Biogas
The bottle-neck for efficient recovery of biogas from cellulose-containing substrates such as energy crops (straw, grass, etc.) and organic by-products (spent grains in breweries) is the process of hydrolysis. Biotechnological processes (providing the addition of enzymes and micro-organisms) and thermal pre-treatment steps will be assessed and subse-quently demonstrated on a technical level. The utilization of renewable resources will continue to be a pillar in the production of biogas. New plants and concepts of plant-breeding will have to be developed in order to fulfil the demands of the changing environment (e.g. reduction of precipitation).
The importance of anaerobic digestion in the treatment of animal by-products (slaugh-terhouse wastes, catering wastes, etc.) is increasing. Through the application of nitro-gen-recovery technologies, the yield of biogas and process stability may be guaranteed. The ammonia-recovery process developed here may also be used to minimise Ammonia concentrations in the digestives of energy crops.
In order to achieve new possibilities for biogas utilization, the purification technologies for biogas must increase its efficiency and applicability. New separation techniques as well as the marketability of Membrane technologies must be developed and improved. .
The area of Biogas considers the entire spectrum encompassing Biogas-technology:
- Plant breeding of water-stress tolerant plants
- Pre-treatment for better degradation of cellulose-containing substrates
- Removal of Nitrogen as a basis for the anaerobic digestion of slaughterhouse wastes
- Simulation of the microbiological process
- Development and advancement of new cleaning and separation technologies for biogas
- Assessment of the environmental effects due to the utilization of biogas in house-hold applications.