Biomass based energy plays an increasingly important role among renewable energies. It can be industrially processed or used for energy generation e.g. heat, electricity or further energy forms. Thus there is a considerable competition between material and energetic biomass use.
From the limited availability of biomass resources and the increasing demand derives the call for the most efficient use possible. In this context, the idea of biomass cascading gains of attention as a possible solutions. The concept can be understood as a in series-connection of (multiple) material and energetic utilisation of the same feedstock, thus creating combinations between the material and energy sector.
The concept of biomass cascading is therefore an approach to increase the resource efficiency and to optimise the utilisation of acreage and forest.
The starting points for biomass cascading are manifold. However, still there is only insufficient analysis whether and how far these concepts persist, what the whole potential is, and which implementation requirements have to be complied with.
Within this discussion paper, at first a definition of the concept has been developed, as the use of the term is manifold and partly heterogeneous. The following description of biomass cascading examples integrate agricultural as well as forestry products in order to demonstrate the broad applicability of the concept. Furthermore, specifications of a sustainable biomass cascading are derived, and conclusions are drawn as to how these cascades can contribute to a high-value and successful utilisation of the corresponding potentials for agriculture and forestry.
Karin Arnold, Justus von Geibler, Katrin Bienge, Caroline Stachura, Sylvia Borbonus, Kora Kristof:
Kaskadennutzung von nachwachsenden Rohstoffen
Ein Konzept zur Verbesserung der Rohstoffeffizienz und Optimierung der Landnutzung
Wuppertal Paper no. 180 (August 2009)