The production of biogas from biomass is gaining increasing importance world wide. Recent studies of the Instituts für Energetik und Umwelt Leipzig predict that a significant part of the methane demand in Europe can be satisfied with biogas (http://www.energetik-leipzig.de/Biogas/Biogas.htm). The knowledge of the biological processes which take place in a biogas production facility is limited today, therefore research in this field is needed and important to improve the biomethane production process.
In this context, the AG Algae Biotechnology Group of the University of Bielefeld initiated an intense collaboration with the company Biogas Nord AG (http://www.biogas-nord.de/docs/home.html) and the Stadtwerke Bielefeld (http://www.stadtwerke-bielefeld.de) in December 2006. This collaboration has led to the foundation of the consortium Bioenergy OWL which is focused on investigating all aspects of the biogas production process, biological processes as well as technical parameters. Research is carried out in model fermenters and commercial biogas plants. Investigations will be expanded to a newly constructed, 500 kW plant equipped with state of the art analytical tools in the future. Utilisation of microalgae as alternative biomass for biomethane production and possible synergetic effects of biohydrogen and biogas generation are also aspects of current research.
Biomethane production facility
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