Keywords
biogas system, land use, integrated modelling
Start Date
1-7-2010 12:00 AM
Abstract
Germany is one of the biggest producers of biogas in Europe. Biogas can either be combusted in highly efficient combined heat and power units to produce electricity and heat, or upgraded to biomethane for injection into the natural gas grid. As political conditions encourage the installation of new biogas plants, their number and capacity is expected to grow significantly in the next few years. In Germany, energy crops play an important role for biogas production. Due to their relatively low energy content transport distances from the field to the plants are a crucial issue for the efficiency of the biogas system. In order to simulate the interaction of the different processes involved in the biogas system, an integrated model has been developed at the University of Kassel. This article describes the development and testing of one of its central components: a land-use model to simulate the cultivation of crops and grassland management for biogas production under a set of different spatial constraints. First simulation experiments indicate that the model calculates plausible area demands for energy crops used for biogas production.
Development of a land-use component for an integrated model of the German biogas system
Germany is one of the biggest producers of biogas in Europe. Biogas can either be combusted in highly efficient combined heat and power units to produce electricity and heat, or upgraded to biomethane for injection into the natural gas grid. As political conditions encourage the installation of new biogas plants, their number and capacity is expected to grow significantly in the next few years. In Germany, energy crops play an important role for biogas production. Due to their relatively low energy content transport distances from the field to the plants are a crucial issue for the efficiency of the biogas system. In order to simulate the interaction of the different processes involved in the biogas system, an integrated model has been developed at the University of Kassel. This article describes the development and testing of one of its central components: a land-use model to simulate the cultivation of crops and grassland management for biogas production under a set of different spatial constraints. First simulation experiments indicate that the model calculates plausible area demands for energy crops used for biogas production.
