Biomass based energy plays an increasingly important role among renewable energies. Biomass can be industrially processed or used for energy generation e.g. heat, electricity or further energy forms. Thus there is a foreseeable considerable competition between material and energetic biomass use.
Cascading can provide one alternative to mitigate these competition conflicts by aiming at a combined material and energetic use of biogenic resources and thus using synergies in terms of sustainable development. The concept of cascading describes the strategy of utilising products or their components in a preferably comprehensive way within the economic system by a sequence of multiple material and - at the end of their life cycle - energetic uses.
The study aims at identifying possible setups of biomass cascading, containing preferably several material recycling steps and a final energetic conversion. The cascading options will be evaluated in comparison to the conventional single uses. There are many starting points for biomass cascading. However, there is only insufficient analysis whether and how far these concepts persist, what the whole potential is, and which implementation requirements have to be complied with. This applies to the evaluation of eco-efficiency criteria, too.
The following central question will be answered within the study: What biogenic resources and residues are appropriate to cascading in an economically and ecological reasonable manner?
The study results will help to develop strategies on optimised combination of re-use, material recycling, resource recycling, and energetic use of biomass in order to increase the overall efficiency.