Abstract
During the past few years, increasing energy prices and climate protection policies have boosted the use of renewable energy sources in Germany. In particular, the conversion of biomass from agricultural land into liquid or gaseous fuels is estimated to make up nearly 40 % of the country’s future renewable energies mix (BMU 2009 and BMVBS, Globale und regionale Verteilung von Biomassepotentialen. Status-que und Möglichkeiten der Präzisierung. BMVBS-Online Publikationen 27/2010, Ministerium für Verkehr (BRD), 2010). Different methodologies and modelling approaches can be used to estimate or calculate biomass potentials. In this chapter, we describe a method for estimating agricultural biomass potentials, namely the carbon-based crop modelling approach (Azam Ali et al. Perspectives in modelling resource capture by crops. In Resource capture by crops. Proceedings of the 52nd University of Nottingham Easter School (pp. 125–148). Nottingham: Nottingham University Press, 1994), and briefly compare it with other methods.
Scientists at the University of Göttingen and the LBEG (Lower Saxony state office of mining, energy and geology) in Hanover developed a carbon-based crop model (BioSTAR) with which to assess site-specific and larger area biomass potentials in Lower Saxony. Using measured agricultural harvest data from a farm in the Wolfenbuettel district (from 2005 to 2008), the first validations of the model have rendered satisfactory results. In respect of sugar beet, winter wheat and maize, the stability index of the modelled yields spans from R2 = 0.72 (s-beet) and R2 = 0.82 (w-wheat) to R2 = 0.88 (maize). In order to further expand agricultural biomass’s use in biogas facilities in the administration district of Göttingen, the Jühnde district’s biomass potential was calculated using the BioSTAR tool. Depending on the intensity and crop rotation, the Jühnde district’s (≈5–7.5 km radius) annual biomass potentials are between 12,935 and 46,306 t of total dry mass.
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Bauböck, R. (2013). Modelling Site-Specific Biomass Potentials. In: Ruppert, H., Kappas, M., Ibendorf, J. (eds) Sustainable Bioenergy Production - An Integrated Approach. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6642-6_5
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