International cooperation in the field of bioenergy – DBFZ launches Sino-German Cooperation Center in Leipzig, Beijing and Hefei

On the 13th of September 2017 the DBFZ inaugurated the German-Chinese Center for Biomass research with the unveiling of the center’s plate. The inauguration ceremony and the inauguration science work shop took place in presence of representatives from the DBFZ, from the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) and from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Engineering (CAAE). The new center will strengthen the existing research contacts and initiate new joint projects in the field of bioenergy and waste management.

DBFZ as well as the University of Rostock have cultivated intensive contacts to China since 2009, in particular to scientific partners of the China University of Petroleum Beijing (CUPB), the China Agricultural University (CAU), the Hefei University, the Tongji University Shanghai and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Engineering (CAAE) among others. The new launched cooperation centers in Leipzig, Beijing and Hefei will foster the cooperation, e.g. by consolidating the joint activities and by initiating joint research projects. The Scientific Managing Director of DBFZ, Prof. Dr. mont. Michael Nelles, emphasized: "We have found a distinguished partner with CAAE which is – similar to DBFZ – related to the Ministry of Agriculture and which has focussed its research on the different utilization paths of agricultural residues, too. Besides the scientific topics, the new cooperation center will also contribute to a better interconnectedness and networking of stakeholders from both countries."

A first project "Energetic use of agricultural residues in Germany and China" which integrates the partner organisations of both countries was only recently approved by the Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. (Agency for Renewable Resources, FNR). It is envisaged to propose suggestions for improvements for the energetic use of faeces like dung or manure in combination with effective solutions for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from those residues. Joint workshops on the State-of-the-Art and on knowledge transfer are an essential part of this project. In addition, best case solutions in both countries will be shown to stakeholders in expert guided field tours.

Previously to the inauguration ceremony at DBFZ, there had been two similar launches in China. The Sino-German Center for Biomass Research (C-DBFZ) was inaugurated on the 18th of August 2017 at CAAE in Beijing. The main objective of this center is it to find solutions for the various challenges of the Chinese agriculture and to investigate its relations to climate protection and nature conservation. Both, the Director of CAAE, Prof. Dr. Bin Sui, and Prof. Dr. Nelles (DBFZ), expressed the desire that the new center may initiate joint research projects and find viable solutions for the many-sided challenges regarding the utilization of agricultural residues. CAAE has 600 employees and is subordinated to the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture.

The Sino-German cooperation centers will not only work on the national level but also on the provincial level. On the 11th of August 2017, the "Sino-German Regional Center for Biomass Research" (C-DBFZ Anhui) was inaugurated at Hefei University. Prof. Dr. Jingmin Cai (President of the Senate at Hefei University) together with Prof. Dr. Nelles (DBFZ), Minsheng Wang (Vice Mayor of Hefei), Daming Zhang (Vice Director of SAFEA in the Province of Anhui) and Zhongyong Yu (Director of the Administration Office for the Lake Chao, Anhui) unveiled the plate for the new regional center. This center will also focus on the material and energetic use of agricultural residues but will limit its activities to the province of Anhui (65 million inhabitants). The inauguration of the new center is another milestone in the long lasting history of the joint cooperation between Hefei University and various German institutions.

 


Smart Bioenergy – innovations for a sustainable future

The DBFZ works as a central and independent thinker in the field of energy and material use of biomass on the question of how the limited available biomass resources can contribute to the existing and future energy system with sustainability and high efficiency. As part of the research the DBFZ identifies, develops, accompanies, evaluates and demonstrates the most promising fields of application for bioenergy and the especially positively outstanding examples together with partners from research, industry and public. With the scientific work of the DBFZ, the knowledge of the possibilities and limitations of energy and integrated material use of renewable raw materials in a biobased economy as a whole should be expanded and the outstanding position of the industrial location Germany in this sector permanently secured – www.dbfz.de/en.