
biogas to hydrogen by means of reforming. Special
emphasis is given to utilisation of biogas in polymer
electrolyte membrane fuel cells. For comparative studies
recent developments for the utilisation of solid (e.g.
woods), liquid (e.g. vegetable oil, ethanol) and gaseous
(e.g. biogas) energy sources are considered. Economic
and ecological assessments of technologies for the
production and utilisation of bioenergy in comparison
with traditional energy sources are conducted and may
contribute to consultancy for political decisions.
Research
structure (overview)
