Renewable resources

Renewable resources have been a central aspect of agricultural production since time immemorial. The demise of agro-economic produce outside food and fodder production began only about 150 years ago, with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Today, the demand for renewable resources, or non-food agricultural (and forestry) products is growing again, thanks to new technologies and, ultimatively, to the inventiveness of researchers around the globe.

Definition

Renewable resources are agricultural and forestry products which are being put to non-food uses. Applications range from different industrial purposes to the production of electricity, heat and other forms of energy.

Renewable Resources in Germany

In 2008, about 2.03 mio ha or nearly 17% of Germany's arable lands were used for growing renewable resources. Additional raw material for industry and energy comes from Germany's forests which cover some 11.8 mio ha or 1/3 of the country's total area.

While the area reserved for non-food crops is steadily growing, so is the number of applications for those crops. In various fields, renewable resources can already substitute fossil products and thus contribute to economic and environmental sustainability.

Environmental advantage

A significant advantage of renewable resources lies in their contribution to the conservation of finite fossil resources. It is also important to note that the use of renewable resources is largely CO2-neutral, i.e. CO2 emissions through combustion or bioconversion do not exceed the quantities which were absorbed during the growing process of the plant. There is no additional greenhouse effect, and life cycles are closed. Thus, agricultural or forestry raw materials (e.g. wood, plant oils, starch...) can substitute fossil resources like mineral oil and coal in an environmentally benign way.

Economic advantage

Renewable resources present an alternative to traditional food/fodder production and thus offer additional income sources.

Research and Development

Since the beginning of the 80s, different institutions have intensively promoted development in the field of renewable resources. Various initiatives originated with agriculture, industry and the public sector starting to engage themselves in this field. For the agricultural sector, the hope of decreasing dependancy on the food markets and creating additional income opportunities is an important driving factor. For the industry, renewable resources represent an opportunity to develop market innovative and environmentally friendly technologies and products. However, industry, e.g. the chemical industry, needs raw materials tailored specifically for their needs. To develop these, research is necessary. Plant breeding, biotechnology and genetic engineering all hold possibilities to optimise yields and achieve the desired quality of the product. Industry, on the other hand, needs to invent, develop or, in some cases, simply re-discover, methods of processing renewable resources - another ample field for current and future research.

As the field of renewable resources is, like any other new technology, still subject to uncertainties, public sector promotion of research helps to drive innovation, along with industry (and, to some extent, individual) commitment. Research and development efforts and prototype application are of particular importance here - and this is where we come in. Since 1993, we have been funding R&D projects ranging from crop science to chemical applications - and we are happy to see statistics document the growing production area for renewable resources as well as the rising demand from the industry.