Newsletter/ nawaros^® 05/02

Content

Jubilee Symposium "Raw Materials - Regenerative and Profitable"
A dynamic decade
Visitors from Croatia
Third international meeting of operators of biomass heating plants
Sleeping the sunny way
On their way to Amsterdam
Environment-friendly wood energy
Biogenic fuels in the centre of interest
Chinese scientists pay a visit to C.A.R.M.E.N.
Practical guide to energy
Maiden grass for house building
Using biofuel
Biomass in Massenbuch

Jubilee Symposium "Raw Materials - Regenerative and Profitable"

From the 8th to the 9th July 2002, C.A.R.M.E.N. invites representatives from economy, science, politics, and authorities to the 10th Symposium in its native city Würzburg. "Renewable raw materials no longer live in the shadow but have established themselves on the market," C.A.R.M.E.N.'s executive secretary Werner Döller sums up ten years of success. In the morning of the 8th July the common plenary meeting is on the schedule. Manfred Ach, the chairman of the budget committee of the Bavarian parliament, presents renewable raw materials from a budgetary point of view. Dr Guido Reinhardt from the Institut für Energie und Umweltforschung (i.e. 'Institute for Energy and Environmental Research') in Heidelberg draws up ecological balances. In the afternoon parallel meetings will be held on the energetic and on the industrial use of biomass.

The energetic section is split up into two parts. First, experts talk about their experiences with the classic power-heat combination. Rudolf Eder from the BioEnergie Taufkirchen GmbH starts, explaining the fuel logistics and the canvassing for new heat consumers at the biomass congeneration plant Taufkirchen. He is followed by Christoph Lindermayr from the ZAK Energie GmbH in Kempten who talks about the retrofitting of a waste-fuelled power plant into a biomass thermal power plant. Volkmar Schäfer (eta Energieberatung GbR, Pfaffenhofen) presents the fuel logistics and the concept of the district heating power station Pfaffenhofen.

In the second part of the energetic section concepts for power-heat combinations are demonstrated that are suited for the lower power output. Till Austin from Spilling Energie Systeme, Hamburg, explains his experience with the Spilling engine. Prof. Dr Martin Faulstich, ATZ, EVUS, Sulzbach-Rosenberg, reports on the so-called pebble heater and the hot-air turbine. Wilhelm Stockel from the design engineering office Gammel in Abensberg presents the ORC technology by example of the biomass heating plant Sauerlach.

The industrial use of renewable resources has reached a very high level in the recent ten years. Lectures about product developments, market launch projects, and studies provide information on this progress. Martin Lichtl, Beratung für Umweltkommunikation, Frankfurt, the leader of the project in Kassel, presents his results on the practical suitability of packagings from biodegradable engineering materials. Vegetable oils with a high content of oleic acid (high-oleic oils), produced from sunflowers, are the focus of Dr. Harald Käb's lecture. Dr. Johann Bleier (Vialit Asphalt Ges. mbH, Braunau/Austria) presents an alternative to conventional road maintenance: the rapeseed oil-based road surface RapsAsphalt.

By means of his lecture on natural fibre filled polypropylenes and insulating materials Dr. Michael Gass from 2B AG (Dübendorf/CH) shows what the grass fibre has got to offer. Prof. Dr. Alireza Kharazipour from Pfleiderer AG in Neumarkt demonstrates that binders are not necessary for the production of MDF boards. Last but not least Dr. Thomas Kripp from Darmstadt presents his invention "From Shrimp Shells to Chipboards". During a technical excursion on the 9th July the first vegetable oil-based cold-foam mattress can be tested by lying down on it, and its production process can be witnessed at the Metzeler Schaum GmbH in Memmingen. In Pfaffenhofen the district heating power station and the refrigeration plant of Müller Bräu can be visited.

Registration: C.A.R.M.E.N. e.V., tel.: +49-9421-960-300. Further information also in the internet http://www.carmen-ev.de.

Ten years ago - on the 6th July 1992 - C.A.R.M.E.N., the Bavarian co-ordinating agency for renewable raw materials, was founded on the symposium "Within the Cycle of Nature - Natural Materials for Modern Society" in Würzburg.

The proud balance: About 260 project applications for the energetic and 160 for the industrial use of renewable raw materials were dealt with during the past ten years. The highlights in C.A.R.M.E.N.'s life were and are the events, popular meeting places for all those interested in the use of biomass. Meanwhile, 54 enterprises and organisations are members of C.A.R.M.E.N., that is in the first place a Bavarian institution but has reached beyond land and national borders for a long time.

Visitors from Croatia

In April, a delegation of three persons from Croatia paid a visit to C.A.R.M.E.N. Due to the reorganisation of the forestry policy the Croatian national forest administration is taking an increasing interest in renewable raw materials. The forest administration, which was made a state-owned limited liability company on the 9th April 2002, watches over an area of 2 million hectares and has got 9,000 employees. About 2 million solid cubic metres of wood are annually produced; three million solid cubic metres occur as firewood.

Presently, there is almost no market for firewood. Accompanied by Ana Juricic, interpreter and employee of the public relations department in the Croatian national forest administration, the consultant of the director of the national forest administration, Josip Dundovic, and the head of the development department, Stjepan Puljak, set out from Zagreb to Straubing. Since firewood is available in large quantities, the three delegates were very interested in the use of firewood and in the generation of electricity by means of biomass thermal power plants.

On the schedule, which was organised by C.A.R.M.E.N., were the presentation of a cutter with the transport of the chopped wood and visits to the biomass heating station Mainburg and the biodiesel plant and biomass thermal power plant in Pfaffenhofen. A meeting with the mayor of Straubing, Reinhold Perlak, with a subsequent guided tour of the city and a visit to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Munich were further items.

Further information: C.A.R.M.E.N.

Third international meeting of operators of biomass heating plants

On the 29th and 30th April more than a hundred operators of biomass heating plants from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and Slovenia came to the third international meeting of operators of biomass heating plants in Herrsching on the Ammersee. C.A.R.M.E.N. organised the two-day event in co-operation with the Landesenergieverein Steiermark (i. e. 'Regional Energy Association Steiermark'), the Österreichischer Biomasseverband ('Austrian Biomass Association'), the Südtiroler Biomasseverband ('Biomass Association of the Southern Tyrol') and the Holzenergie Schweiz ('Wood Energy Switzerland'). The subjects of the first lectures were boiler erosion, plant optimisation by thermal refrigeration, and electronic data processing for biomass heating plants.

Subsequently, working groups were formed according to the requests of the participants. The subject of boiler erosion attracted the most attention. Other working groups dealt with electronic data processing for biomass heating plants and with plant optimisation (refrigeration, ash utilisation). On the second day there were first short lectures on the Stirling engine, ORC technology, and the spilling engine and then vivid discussions on the subject of the generation of electricity from solid biomass. Finally, the majority of the participants visited the biomass thermal power plants in Krailing (test of a Stirling engine) and in Pfaffenhofen (23.3 MW of biomass boiler output).

Information: C.A.R.M.E.N., Sebastian Kilburg.

Sleeping the sunny way

According to the motto "Crude oil is finite; oil plants are regenerative" the company Metzeler Schaum GmbH uses a 7-zone core layer from polyurethane soft cold foam in its Rubex®-NAWARO cold foam mattress. Normally, this foam is produced from two petroleum-based components (polyoles and isocyanates). On the addition of water they react with splitting off CO2 that has the effect of a blowing agent - as in yeast dough. Metzeler GmbH developed a variant of foam in which the polyole component is based on sunflower oil. For that, cold-pressed sunflower oil is used, which opens up a new sales potential to local farmers. As a by-product of the oil production the so-called press cake occurs. It can be used as cattle fodder.

The Ergonomie-Institut München (i.e. 'Institute for Ergonomics, Munich') certified that the mattress perfectly relieves and supports the spinal column by pressure distribution. Thus the Rubex®-NAWARO provides for a relaxing deep sleep and relieves the intervertebral discs. The nutrient supply and the removal of slag materials are facilitated. In the disposal of this kind of old mattresses by thermal utilisation less climate-relevant emissions occur (only the amount of CO2 is released the sunflowers absorbed from the air while growing). Bavaria granted 40 per cent of the project cost as a subsidy. Metzeler Schaum GmbH was founded in Memmingen/Allgäu in 1954 as one of the first German foam producers. Today, it is one of the largest manufactures world-wide of polyurethane foams. These foams are for example used for car seats, technical components, inside panellings, and for sound absorption and heat insulation.

A free folder and further information can be obtained from: C.A.R.M.E.N. and Metzeler Schaum GmbH, tel. +49-8331-830-0, fax: -259,
e-mail: matratze@metzeler-schaum.de, http://www.metzeler-schaum.de

On their way to Amsterdam

C.A.R.M.E.N. prepared a common stand for the Biomass Conference in Amsterdam (see nawaros® 04/2002, p. 1). Shortly after the copy deadline of the last issue of nawaros® (04/2002) C.A.R.M.E.N. was able to win also the Österreichischer Biomasseverband ('Austrian Biomass Association') from Vienna and the boiler manufacturer Fröling Heizkessel- und Behälterbau Ges.m.b.H., Grieskirchen, for Amsterdam. Together with Vialit Asphalt Ges.m.b.H & Co. KG from Braunau a total of three Austrian exhibitors will thus be present at the common 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.

Environment-friendly wood energy

The T+E compost plant close to Bechhofen (Middle Franconia) is constantly supplied with wood from landscape care. The idea was born to gain not only compost but also heat from this wood. A suited heat consumer was the school and sports centre with an indoor swimming pool. Its 30-year-old oil-fired central heating had to be urgently replaced. The T+E humus plant as the contractor put in a good bid, and the municipal council approved of a biomass heating facility. The municipality of Bechhofen provided the area for the heating plant and has only to pay for the energy needed (approx. 1,100 MW per annum).

The cost for building, operating and maintaining the heating facility is borne by the compost plant. The latter supplies the quantity of wooden parts from landscape care that is needed to replace approximately 125,000 litres of heating oil by the use of 570 tons of biomass per annum. The biomass heating plant was officially opened on the 25th April 2002. Wood that occurs when the woodlands are thinned out is admixed to the material from landscape care at the rate of 1:4. Otherwise, this wood would be mineralised in the forests.

Further information and a free folder on the heating plant are available at C.A.R.M.E.N. and at T + E Humuswerk GmbH, tel. +49-98-835-80, fax: -81,
e-mail: info@te-humuswerk.de.

Biogenic fuels in the centre of interest

The C.A.R.M.E.N. Forum "Quality Management for Rapeseed Fuel, Biodiesel, and Biogas" attracted more than 200 experts and practical users, such as technicians and consultants from the environmental field and the energy sector, farmers, plant constructors, planning engineering offices, and representatives from the authorities into the of the town hall of Straubing. The maximum number of participants was already reached in the week before the event. This popularity shows once more that the topics of the C.A.R.M.E.N. events are very much sought after.

Further information, the conference proceedings, and detailed press releases concering the forum are to be found on the internet pages of C.A.R.M.E.N.: http://www.carmen-ev.de.

Chinese scientists pay a visit to C.A.R.M.E.N.

Five high-ranking Chinese scientists of different institutes from Beijing and Guangzhou visited C.A.R.M.E.N. in Straubing on the 2nd May. They were mainly interested in the general political and legal conditions and in an exchange of information on the latest scientific developments and on the application of different bioenergetic technologies in Germany.

Here, particularly the facilities for the gasification of biomass and the potential for pelletising technologies in China were discussed. Upon the request of both sides an intense co-operation should be resulting from this visit. The precise contents of this co-operation are still to be co-ordinated.

Information: C.A.R.M.E.N., Sebastian Kilburg.

Practical guide to energy

If the energy costs are checked, a considerable savings potential can be detected. The consumer councils offer a free CD-ROM as an interactive self-information system for that. It is not only of interest to house-owners and housebuilders but also to renters. The "Schlaumacher Energie" ('practical guide to energy') was subsidised by the Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology.

A clearly arranged menu provides information on new buildings, old buildings, and flats. There are also chapters on the energy generation from renewable raw materials, on insulating measures and insulating materials. For finding the desired information quickly a well-equipped dictionary is offered. By means of calculation programmes the effects of energy-saving measures can be calculated and relevant support programmes can be called up from the internet.

Information in the internet: Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Verbraucherverbände (http://www.agv.de) and Verbraucherzentralen (http://www.verbraucherzentrale.com).

Maiden grass for house building

Scientists of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Bonn discovered maiden grass (miscanthus) as a building material. Because of its high content of air maiden grass has got excellent insulating qualities. From the fast-growing plant that originally comes from Asia almost all components of a house can be manufactured. An ecological building system for a low-energy house with lightweight concrete, rendering, and insulation from maiden grass has already been developed.

Dr. Ralf Pude, agricultural engineer at the Institut für Pflanzenbau (i.e. 'Institute for Cultivation') in Bonn also considers maize locations suitable for the cultivation of maiden grass. Cultivating maiden grass and subsequently using it up in building absorbs approximately 30 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere and permanently binds it in the structure.

Sources and further information in the internet: bild der wissenschaft online of the 22nd April 2002 under http://www.wissenschaft.de und http://www.miscanthus.de.

Using biofuel

The Daimler Chrysler AG wishes to make moves in the direction of renewable raw materials. By an investment of one million Euro the group of companies supports a pilot plant of Choren Industries GmbH in Freiberg in Saxony. Here, fuels for internal combustion engines and fuel cells are to be produced. Wood refuse from forestry serves as original material, but also other renewable raw materials and waste ought to be used.

The project cost amounts to a total of 11 million Euro the half of which is borne by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. According to Prof. Klaus-Dieter Vöhringer, member of the board of DaimlerChrysler AG and responsible for research and technology, the internal combustion engine will remain the backbone of vehicle manufacturing in the foreseeable future. In spring 2003, the biofuel is to be tested in Daimler vehicles in Stuttgart.

Sources: http://www.leonberger-kreiszeitung.de of the 9th April 2002 and press release of Daimler Chrysler AG, http://www.daimlerchrysler.com vom 8th April 2002.

Biomass in Massenbuch

Everything revolved round wood on the 1st Biomass Day on the 21st April in Massenbuch (rural district of Main-Spessart in Bavaria). More than 6,000 visitors, twice as many as expected, informed themselves on the source of energy wood. In his welcoming speech the mayor of Gemünden and patron of the event, Thomas Schiebel, emphasised the importance of wood processing for the region and the regional labour market. The exhibitors were very satisfied with the interested audience.

Information: Günter Betz, tel.: +49-9315-4461, e-mail: biomassetag@massenbuch.de.