Environment & climate
Managing forests in such a way that productivity is optimised at the same time as allowing people to enjoy their natural beauty is no simple feat of planning. However, a new project named RegioPower hopes to do just that by providing an IT-based platform that facilitates communication between suppliers and users of forest resources
A regional IT-based platform for managing lignocellulosic resources
The term lignocellulosic biomass refers to plant biomass composed of cellulose, hemicellulose
and
lignin, and it is
increasingly being recognised as a valuable alternative to petroleum for the production of biofuels and chemicals. It remains the only renewable source of carbon available on the planet, and can consist of anything from agricultural business (such as short rotation coppices or hedge care) to various forestry products. Interest in lignocellulosic resources has
skyrocketed in many countries since the introduction of policies such as the German Renewable Energy Act. Demand has experienced a considerable boost, which has in turn led to some problems with regards to the provision and supply of these materials. Cross-sectorial coordination and communication on the regional
scale is
often lacking, and communication between the producers of lignocellulosic resources and the people demanding them is also patchy at best. “This was the starting point for us,” says project coordinator Susanne Frank. “Our
80
goal was to develop a platform to connect the different levels of stakeholders in lignocellulosic resources – the providers, the demanders, the industry and the regional planners. From this idea we ended up starting a project with six partners from four different countries.” The project, named RegioPower, aims to develop an innovative new piece of software that will help to moderate between industry demands, land-based production and public needs (e.g. ecosystem services) related to lignocellulosic resources.
The platform The work on the platform (which will provide the framework for all other work involved) is being conducted by two German partners, one of which is the Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden). Work here has focused on a beta power platform that will become a webpage for providing tools to support communication between the forestry and agricultural sectors. “My colleague Christine Fürst from the University of Bonn
and I are dealing with a biomass module of the decision support software GISCAME, a tool for simulating the development of land-use change and the expected outcomes in terms of lignocellulosic resources and other ecosystem services,
retention, recreation and biodiversity.” To ensure professionalism and sustain the
solutions, an SME partner, PiSolution is translating the science solution into ready technology. Also involved are some smaller solutions from another German partner, High Competence Network, Wismar, on bundling market demands.
Modelling and Evaluation Swedish partners from Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
(SLU) have been
modelling growth and yield of forests, as well as developing planning models such as LandSim and HEUREKA. “They are providing yield tables that will be integrated with our landscape simulation tool,” explains Frank. “Then we have a partner in Slovenia, the Slovenian Forestry Institute (SFI), who
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