Newsletter/ nawaros^® 04/02

Content

With C.A.R.M.E.N. to Amsterdam, 12th European Biomass Conference
News from the market stimulus programme
Heating with grain
Rubber from sunflowers
A C.A.R.M.E.N. employee in Japan
The rainforest has to offer a lot
Förderpreis Nachwachsende Rohstoffe (support award for renewable resources)
Interactive information
Special edition on bio-based materials
Biogas plant on the drawing board
The warmest plant fibre of the world

With C.A.R.M.E.N. to Amsterdam, 12th European Biomass Conference

From the 17th to the 21st June the 12th European Conference and Technology Exhibition on Biomass for Energy, Industry and Climate Protection takes place in Amsterdam. It is the biggest event about the generation of energy from biomass world-wide in 2002. More than 1,000 participants are expected to come. On the 10th Biomass Conference, which was organised by C.A.R.M.E.N. in 1998, over 1,000 participants from 42 countries and five continents informed themselves about the latest technological and scientific developments.

More than 500 presentations and eleven international workshops are on the schedule in Amsterdam. It will both be dealt with the production of gas from biomass and waste and with opportunities for the financing of biomass projects. Apart from the production of greenhouse gases and the economic aspects pilot projects and the political framework will also be examined. There will be lectures on biofuels and on the burning of biomass and coal. Not only the influence of biomass on the living conditions, on the dependence on fossil resources, and on the protection of the environment will be analysed but also the energetic use of biomass and its market potential. EU-wide and national research projects on the combustion of biomass will also be focal points of presentations and workshops. In order to offer as many companies and associations as possible the opportunity of presenting themselves to the general public C.A.R.M.E.N. prepared a common stand for Amsterdam in co-operation with the Bundesinitiative Bioenergie (BBE) (i.e. the 'German Federal Inititiative for Bioenergy') and the Verband deutscher Biomasseheizwerke (VDBH) (i.e. the 'Association of German Biomass Heating Plants').

The German participants of the stand are now clear: Fuchs Petrolub AG, Mannheim; Preform Bio-Composites GmbH & Co. KG, Feuchtwangen; MVV Energie AG, Mannheim; Design Engineering Office Gammel GmbH, Abensberg; Campa®-Biodiesel GmbH & Co. KG, Ochsenfurt. The following companies and associations will be presenting themselves by means of posters: Fachverband Biogas e.V. (i.e. ‚Trade Association Biogas, registered association'), Freising; Verband Deutscher Biomasseheizwerke e.V. (i.e. the 'Association of German Biomass Heating Plants, registered association'), Munich; Bio Campus Straubing, Straubing; Haas Fertigbau GmbH, Falkenberg; Bundesinitiative BioEnergie, (i.e. the 'German Federal Inititiative for Bioenergy'), Bonn; Walter Krause GmbH, Walheim. The comapany Vialit Asphalt GmbH & Co. KG from Braunau, Austria, will also be present at the C.A.R.M.E.N. stand.

Information: C.A.R.M.E.N., Walter Wallrapp, and WIP-Munich, tel. +49-89-72012-32, fax: -91, e-mail: wip@wip-munich.de.

It is the object of the " directives for the promotion of measures for the use of renewable energies" (market stimulus programme) to increase the share of renewable energies in the energy market. The new regulations came into effect on the 23rd March 2002. For applications that reach the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) (i.e. the 'Credit Institute for Recovery') or the Bundesanstalt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle (BAFA) (i.e. the 'Federal Agency for Economy and Export Control') after that point of time the following possible programmes of support arise: Automatically fired plants with a boiler efficiency of at least 85 per cent get a fixed subsidy up to a nominal thermal output of 100 kW.

The support amounts to EUR 55.- for each kW of installed nominal thermal output, at least, however, EUR 1,500.- for each plant. For this minimum subsidy a boiler efficiency of at least 90 per cent must be reached. Up to a nominal thermal output of 3 to 50 kW only central heating systems can be subsidised. An accumulation with means from other support programmes (e.g. German Lands and municipalities) up to a maximum of the double of the Federal subsidy is now allowed. The investment cost for automatically fired firing plants with a nominal thermal output of more than 100 kW and biogas plants are supported by loans or by a partial remission of debt of the KfW.

Firing plants for solid fuels receive a partial remission of debt of EUR 55.-/kW but not more than EUR 250,000.- altogether. Plants with a power-heat combination from solid fuels are only granted loans. Biogas fuels with an electrical output of up to 70 kW get a partial remission of debt of EUR 15,000 in a lump sum. Larger biogas plants are only supported by loans from own resources of the KfW.

For further information see in the internet: http://www.kfw.de and http://www.bafa.de.

Heating with grain

The low grain price and a sensible use of waste grain make the energetic use of this renewable resource interesting (see also nawaros® 01/2002). The pros and cons of the grain combustion are compiled in a brochure that has just been published by C.A.R.M.E.N.

The ten-pages brochure can be downloaded from the internet as a pdf document or ordered at C.A.R.M.E.N.

Rubber from sunflowers

Natural rubber is used for the production of more than 40,000 products. Presently, imports from Malaysia serve for that. However, in favour of other products the cultivation of rubber trees is declining there. In order to develop high-quality rubber plants from sunflowers, which naturally produce small amounts of natural rubber, the Colorado State University has formed a research team.

Sources: Colorado State University, 21st February 2002, under http://www.newsinfo.colostate.edu, and bild der wissenschaft online, 26th February 2002, under http://www.wissenschaft.de.

A C.A.R.M.E.N. employee in Japan

Taking a particular interest in projects in the field of renewable raw materials, a Japanese delegation visited C.A.R.M.E.N. in autumn 2001. The delegation was composed of representatives of different Japanese environmental groups (among others the Environment Co-operative Union Shiga). Many of these groups collect used cooking oil and manufacture it into natural soap. Already 30 years ago the soil and water conservation was the original motivation for some of the activists. In order to bundle their activities they now plan to found a national organisation and were therefore especially interested in the subject of biodiesel. So C.A.R.M.E.N.'s experiences in this field were very useful to the delegation.

An invitation followed for a return visit of a C.A.R.M.E.N. employee who was to give lectures in the Land of the Rising Sun. On the 21st March 2002 Robert Wagner, project attendant at C.A.R.M.E.N., started from Munich to Osaka. The Japanese are a proverb for hospitality, and Robert Wager enjoyed this hospitality from the very beginning. On Sunday, the 24th March 2002, Wagner gave a lecture in the course of the rapeseed festival in Imari (on the Southern island of Kyushu). Numerous initiatives of the island of Kyushu also presented their projects. As it is usual in Japan, the success of the event was celebrated by a gala dinner. The second event took place on Tuesday, the 26th March 2002, in Shiga (west of Kyoto, island of Honshu) in an agricultural school with a research institute. The third and last place of conference was the University of Yamagata (north of Tokyo, island of Honshu).

Wagner's lectures explained the strategies for the promotion of renewable raw materials with their main emphasis on the production of energy of the Bavarian Ministry of Agriculture and Forests and briefly characterised Bavarian agricultural establishments. Experiences in the field of biodiesel and also the subjects of rapeseed oil fuel, biogas, and solid fuels were elaborated. The Japanese audience took a particular interest in the history of development and in the economic and fiscal background. The goal of the lecture tour seemed to be reached at least at the audience, that is: making the use of renewable raw materials more popular in Japan. The persons responsible knew how to place their events well into the press and the TV. On the 4th April 2002 Robert Wagner set off for home, enriched with many new impressions, experiences and the acquaintance of numerous people.

Information: C.A.R.M.E.N., Robert Wagner.

The rainforest has to offer a lot

In the year 1991 the Brazil University of Belém asked the former Daimer-Benz AG and its Brazil daughter Mercedes-Benz do Brasil in Sao Paulo for support in a research project. As a renaturation scheme the project should have the goal of making human beings settle, of creating means of livelihood for them by the rainforest, and of protecting the Brazil rainforest from further overfelling. The UNICEF also got in on the project for three years. It was named POEMA - Programa Pobreza e Meio Ambiente na Amazonia ('Poverty and Environment in Amazon'). In 1995 the first phase of the project ended. However, the University of Belém and the former Daimler-Benz supported it further. Very soon some of the inhabitants of the Amazon island Marajó began with the manufacturing of fibres.

Head restraints are produced from coconut fibres. For that, the fibres, which are won from the outer casing of the coconut, are twisted to ropes with simple tools and are then together with natural rubber formed to head restraints. In the meantime the single steps of the production have been optimised so far that they are considerably simplified and almost proceed industrially. Today the production of commercial vehicles is supplied with approximately 2,500 headrests monthly. The cost, the transport to Sao Paolo included, is little below the offers of the manufacturers of plastic parts.

Now some thousand people make a living out of the raw material coconut fibre. Hat racks, sun visors, and seat upholstery from coconut fibres can also successfully compete with plastic products today. So the current S class offers 32 products from various natural fibres. A lorry constructed in Brazil also consists of several kilograms of natural material, from the dashboard to the gear case. Drivers perspire less on car seats from coconut fibres, DaimlerChrysler's development engineers in Sao Paolo know. Honda, too, use seats from cocunut fibres for their motorcycles; VW, General Motors, and Ford are also interested in the "jungle project".

Sources: Manager Magazin from the 5th March 2002 under http://www.manager-magazin.de, and Daimler Chrysler AG under http://www.daimlerchrysler.com.

Förderpreis Nachwachsende Rohstoffe (support award for renewable resources)

The Förderpreis für Nachwachsende Rohstoffe des Landes Nordrhein- Westfalen (i.e. the support award for renewable resources of the German Land of North Rhine-Westphalia) with a EUR 5,000 purse is awarded by the Ministry of Environment and Nature Conservation, Agriculture, and Consumer Protection of the German Land of North Rhine-Westphalia. Persons, companies, and institutions of the North Rhine-Westphalian agriculture and forestry, corresponding lines of business, agricultural teaching and research, and of the processing industries are called upon to participate. Applications, standards of assessment, and

further information: Zentrum für Nachwachsende Rohstoffe NRW im Landwirtschaftszentrum Haus Düsse, 59505 Bad Sassendorf-Ostinghausen, Germany.

Interactive information

Supported by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (http://www.dbu.de) (i.e. the 'German Federal Environmental Foundation') the agency Jerichow Projektplanung in Kassel, Hesse, developed the CD-ROM "KLICKSmich Stuttgart". As an element of the public relations for the climate protection concept of the city of Stuttgart the shiny disc offers a good first step towards the subject of climate protection, also for people not living in Stuttgart. A complex subject is multimedially prepared in an easily understandable way and is also suitable for the school instruction from the fifth form onwards.

Information: Jerichow Projektplanung, tel.: +49-561-166-54, Fax: -94, e-mail: info@klicksmich.de.

µ Special edition on bio-based materials

The Journal for Industrial Ecology is planning a special edition on the subject "Industrial Ecology of Bio-based Materials". Contributions in English dealing with subjects such as for example the increased cultivation of industrial grain or novel "bio-based" and conventional "petrochemical-based" processes are accepted until the 2nd December 2002. In order to enrich the special edition summaries of relevant books and reports are also accepted.

It is the goal of the special edition to show environmental impacts caused by the increased use of materials and fuels based on renewable raw materials (biopolymers, biodiesel, bioethanol and chemicals and by-products that are used on a large scale).

Further information: Reid Lifset Editor, Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University,205 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06511-2189 USA, e-mail: indecol@yale.edu, internet: http://www.yale.edu/jie/cfpbiobased.htm.

Biogas plant on the drawing board

In February the Schmack Biogas AG presented the results of a study of economic viability on the projected jointly-owned biogas plant in Arnstorf in the city hall of Arnstorf. The biogas is to be converted into electricity in district heating power stations. Is provided by law that the generated electricity is taken by the e.on AG for a fixed price. The waste heat is to be sold to the neighbouring Knürr AG in order to replace oil and gas there. The regional agriculture can also benefit from this project by the supply of liquid manure or renewable raw materials. However, since liquid manure consists to more than 90 per cent of water and only the remaining ten per cent can be converted in the biogas plant into usable methane with a rate between 40 and 70 per cent, the transportation cost can be very high and has still to be clarified.

Further information: C.A.R.M.E.N., Robert Wagner.

The warmest plant fibre of the world

The warmest and driest plant fibre of the world is picked from the tree by means of a special harvesting method. It is won from the seed fibres of the fruits of poplar trees. Its fields of application are the pillar, the quilt, and other products that are conventionally filled with eiderdowns. The fibres serve the poplar seeds as flying objects. They keep as warm as goose downs, but simultaneously transport humidity almost as easily as a woollen blanket. Many municipalities are downright smothered in poplar fluff. Therefore, a short question is often sufficient to get the permission to start harvesting.

Then the harvesters have to climb high. From a raising platform or the passenger car of a captive balloon the harvesters catch the branches and gather the green fruits with leaves and sprigs. By a thermo-mechanical method the sensitive fibres are then freed of seeds and dirt. The 35-year-old forestry expert Jens-Gerrrit Eisfeld spent a total of four years working on his idea and was even awarded the "Regio-StartUp"-Prize 2000 for the best regional concept of founding a business. The entrepreneur award for the best innovation in the field of natural products of the journal Wirtschaftswoche also went to the Pap(p)illon GmbH. Presently, the innovative company employs up to 20 people during the harvest time. Three employees have got a full-year job.

Further information: PAP(P)ILLON GmbH, Tennenbacher Str. 4, 79106 Freiburg, Germany, tel.: +49-761-368888-0; fax: -9, e-mail: info@pappillon.de (http://www.pappillon.de).