At present the energy production from biomass is often economically inefficient. The conventional production of biomass for biogas plants is often eco-inefficient, e.g. due to the dominance of maize and the increased risk of soil erosion and nutrient losses, as well as through the low use of thermal energy during generation of electricity in the combined heat and power plant. Furthermore, the competition with food-production on fertile land and the resulting increase of prices for land and agricultural products causes ethical and socio-economic problems. Thus, the eco-friendly improvement of bioenergy production processes as well as the opening-up of abandoned natural and agricultural areas for the energy production is necessary.

With the concrete implementation of a model example in nine countries in parallel, the project Danubenergy will clarify, which technical possibilities and methodological approaches are applicable to improve the production, the efficiency, the supply and the transnational cooperation in the field of production of renewable energy in Central Europe. DANUBENERGY strives for:

• Production of a storable solid fuel with a highly energy-efficient process

• Utilisation of extensively produced biomass from riparian grassland and landscape management areas, which can neither be used in animal feeding nor in conventional energy conversion technologies

DANUBENERGY will tackle the problem of inefficient bio-energy production at three levels:

1. It will contribute to an optimisation of PRODUCTION processes by introducing a new technology (IFBB: Integrated generation of Solid Fuel and Biogas from Biomass), either as standalone or add-on technology.

2. It will improve the INPUT side by introducing formerly unused parent materials from abandoned areas and roadsides.

3. It will improve the OUTPUT situation by optimising the regionally produced bio-fuels and offer possibilities to market and supply them through a transnational collaborative network.