Energy storage : the route to liberation from the fossil fuel economy?

If a low-carbon energy strategy is to be developed up to 2050, renewable energy sources will need to be deployed on a large scale against a scenario of increasing global energy demand. Renewables will vary from large-scale regional wind and marine clusters to more localised 'micro' generation. If a low-carbon strategy is to be successful, automotive transport will also need to be linked to the renewable infrastructure. Both of these need the development of efficient and viable energy storage

First- and second-generation valorisation of wastes and residues occurring in the food supply chain

Despite the high potential to increase sustainability of food systems, wastes and by-products occurring in the food supply chain are currently only partially valorised at different value-added levels. First-generation valorisation strategies that aim at utilisation of complete material streams for production of animal feed, energy, compost and/or specific consumer applications are already widely implemented and experience further dissemination and/or development (e.g. biohydrogen/biohythane production) – either in the form of single processes or as part of cascade utilisations. Second-generation valorisation strategies comprise various forms of fractionised utilisation of material streams. They rely on integration of adapted recovery and conversion procedures for specific components in order to obtain sequentially different classes of products, e.g. fine chemicals, commodity products and biofuels. Such advanced strategies are particularly suitable for wastes and by-products occurring during industrial food processing. Valorisation of food by-products for functional food is an emerging trend

Innovations in the Agricultural Sector

The aim of this paper is to show the impact and significance of innovation in agriculture. Its economic development takes place when innovation solutions based on knowledge and modern technologies are implemented and intensified. Innovations in agriculture encompass a number of operational fields: resource management, soil protection, cultivation processes, biodiversity protection, ecological cultivation and production of bioenergy. The demand for agricultural innovations in different localities may vary, therefore there is a need to bring together the local requirements through utilisation of a multitude of possibilities in a variety of ways, adjustment adaption capability and conditions of a particular rural environment. There is also a need to emphasise the strong integration of innovations in agriculture with other sectors of the economy, which is translated into the acquisition of new solutions and the introduction of innovations that encourage adjustment and the capability to cooperate as well as the application of modern technologies in the economy. Innovative activities that solve problems become the main stimulant to a dynamic economy in agriculture, allowing the most beneficial implementation of its potential. This article has been divided into three parts, in the first, the author conducts a theoretical deliberation on the agricultural sector. The second part presents the conditions for innovation processes in this sector and the third, ‘Innovative tendencies in the development of agriculture’, includes the areas of innovative change in agriculture.Preparation and printing funded by the National Agency for Research and Development under project “Kreator Innowacyjności – wparcie dla Przedsiębiorczości akademickiej

Improved resource efficiency and cascading utilisation of renewable materials

In light of various environmental problems and challenges concerning resource allocation, the utilisation of renewable resources is increasingly important for the efficient use of raw materials. Therefore, cascading utilisation (i.e., the multiple material utilisations of renewable resources prior to their conversion into energy) and approaches that aim to further increase resource efficiency (e.g., the utilisation of by-products) can be considered guiding principles. This paper therefore introduces the Special Volume “Improved Resource Efficiency and Cascading Utilisation of Renewable Materials”. Because both research aspects, resource efficiency and cascading utilisation, belong to several disciplines, the Special Volume adopts an interdisciplinary perspective and presents 16 articles, which can be divided into four subjects: Innovative Materials based on Renewable Resources and their Impact on Sustainability and Resource Efficiency, Quantitative Models for the Integrated Optimisation of Production and Distribution in Networks for Renewable Resources, Information Technology-based Collaboration in Value Generating Networks for Renewable Resources, and Consumer Behaviour towards Eco-friendly Products. The interdisciplinary perspective allows a comprehensive overview of current research on resource efficiency, which is supplemented with 15 book reviews showing the extent to which textbooks of selected disciplines already refer to resource efficiency. This introductory article highlights the relevance of the four subjects, presents summaries of all papers, and discusses future research directions. The overall contribution of the Special Volume is that it bridges the resource efficiency research of selected disciplines and that it presents several approaches for more environmentally sound production and consumption

The scale of transition: an integrated study of the performance of CHP biomass plants in the Netherlands

Combined heat and power (CHP) plants using biomass are considered important to substantially increase the share of renewables in the total energy supply and meet ambitious climate targets. The analysis focuses on the links between the size of bio-fuelled CHP plants and their techno-economic and environmental performance, as well as social acceptance. In an exploratory way, this paper compares the performance of six bioenergy plants in the Netherlands in these three key areas, thereby focusing on the link between the size of biomass plants and overall performance in an integrated multi-dimensional manner. The findings show that economic and environmental performance does not necessarily improve with scale and, in effect, several large-scale biomass plants score low in several environmental indicators. In addition, we find that there is often limited data availability on economic, environmental and social characteristics of biomass plants in the Netherlands, despite the fact that their operations are largely supported by public funds

The potential for ethanol production from sugarcane in Australia

The Australian sugar industry processes approximately 35 million tonnes of sugarcane per year from 400 000 hectares of land. Sugar remains the principal revenue stream from sugarcane in Australia with less than 60 ML/y of fuel ethanol produced from final molasses at present. Modelling has been undertaken to estimate the potential ethanol production from the Australian sugar industry for integrated facilities producing both sugar and ethanol from the entire sugarcane resource. Although research aimed at developing commercial processes is ongoing, the use of a proportion of the bagasse and trash for ethanol production, in addition to juice and molasses fermentation, would allow significant increases in the scale of ethanol production from sugarcane in Australia, increasing total industry revenues while maintaining energy self sufficiency

Country Report The Netherlands 2010 : IEA Bioenergy Task 42

Rapport van het International Energy Agency (IEA) over de productie van bio-energie, het gebruik van biomassa en de toepassing van bioraffinage in Nederland