We want to cooperate in projects on the integrated (and cascadic) use of biomass as energy and material resource. We have many experiences in interdisciplinary projects worldwide (Europe, Africa, Asia, South America).
We like to cooperate in consortia and projects with a high application potential.
Our specialty is to evaluate technologies and processes with an integrated economic and environmental assessment. We want to valorize side products and trade-offs of biomass use, in order to pave the way for a sustainable and econmically viable business case.
We work intensively on biogas (including bio-methane), but also on solid biomass resources, and have also developed a concept for integrated bioeconomy indicators.
The Institute of Energy Economics and Rational Energy Use (IER) is a regular Institute of the University of Stuttgart in the faculty of Energy-, process and biotechnical engineering with currently about 50 scientific staff members. IER works mainly in the area of systems analysis and technology impact assessments in energy and related energy-nexus projects and has a high share of externally funded projects activities, nationally in Germany and worldwide (Europe, Africa, Asia, South America).
Within IER the SEE department has long and intensive expertise in process-related technical, economic and ecological analysis and evaluation of biomass and integrated bioenergy and biomass material use technologies. This includes detailed analyses at biomass plant level, with so-called repowering measures as current focus. For this purpose, a MATLAB-based model "BGA Plant Design & Balance Model" was developed and is used on various applications where strategies for the continued operation of biomass energy plants within and beyond funding schemes are investigated. The analysis on the systems integration of biomass technologies is done by working with an integrated biomass market model (E2M2-bio). Furthermore, the environmental performance of biomass based products and processes are analysed using a life cycle assessment methodology, including consequential LCA for appreciating the substitution effects with competing technologies.