Bioeconomy is a very important topic for many INTERREG-Projects. The INTERREG-Project Grüne Kaskade is also concerned with bioeconomy and biogas. The project sees chances for the further development of bioeconomy in the German-Dutch border region and is particularly addressed to biogas value chains in the border area.
The project Grüne Kaskade sets as objective the development of new innovative technologies, production techniques and procedures which are relevant for the biogas value chains.
Netherlands´ and Germany´s situation
In the Netherlands the biogas market has grown since the last years only in a very limited periphery. It seems often impossible to create business cases of new gasification plants for the firm. In Germany there are most of all relatively old installations, which are not yet equipped for modern technologies. It looks like that still few developments take consequently place on both cross-border sides within the biogas value chains. Collaboration is therefore more than important. Both countries could integrate well with one another. The border region disposes of many industries, which could benefit from the use of biomasses for all materials like raw materials, e.g. in the agricultural, forestry and energy sectors.
German-Dutch collaboration
The project has therefore a joint consortium of partners – a coalition between Dutch and German enterprises, supported by knowledge institutions of the border region – which wishes to work on this subject through concrete cooperative ways. This fusion should thus contribute to have the chance for a further expansion of bioeconomy in the German-Dutch border area, to improve the use of all input and output streams which are part of the biogas value added chain. The project will work on 13 work packages and on a supporting work package to improve the added value chain with a specific focus on a valuable economic use of the input and output streams, which create part of the biogas value added chain.
A concrete example is „Tanken auf dem Hof“ („fuel at the farm“), with which the possibility of a green-gas-tank as pilot project will be arranged directly at the farm. The aim of the project is to demonstrate that biogas can be deployed locally as fuel in the farm work. The added value is that it can be transported in a sustainable way. Biogas allows for this reason a significant improvement of the added value.
Financing
Within the INTERREG V A Deutschland-Nederland Programme, Grüne Kaskade is being supported by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The project is co-funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the North Rhein-Westphalia Ministry of Economics, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy, the Lower Saxony State Chancellery as well as the Provinces of Drenthe, Fryslân, Groningen and Overijssel.
