The Sustainability of Decentralized Examensarbete i Hållbar Utveckling 119 Bioenergy Production - Case Study: The ‘Bioenergy Village’ Bollewick The Sustainability of Decentralized Bioenergy Production Johannes Michel - Case Study: The ‘Bioenergy Village’ Bollewick Johannes Michel Uppsala University, Department of Earth Sciences Master Thesis E, in Sustainable Development, 30 credits Printed at Department of Earth Sciences, Master’s Thesis Geotryckeriet, Uppsala University, Uppsala, 2013. E, 30 credits Examensarbete i Hållbar Utveckling 119 The Sustainability of Decentralized Bioenergy Production - Case Study: The ‘Bioenergy Village’ Bollewick Johannes Michel Supervisor: Per-Anders Hansson (SLU) Evaluator: Hans Liljenström (SLU) Content 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Sustainable Development: Definitions .......................................................................................... 1 2.1. Capital Theory Approach to Sustainable Development ............................................................ 3 2.1.1. Natural Capital ................................................................................................................. 3 2.1.2. Human Capital .................................................................................................................. 5 2.1.3. Manufactured Capital ....................................................................................................... 5 2.2. Strong and Weak Sustainability ................................................................................................ 5 2.2.1. Strong Sustainability ........................................................................................................ 5 2.2.2. Weak Sustainability .......................................................................................................... 6 2.3. Concluding remarks concerning the definition of Sustainable Development ........................... 6 2.4. Sustainable Development: Issues .............................................................................................. 7 3. Bioenergy and Sustainable Development .................................................................................... 10 4. Methodology .................................................................................................................................. 12 5. Case Study – The ‘Bioenergy Village Bollewick ........................................................................ 14 6. Biogas Plants – Overview ............................................................................................................. 17 7. Germany’s Renewable Energy Sources Act – Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz (EEG) ............. 20 8. The Sustainability of Decentralized Bioenergy Production ...................................................... 23 8.1. Social Sustainability of Bollewick’s Biogas Production ......................................................... 24 8.1.1. Public Participation ........................................................................................................ 24 8.2. Socio-Economic Considerations ............................................................................................. 25 8.2.1. Employment ................................................................................................................... 25 8.2.2. Competition between food production and Energy Crop Cultivation ............................ 26 8.3. Conclusion Social Sustainability............................................................................................. 27 8.4. Economic Sustainability of Bollewick’s Biogas Production................................................... 27 8.4.1. Economic Efficiency ...................................................................................................... 28 8.4.2. Methane Yields .............................................................................................................. 28 8.4.3. Investment and Operating Costs ..................................................................................... 28 8.4.4. Technological Efficiency ............................................................................................... 29 8.5. Conclusion Economic Sustainability ...................................................................................... 30 8.6. Environmental Sustainability of Bollewick’s Biogas Production ........................................... 31 8.6.1. Greenhouse Gas Emissions ............................................................................................ 31 8.6.2. Biodiversity Loss and Monocultures .............................................................................. 33 8.6.3. Crop Rotations ................................................................................................................ 33 8.6.4. Water Usage of Energy Maize ....................................................................................... 34 8.7. Conclusion Environmental Sustainability ............................................................................... 34 9. Concluding Discussion .................................................................................................................. 36 10. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 38 11. Literature...................................................................................................................................... 40 12. Appendix ....................................................................................................................................... 44 12.1. Interview Bertold Meyer Mayor Bollewick ........................................................................... 44 12.2. Interview with the farmer Henk van der Hamm – ................................................................. 52 12.3. Interview Gerd Hampel und Gundolf Schneider ................................................................... 55 12.4. Bernd Garbers: Energieakademiet Samsö.............................................................................. 70 12.5. Interview Anne Athiainen ...................................................................................................... 72 Figure 1: The Objectives of Sustainable Development (Elliott, 2009) ..................................................... 5 Figure 2: Sustainable Development - The dominant graphic model (Mebratu, 1998) ............................. 6 Figure 3: The mainstream perception of the link between poverty and environmental degradation (Lélé, 1991) ............................................................................................................................................. 11 Figure 4: The critical objectives of sustainable development (Elliott, 2003) ........................................... 9 Figure 5: Typology of bioenergy feedstock, products and end users (SchubertBlasch, 2010) ............... 14 Figure 6: The village Bollewick ............................................................................................................. 14 Figure 7: Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania ........................................................................................... 14 Figure 8: Influences on biogas production from maize along the production process (Amon 2007a) .. 18 Figure 9: Schematic overview of the biogas pathway (Hennig/Gawor, 2012) ....................................... 18 Figure 10: Scheme of an agricultural CHP biogas plant (Pfeifer, Obernberger, 2007) .......................... 19 Figure 11: Schematic of a two-stage anaerobic digestion system (Poeschl 2007a) ................................ 20 Figure 12: Energy supply from renewables 2010 (FNR, 2012) .............................................................. 22 Figure 14: Sustainability domains, issues and processes (Mangoyana/Smith 2011) .............................. 37 Table 1: Characteristics of Natural Capital (Ekins et al., 2003) ............................................................... 4 Table 2: List of interviewees .................................................................................................................. 13 Table 3: Contribution of renewable energy sources to electricity generation (Büsgen/Dürreschmidt) .. 20 Table 4: Basic compensation Granted by the EEG (BMLEV, 2012) ..................................................... 21 Table 5: GHG avoidance from bioenergy 2010 (FNR, 2012) ................................................................ 26 Table 6: Investment costs of a 500kW biogas plant (Walla/Schneeberger, 2008) ................................ 29 The Sustainability of decentralized Bioenergy Production JOHANNES MICHEL Michel, J., 2012: The Sustainability of Decentralized Bioenergy Production. Master thesis in Sustainable Development at Uppsala University, No. 119, 74 pp, 30 ECTS/hp Abstract: The concept of Sustainable Development is an interdisciplinary science. Transcending various academic fields the concept shows paths how the needs of present and future generations can be met through economic development on a finite natural resource base. Global warming and rising sea levels are just two of a series of phenomena that are directly attributable to human-induced increasing greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere as consequence of the