Newsletter/ nawaros®
06/03
On this site you will find a shortened version of our monthly newsletter nawaros®
European Biomass Days of the Regions
2003 - Future With Nature
Prize Awarded to Baufritz
Serra Is Active in Chile
Heating in an Eco-Friendly and Comfortable Manner
Grain and Straw
Visitors from Japan in Straubing
Renewable Raw Materials in Hesse
Gas to Liquids
C.A.R.M.E.N. Goes East
biomasse 2003 - Something for Everybody
Wooden Wind Power Plants
Jahrbuch Erneuerbare Energien 02/03
Web News
European Biomass Days of the Regions 2003 - Future With Nature
From September 28th to October 5th, 2003, producers, users, funding and research institutions dealing with renewable raw materials will be informing the general public on the spot about the economic and ecological opportunities of these materials and its products in many European regions. Throughout one week, various events around biomass can be organised and attended. The high technical standard of renewable raw materials and products already available on the market will be shown. Twelve institutions German-wide participate in the organisation, one in (nearly) each German Federal Land. C.A.R.M.E.N., the Bavarian co-ordinating agency for renewable raw materials, is in charge of the overall organisation. Companies, institutions, and private persons interested in taking part are asked to register their events with the co-ordinator of the respective Land or directly with C.A.R.M.E.N.
The co-ordinators' list is available on the internet: http://www.biomassetage.org. The participants are also published there. All participants are provided with little give-aways and advertising matter for their visitors. In 1997, 1998, 2001, and 2002 there were already Biomass Days taking place in order to promote renewable raw materials from the North Cape to the Greek islands. The "Association of European Biomass Organisations" (AEBIOM) is in charge of the Europe-wide organisation. AEBIOM is able to reach biomass organisations in 24 European countries through its members. The European Biomass Days of the Regions are under the auspices of the Vice President of the European Commission, Loyola de Palacio del Valle. Together with the Bavarian Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Josef Miller, she supports the goal of informing the general public on the significance and the possibilities of using renewable raw materials.
On the initiative of the Bavarian Ministry of Agriculture and the "European Biomass Industry Association" (EUBIA), the First European Biomass Day was called into being in October 1997. On the 10th European Biomass Conference in Wuerzburg in 1998 it was suggested to make Biomass Days a permanent institution. The reason for that was not least the energy dependence of the European Union. Growing on the spot and serving the regional energy supply, biomass has got the largest potential of replacing fossil sources of energy within the next decade.
The European Biomass Days will annually be taking place during the week that comprises the last September and the first October days. So they can be included as a fixed date into the annual plannings.
Information and registration of events: On the internet: http://www.biomasse-tage.org, or at C.A.R.M.E.N., Karl Hanglberger, Schulgasse 18, 94315 Straubing, Germany, tel.: +49-9421-960-300, e-mail: kh@carmen-ev.de.
Prize Awarded to Baufritz
Several prizes have already been awarded to C.A.R.M.E.N. member Baufritz GmbH & Co. in Enkheim near Memmingen. In March 2003, the Bavarian Minister for Economic Affairs, Otto Wiesheu, awarded the Bayerischer Qualitätspreis ('Bavarian Quality Award') to Hubert Fritz, the head of the firm. The Bayerischer Qualitätspreis rewards innovative ideas on quality control. In case of Baufritz company, this refers to the concept of the high-quality house which consists only of natural building materials.
Last autumn, the Umweltmedaille ('Environment Medal') of the Bavarian Ministry of the Environment was awarded to Baufritz, honouring the company for the optimisation of the high-quality house. It was said in the laudatory speech that one of the most outstanding achievements of the company was the development of an ecological insulating material patented in 1991. The raw material which is used consists of wood shavings treated with a mixture of whey and soda for fire and fungus protection. This procedure did not only ensure a cheap production but also the eco-friendly processing of the waste product wood shavings. In the course of a short ceremony the Bavarian Minister of the Environment, Werner Schnappauf, presented the Umweltmedaille to Hubert Fritz, the head of the firm.
In August 2002, the Holzbaupreis ('Timber Construction Prize') '02 of the Bavarian region of the Allgäu was awarded to the company. This prize was awarded for the first time in 2002. The prize-winners were the new building of the ZAE Bayern in Garching and the five-storeyed wooden head, the Denk-Werk-Statt in Erkheim.
Further information and sources: Baufritz GmbH & Co., Erkheim/Allgäu, Germany, tel.: +49-8336-900-0, fax: -111, e-mail: info@baufritz.com (http://www.baufritz.com) and: Augsburger Allgemeine (local newspaper of Augsburg/Bavaria) on the internet: http://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de.
Serra Is Active in Chile
C.A.R.M.E.N. member Serra Maschinenbau GmbH of Rimsting is active in Chile. The small town of Villarrica in the south of Chile with a population of 250,000 inhabitants had an old market place which was out of repair. This market was the source of income of 25 families. The manager of Serra, Hans Fritz, spontaneously agreed to take charge of building a new market place in the town centre. With the support of six German and further local workers, 50 small shops and an inner court with a restaurant and a housing unit were built from November 2002 onwards. In December 2002, the topping-out ceremony could be celebrated. Meanwhile, the market built in timber-frame construction is ready for occupancy and the first tenants have already moved in.
Information: Serra Maschinenbau GmbH, Bahnhofstraße 83, 83253 Rimsting, Germany (http://www.serra.de).
Heating in an Eco-Friendly and Comfortable Manner
The Bavarian Minister of Agriculture, Josef Miller, met in Kempten/Bavaria with representatives of C.A.R.M.E.N., of the biomass yard of the Allgäu, and of the Energie- und Umweltzentrum Allgäu (eza) ('Energy and Environment Centre of the Allgäu') on May 16th. By means of a press demonstration they promoted eco-friendly heating with wood pellets in regions that are in danger of flooding.
"Heating with wood today no longer means cutting timber," Miller emphasised during the demonstration of a pellet-fired heating appliance in a one-family home. The delivery and the technical equipment of these heating appliances are nowadays as comfortable as in the case of oil burners. By funding renewable resources Bavaria takes responsibility for climate protection. Particularly in areas that are in danger of flooding, pellet-fired heating appliances offer a maximum of environment protection because - in contrast to heating oil - wood pellets do not endanger the environment.
Kempten's mayor Ulrich Netzer praised the Fischer family who had opened their house for the presentation. By having a pellet-fired heating appliance installed in their home in an area that was in danger of flooding, the family had acted in an exemplary and far-sighted manner, the mayor said. Hugo Wirthenson, biomass yard of the Allgäu, pointed out that the sales volume of wood fuels had increased during the recent years. The potential of waste wood in the Allgäu, however, was still far from exhausted. Martin Sembale, the manager of the eza, explained the fully automatic heating appliance of the one-family house. Finally, the pellet delivery by means of a road tanker was demonstrated.
Information: An information brochure on wood pellets is gratuitously available at C.A.R.M.E.N.
Grain and Straw
The generation of energy from grain and straw can help reduce CO2 and create new markets for agricultural products. In order to support the development of small bioenergy plants, the Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e. V. (FNR) ('Agency of Renewable Resources') invites applications for the current "Main research area on the further technical development of combustion plants for fuels from straw-like biomass". This is planned to contribute to the solution of technical problems in the energy production from grain and straw in small and medium-sized plants up to one MW of thermal capacity. The application forms can be ordered from the funding body FNR. The deadline for handing in project suggestions is October 30th, 2003.
Information: FNR, tel.: +49-3843-693-00, fax: -0102, e-mail: info@fnr.de (http://www.fnr.de).
Visitors from Japan in Straubing
A Japanese delegation interested in environmental issues and partly belonging to the Union for the Promotion of Natural Soap, Shiga, met with C.A.R.M.E.N. employee Christian Leuchtweis in Upper Franconia on May 29th, 2003 (see nawaros® 04/2002).
First, the biomass heating plant and the rapeseed oil-fired district heating power station in Greußenheim were visited. In his capacity as the head of the local working group for the Agenda 21, Mr. Fischer, operating company of Greußenheim, also explained the activities of the working group. This was very helpful for the Japanese guests because the Union for the Promotion of Natural Soap, Shiga, is also a non-government group.
In the afternoon, the delegation continued its journey to Rainer Gräf's oil mill, Martinsheim. The Gräf family gave detailed information on the production of cooking oil and on the characteristics of the production of rapeseed oil fuel. With the Gräf family not only producing fuel but also using it in their own vehicles, it was also possible to see passenger cars and tractors that have been switched to rapeseed oil operation.
Having exchanged experienc and gathered new impressions, the group travelled back to Japan after some further visits. By the way: C.A.R.M.E.N. departmental head Dr. Bettina Schmidt will be reporting on renewable raw materials in Japan on the symposium in Straubing. She stays in Japan at present.
Renewable Raw Materials in Hesse
What are the advantages of C.A.R.M.E.N.'s legal form of a non-profit making association that concentrates the interests of industry, associations, and politics? What is the organisational structure of the Competence Centre for Renewable Resources in Straubing? On May 26th, Karl-Winfried Seif, under-secretary of state in the Ministry for Environment, Rural Affairs and Consumer Protection of Hesse, and two of his staff members visited C.A.R.M.E.N., informing themselves on these questions. The background was the decision of the government of Hesse to found also a competence centre for renewable resources in this Federal Land.
Gas to Liquids
Shell and Volkswagen are presently testing the fuel "Shell Gas to Liquids". In the coming five months, a fleet of 25 'Golfs' by Volkswagen will be powered by this synthetic fuel produced from natural gas. The synthetic fuel is crystal-clear, as colourless as water and can be used in conventional diesel engines. The waste gas emissions are considerably reduced by using this synthetic fuel. Shell also invests in the development of sustainable reduction processes for fuels from biomass. It could be quite possible, for example, to use biomass as a raw material for the gas-to-liquid process in order to produce a "SunFuel®" which is identical with the synthetic fuel made from natural gas.
Source and information: Shell Germany on the internet: http://www.shell.com.
C.A.R.M.E.N. Goes East
Marianna Shebotnova is the name of our new trainee. She supports the C.A.R.M.E.N. public relations department. Marianne is from Ukraine, studied Spanish and English at the state university of Kiev and worked as a foreign language teacher there. Then she worked in Ukrainian-American and Ukrainian-German companies and gathered experience in marketing and public relations. Marianne has been living in Straubing for more than one and a half year now. Recently, she attended a German language course in Berlin which was financed by a scholarship of the Otto Benecke Foundation.
She has already successfully worked for C.A.R.M.E.N. For the Russian-language weekly journal Russkaya Germaniya ('Russian Germany') appearing in Germany she translated an article on C.A.R.M.E.N. and on the fair biomasse 2003 which was published on June 4th, 2003.
Further information and a photocopy of the newspaper article are available at C.A.R.M.E.N. on request.
biomasse 2003 - Something for Everybody
From June 26th to 29th, 2003, C.A.R.M.E.N. and its subsidiary company biomasse GmbH invite the visitors of the fair biomasse 2003 in Straubing to a 15 km test drive with the new biodiesel-powered Audi. The point of departure is the fairgrounds "Am Hagen" (see nawaros® 05/2003). Every owner of a driving license is allowed to do a test drive with a car of the car dealer's Lichtinger in Straubing.
The vehicle is equipped with a consumption indicator unmistakably showing the average consumption of biodiesel. The best "fuel saver" can expect a petrol voucher to the value of 100 euros donated by the company Diermeier in Straubing. At the C.A.R.M.E.N. stand, visitors to the fair can particularly inform themselves on starch as a renewable raw material. Sophisticated products such as a biowaste bag on the basis of starch (already introduced in Straubing) and a bath sponge on the basis of vegetable oil are sold at the stand of biomasse GmbH.
Information: C.A.R.M.E.N. and biomasse GmbH on the internet: http://www.biomasse-gmbh.com
Wooden Wind Power Plants
Offshore wind power plants may possibly have wooden towers in future. The Swiss high priest of wood construction, Julius Natterer, advocates this idea. He conducted a feasibility study for the North Rhine-Westphalian Carpenters Guild. According to his study, a wooden half-timbered building - if produced in series - is not more expensive than a steel tower. Moreover, the study says, wood was superior to steel because salt water corroded steel but preserved wood.
Information and sources: Der Spiegel (weekly magazine), May 19th, 2003, and on the internet: http://www.iez-natterer.de.
Jahrbuch Erneuerbare Energien 02/03
The Jahrbuch Erneuerbare Energien 02/03 ('Yearbook on Renewable Energies 02/03') is addressed to experts from trade and industry, science, politics, associations, interests groups and the interested general public. It provides current facts, background information, market trends, and developments in funding and politics for argumentation and investment. Comprehensive statistical data render the volume a current reference book for costs, potentials, the number of plants producing energy from water power, wind power, biomass, solar energy, geothermia, and many more. It is completed by a CD-ROM offering statistics, diagrams and tables.
Information: http://www.jee.info or at Bieberstein-Fachbuchverlag, tel.: +49-351-83601-20, fax: -22. Price: 24.95 euros (CD-ROM included: 35.20 euros).
Web News
aid infodienst has got a new internet presence: www.aid.de. It provides information on consumer protection, nutrition, and agriculture and also offers good possibilities of information to journalists, experts and multipliers.
Information: On the internet: http://www.aid.de. information.medien.agrar e.V. (i.m.a.), Bonn, has now already published the third edition of an internet guide on nutrition, consumer protection, agriculture, nature and environment. Information: On the internet: http://www.ima-agrar.de.
