Document / search engine: Regional case studies for biomass and bioenergy production – Case Study Germany: Straubing – Region of Renewable Raw Materials
Framework project: Building a Green Energy and Logistics Belt
Short name of the project:
Website link: http://www.interreg-danube.eu/uploads/media/approved_project_public/0001/22/01b71870c30ed43e3b92a2b66f4cb2a5b2da7221.pdf
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Short description:
This case study covers the region of Straubing as model “Region of Renewable Raw Materials”,
using the two biofuel production sites of the companies Clariant (demoplant for lignocellulosic
bioethanol) and ADM (rapeseed crushing mill for biodiesel production) as exemplifying cases for
the production of bioenergy in the region.
The region of Straubing in Lower Bavaria, Germany, is a region shaped by the agricultural
“Gäuboden” area and the wood-resource “Bavarian Forest” and has a direct inland waterway
access via the Danube port in Straubing-Sand. The port is specialized in biomass handling and
freight. The entire region is branding itself as “Region of Renewable Raw Materials”. The main goal
of this branding is to complete the entire value chain of renewable raw materials and bioeconomy
in the region, including research and education institutes, industrial processing for energetic and
material use of biomass, a strong bioenergy share in private households, industry and public
entities as well as awareness and acceptance among the general public.
A broad set of public and private actors jointly works towards this goal. With the support of
significant and continuous political support from the Bavarian and regional level in the form of
political decisions and influx of funding sources, important actors such as the Competence Center
for Renewable Raw Materials or the Campus Straubing for Biotechnology and Sustainability of the
Technical University Munich were settled in Straubing. On regional level, the BioCampus
Straubing GmbH is in charge of transforming the research and education results to the regional
industry via means of regional business development, including site marketing for new biobased
companies and start-ups in the port area of Straubing. The main structural instrument for this
task is the regional branch cluster “Renewable Raw Materials”. The BioCampus Straubing GmbH
works towards establishing new value chains for the agricultural and forestry sectors by
facilitating projects for novel and sustainable energetic and chemical-material utilisation paths of
biomass feedstock. The integration of the port as a biomass logistics hub, the Danube as a potential
environmentally friendly transport axis and the macro-region Danube as a region for the energetic
and chemical-material use of biomass in the context of a bioeconomy for the Danube region
including added value and job creation in rural areas are decisive elements of this strategy.
Due to the site attributes in the region, mainly the logistics connections and the political stability
in support mainly on regional and Bavarian level, and the support activities present, the two
globally active biobased companies ADM and Clariant chose the port of Straubing as location for
their production, and demonstration processes, respectively. Both companies use biomass
feedstock for the production of transport biofuels, contributing to the bioenergy market on
different levels. Therefore, different levels of supply chain integration and utilisation of Danube
logistics can be observed.
Overall, for the region of Straubing, the most relevant success factors for functioning as a model
region in the field of biomass utilisation and bioeconomy are the broad and continuous political
support and funding on regional level, a strong actor base from both research and industrial
sphere, various sources of biomass feedstock supply including versatile logistics options enabling the integration of biomass supply and bioenergy carrier production as well as a stringent
development strategy. These are also factors that can be regarded as transferable to other cases.
Regarding its role as a site for first- and second-generation biofuel production, the biggest risk
factor is the volatile legislative situation on national and EU level in this sector. Lessons learnt
include that a complex network of actors needs to be managed coherently, clusters can support
the regional development of certain branches but need bottom-up commitment of actors, and
relevance of regional feedstock supply and availability of biomass logistics depend on the scale
and market of the respective processes.
Countries/regions described/represented: Germany
Year: 2018