FNR introduction

Renewable resources, which were of central importance with respect to the economy and agricultural policy before the Industrial Revolution, are once more gaining significance in our modern society due to their positive effects on agriculture, the environment and the economy.

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 friendly way.

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 and market innovative and environmentally friendly technologies and products.

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.

The Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. (FNR) was founded in 1993. As the central coordinating agency in Germany, we are responsible for ensuring a practice-, problem- and result-oriented pooling of support activities for renewable resources. This text is designed to provide some information on who we are and what we do and, in addition, to supply some useful references for various activities in the field of renewable resources.