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Dear Colleagues
of the Global Scientific Biomass Community,
Biomass as energy source of
the future can contribute to solve two of the most important challenges humanity
is facing: climate change and energy supply.
One of the major
causes of climate change is the generation of energy. Biomass can serve as a
substitute for nearly all types of energy. The decisive advantage is the neutral
CO2 balance, if biomass is used in an environmentally sustainable
way.
Therefore our
approach must be one of drawing clear distinctions when we talk about the use of
biomass as an energy carrier. The German Advisory Council on the Environment
calculated the national potential of biomass within several scenarios and
proposes an essential role for energy from biomass. Especially as operating
reserve, energy from biomass will be an important element of the future energy
power generation.
The limiting
factor for the production of biomass is the finite area. Facing the nutrient
demands for a growing global population almost all fertile ground will be needed
for food production. Furthermore, climate unfriendly land-use changes are able
to turn the bioenergy eco-balance into the opposite.
So we are
determined to focus on using the big potential of biogenic residues. Straw, the
biogenic fraction of municipal waste and other organic waste materials are only
a few examples of bioenergy sources that until now have not been used in every
country to their possible extend. However the use of such materials can also
represent certain technological challenges, like flue gas cleaning or the
application of more complex conversion technologies.
And there is
another competing use of agricultural areas that is the biochemical conversion
of crops, primarily to substitute raw materials for the chemical industry. The
use of renewable resources for the generation of base chemicals, bio-based
polymers or even pharmaceuticals provides new dynamic perspectives. Because of
the rising prices of crude oil, these applications will soon offer much more
Economic Value Added than energy crops.
Thus, cascade
use is the key towards sustainable biomass utilisation. In this case there is
even no contrast between recycling and energy production, assumed that the
conversion process is thought through in advance and contains optimised
recycling technologies for combustion residues (or their development, where
these technologies are missing).
All these issues
are just a taste of the exciting topics I am pleased to discuss with you in
early June 2011. I will be supported for the Coordination of the Technical
Programme by Dr. Heinz Ossenbrink, Dr. David Baxter and Dr. Jean-François
Dallemand from the European Commission, Directorate General Joint Research
Centre.
We are glad to
welcome you on June 6th 2011 in the beautiful city of Berlin, the appropriate
place to talk about such a future-oriented topic.
Prof. Dr. Martin Faulstich,
Technische Universität München,
Director Science
Center Straubing |
