Newsletter no7
Final Information about the GR3-project Content
The final open conference of the GR3 project was sucessfully held on 17th of March 2016 in Ghent (Belgium) Around 70 stakeholders from 10 different countries were informed about the results of the project at a final open conference in Gent. It was a joint event with the FP7-INEMAD project. Where GR3 is mainly looking at the supply chain to support the use of grass clippings for biogas production, INEMAD is looking at agricultural inputs to produce biogas and biobased fertilizers. The day opened with a presentation of the President of the European Biogas Association and a short introduction to the possibilities of grass digestion. After that also the environmental and social impact were evaluated and an insight in the (complex!) legal framework on the matter was given. In the afternoon sessions people could work and discuss in smaller groups on the actual output of the project: the results of the inventarisation, the tools that were developed, the technology report and the developed Business Plans. The day ended with an interactive panel discussion on subjects that concerned both projects. All the presentations of the day are now available on the project's website:www.grassgreenresource.eu Final regional GR3-conferences in 4 countries successfully held At the end of the project four final regional conferences were organized in the countries Germany, Italy, Denmark and Portugal to present the (regional) project results to regional stakeholders. Here are the summaries of these events. Germany: The final regional conference in Germany was organised by IBBK Fachgruppe Biogas GmbH and took place on February 23rd, 2016. The first part of this one day event was held in a restaurant in Battenberg/Eder. Reknowned speakers gave an overview the project's results as well as perspectives and potential supply chains for grass digestion. The second part in the afternoon took place on Viessmann's AD dry fermentation plant in Allendorf/Eder. It's speciality is the treatment of an extremely high share of herbacious biomass. During the visit the group gained insight in the challenges of operating such a plant successfully. Due to the current difficult status of AD in Germany and the uncertain future prospects, the event's organiser was happy to welcome a small, but dedicated, group of 16 stakeholders. They represented five out of six different target groups, coming from "owners of composting and biogas plants" (30%), "supplier of landscape grass" (10%), " constructors of machinery" (10%), "policy and decision makers" (10%) and the biggest group "others" (40%). Italy: The GR3 Italy final Conference titled OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE EXPLOITATION OF RESIDUAL HERBS IN BIOGAS PRODUCTION was held on Feb. 5th within Fieragricola 2016 (Verona - Italy), the most important Italian Agricultural Fair reaching the 112th edition. Practical tips and suggestions which emerged from the project - funded by the Intelligent Energy for Europe programme - has been presented, among others, by Mr. Koettner, CEO of IBBK Fachgruppe Biogas GmbH and one of the most known expert in biogas plant management. More than 60 people followed the event targeting not only operators of biogas plants but also grass providers such as cooperatives dealing with park maintenance or water management authorities etc. In fact the conference addressed not only the issues concerning the appropriate management techniques for anaerobic digestion plants where the grass can replace most noble and expensive matrices such as maize or sorghum; but it also presented the opportunities for "suppliers" of grass, such as the features required by biogas plants operators, the costs for grass cleaning treatment and other aspects related to logistics. Denmark:
Portugal: The final regional conference in Portugal took place on March 14th, 2016. This one day event entitled “Opportunities for energetic valorization of green grass waste” was held at LNEG auditorium (National Laboratory for Energy and Geology), with the objective to bring together the main actors and stakeholders with influence on grass valorization and biogas production. The morning session presented an overview of the results achieved within GR3 project together with four selected case-studies of grass use in AD. Authorities from the energy and environmental sector were invited to explain their position, in-line with the project recommendations. In the afternoon a study visit to the AD plant of TRATOLIXO inter-municipal waste operator, was offered to all the participants. The event had 109 registered participants (97 attending), coming from commercial or public companies (37 %), R&D institutions (37%), and public organisms, including policy makers (24%), a clear indication of the interest raised by the GR3 project". All the presentations of these four final regional conferences are either available already on the project website www.grassgreenresource.eu or will be embedded there in the next days!
Introduction - Explanation of the model: Current plant and feedstock characteristics: Economic output: Technical output: Interpretation and conclusion: To find the tool, please follow this link: www.grassgreenresource.eu/grass-prediction-tool The latest manuals „Good practice guide for grass valorisation“ are available now! Recommendations for local authorities: Recommendations for biogas plant owners and operators: Recommendations for terrain managers: All the these manuals are (together with the Final Publishable Report and further informative documents) available on this link: www.grassgreenresource.eu/downloads
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