The “OUI Biomasse” INTERREG project coordinated by KIT is aimed at promoting the sustainable use of biomass as a source of energy and raw material. A trinational scientific network studies the complete biomass chain of added values of biomass, various development options, and potential effects. In cooperation with TRION, the energy network of the trinational upper Rhine metropolitan region, OUI Biomasse will organize the conference “Sustainable Biomass Utilization in the Upper Rhine Region” on November 29 at Strasbourg (Palais des Congrès, Place de Bordeaux). The conference will be open to the public.
Biomass represents a renewable resource that can be used as an energy carrier as well as a raw material for a number of chemical products. As fossil resources are limited, the need for biomass is expected to increase significantly in the future. Biomass utilization, however, gives rise to questions regarding its sustainability. In particular, the use of cultivation areas and potential competition with food and feedstuff production have to be considered. To sustainably use biomass, a comprehensive approach is required, which covers the complete chain of added values of biomass, various alternative uses, potential impacts, legal and economic framework conditions, and the specific ecological and social situation in the respective region. Under the INTERREG project “Innovations for Sustainable Biomass Utilization in the Upper Rhine Region”, briefly called “OUI Biomasse”, a trinational network of researchers studies all these aspects. Results and recommendations made on their basis shall be incorporated in a “roadmap for sustainable biomass utilization in the upper Rhine region”. The project does not only integrate local actors, it also pools local scientific expertise. It is the objective to establish a trinational interdisciplinary network of scientists in the upper Rhine region as a regional working group, i.e. the “Upper Rhine Environmental Research Institute” (URERI).
The OUI Biomasse project is managed by Professor Wolf Fichtner and Professor Frank Schultmann from KIT’s German-French Institute for Environmental Research (DFIU). Partners from Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Alsace, and Northwest Switzerland are involved in the project of three years’ duration until mid-2015. As one of seven lighthouse projects of the science initiative, the project is funded among others by the “INTERREG IV Oberrhein” program to promote border-crossing cooperation in the upper Rhine region. The trinational conference “Sustainable Biomass Utilization on the Upper Rhine” will be a platform for the exchange of information between science and industry. It will present border-crossing projects and cover economic, ecological, and social aspects of sustainable biomass utilization. One of the associated partners is eucor – the Upper Rhine University.
OUI Biomasse and TRION will organize the conference within the framework of “Dialog Science – Trilateral Days of Science 2013”. The conference program will cover the analysis of biomass potentials, practical examples, and sustainability aspects of biomass utilization. It will address both scientists and actors in industry, politics, and administration as well as the interested public. A German-French simultaneous translation will be provided. Participation in the conference is cost-free.
For the complete conference program and further information, click:
www.oui-biomasse.info/kommunikation/veranstaltungen/erste-trinationale-konferenz-nachhaltige-biomassenutzung-am-oberrhein/
Register at http://www.trion-climate.net
Information on the “OUI Biomasse“ project:
http://www.oui-biomasse.info
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