Collaborative Project BOnaMoor

The goal of the collaborative project BOnaMoor - optimisation of biomass production on wet peatland sites and its thermal exploitation - was to optimise the provision, processing and thermal exploitation of biomass from wet peatland sites.

The agricultural use of drained peatland is responsible for 5.7% of greenhouse gas emissions in Germany. Despite accounting for only 7% of the total area, these emissions correspond to more than a third of total agricultural emissions. The rewetting of drained sites and their utilisation with adapted plant species and technology offers agriculture the opportunity to meet climate protection targets.

The use of the produced biomass as a fuel is a promising exploitation option due to the high proportion of heat in the total energy requirement, a calorific value comparable to wood and the high productivity of wet peatlands.

The Chair of General Economics: Landscape Economics determined and analysed the economic heat supply costs and environmental effects of the various fuel supply chains investigated in the project.

The Chair identified potential optimisations for the change of use from drainage-based to wet management methods and analysed opportunity costs. Furthermore, it performed an economic analysis of the bioenergy system, i.e. an evaluation taking into account external costs and benefits.

The collaborative project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) via the Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. with around € 483,000.

The economic sub-project was led by Prof. Dr. Volker Beckmann. Project duration: 01 Novemeber 2018 - 31 October 2021.