East Bavaria on the way to becoming Bioenergy Centre
Oil is still the basis of many processes in the energy business and of the industries producing energy. No matter whether these are energy providers, paints, medicines or plastics, this “black gold” is still the source of 90 % of these substances. Oil is still the most important raw material for energy production worldwide: with an over 42 percent share in world production it is – still ahead of coal and natural gas – the most frequently used fossil energy carrier; Germany alone recently imported over 110 million tonnes of crude oil. Not only rising prices and the current climate discussions, but also the expected decrease in production due to diminishing natural resources will inevitably lead to an increase in significance for renewable energy sources. Here the so-called “green gold” from regrowable raw materials offers an interesting alternative. In addition to biogas and biodiesel the chemical industry has just discovered this as a source for its products. Regrowable raw materials not only reduce dependency on oil, they are also climate-neutral, meaning products that are based on plants release exactly as much carbon dioxide as taken up by the plants from the air during growth.
East Bavaria has brought forward some pioneers in this field. Schmack Biogas AG, a company listed on the stock exchange with over 300 employees, 90 million € in turnover and currently 170 biogas plants, has been presented since 1995 as one of the first companies in the BioRegio Regensburg with its whole plant manufacturing biogas from liquid manure. For the first time the company recently presented a process which further refines biomethane so that it can be fed into the natural gas network. Currently Schmack has a 5 MW block-unit heating power plant to be built with the regional energy provider REWAG in Neutraubling near Regensburg and also under contract the construction of the largest biogas plant in Europe with the energy giant E.ON Bavaria and its subsidiary E.ON Bioerdgas in Schwandorf in Upper Palatinate. Furthermore Schmack is building an “Energy Park” in Regensburg, which also is to be the centre of the new cluster “Renewable Energy Sources”.
However other companies have also positioned themselves in the region. The biogas company Cowatec AG in Burglengenfeld in Upper Palatinate has 30 biogas plants under construction and planning with 5 million € in start-up capital. Furthermore Cowatec currently is overseeing 300 biogas plants. Core competences of the company are in particular the microbiological and biotechnical processes for the maximisation of gas yield. In August Deutsche Bioenergie AG (DBE) will commence production of 66,000 tonnes of biodiesel annually in the Regensburg Harbour. In Straubing near Regensburg Campa AG is building a further biodiesel plant with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes. For this the company received the Bavarian Promotion Prize for Regrowable Raw Materials. A wood pellet plant with 140,000 tonnes of annual capacity is also in planning. In Straubing all Bavarian activities are linked to regrowable raw materials. So in 2008 the project Competence Centre for Regrowable Raw Materials will start here financed with 38 million € from the State of Bavaria.
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