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Name / Title

BioEnergyNet (BEN), BioEnergyNet3 (BEN3)

Case Study Region

Dresden region (Direktionsbezirk Dresden), Upper Lusatia and Lower Silesia (Oberlausitz-Niederschlesien)

Geographical coverage

The transborder action space covers the districts Bautzen and Görlitz in Germany and the districts Liberec (Liberecky kraj) and north-eastern parts of the district Ústí (Ustecky kraj) in the Czech Republic.

Type

Advice service; project; partnership

 

Main activity / focus

 

BEN: Establishment of a transborder network supporting activities in the field of energy production and energy supply from renewable resources in the border triangle.

BEN3: Increasing the capacity of the ‘centres for biomass and renewable energies’ located in the cities Liberec and Zittau (established already in the BEN project), raising regional awareness of these institutions, initiating regional cycles of biomass, and promoting sustainable economic activities. A data base – Energieatlas Lausitz (energy atlas Lusatia) – will be developed. This data base is to be brought to the market as best practice in Lusatia and North Bohemia and also beyond these regions.

Target beneficiaries / market

 

Regional economy (especially small and medium-sized enterprises), regional public authorities, municipalities, citizens, research institutions

 

Year established

 

The network BioEnergyNet (BEN) was initiated in 2006. In 2008 a biomass agency was established in Zittau and Liberec. The follow-up project BioEnergyNet3 (BEN3) started in June 2010 and will be finished in June 2012.

 

Current Funding source(s)

The transborder project BEN3 gets financial support in the context of the funding programme Ziel 3 – Programm zur Förderung der grenzübergreifenden Zusammenarbeit zwischen dem Freistaat Sachsen und der Tschechischen Republik 2007-2013 (Objective 3 -programme to support the transborder co-operation between the Free State of Saxony and the Czech Republic 2007-2013) in the time period June 2010 to June 2012. The programme Ziel 3 is financed by the EU (ERDF) and supports transborder projects with economic and social aims (see http://www.ziel3-cil3.eu/de/programm/index.html).


Participants

The project is managed by the Institut für Ökologie und Umweltschutz (IÖU) (Institute for Ecology and Environmental Protection) at the University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz. Main supporting partners are ViaRegia o.s. and the district Görlitz. ViaRegia is responsible for coordinating the BEN3 project in the Czech parts of the transborder region (kraj Liberec and kraj Usti).

Further regional partners are:

  • Marketing-Gesellschaft Oberlausitz-Niederschlesien GmbH (MGO) (marketing association Upper Lusatia and Lower Silesia)
  • Regionaler Planungsverband Oberlausitz- Niederschlesien (regional planning association Upper Lusatia and Lower Silesia)
  • Bauernverband Oberlausitz e.V. (farmers’ association Upper Lusatia)
  • Entwicklungsgesellschaft Niederschlesiche Oberlausitz mbH (development coorperation Lower Silesian Upper Lusatia)
  • district Liberec, department for renewable energies
  • district Liberec, department for regional planning
  • district Usti
  • chamber of agriculture Liberec
  • Euroregion Neiße / Nysa / Nisa

Website

http://www.bioenergynet.eu;
http://www.bioenergie-portal.info/fileadmin/bioenergie-beratung/sachsen/dateien/Vortraege/Meyer-BEN3.pdf

 

Description

 

BioEnergyNet (BEN) is a transborder network that was initiated to support the development of renewable energies in the eastern parts of Saxony at the German-Polish-Czech border triangle. Main aim of the BEN project was the initiation of regional economic cycles based on the production and energetic utilization of biomass. In this way, the share of heat and power produced by the regional RES sector should be enlarged, and positive economic effects in the agricultural and forestry sector, especially for regional SMEs, should be triggered. In 2008 a biomass agency called Koordinationszentrum für Biomasse und Erneuerbare Energie im Dreiländereck was established to reach the mentioned aims. The energy agency acts as information centre, coordinates regional activities and supports the BEN network partners. It is closely linked with domain experts and has two locations, one in the city Zittau (Germany) and another in Liberec (Czech Republic).

In 2009 BEN was brought to an advanced stage. Funded by the programme Objective 3, the action space of the follow-up project BioEnergyNet3 has been enlarged. From now onwards, BEN3 activities are focussed on the extended regions North Bohemia and Lusatia. A main activity of BEN3 is the development of an energy atlas as interactive tool for the entire transborder region. The atlas will serve as data base offering files and visualizations of the regional potentials of biomass from agriculture, forestry, waste management and waste material from food production. And, it gives an overview of existing RES power plants. Furthermore, the energy atlas calculates routes of biomass transportation, shows existing and planned border crossings, and helps regional actors to find logistic solutions regarding biomass resources. A further envisaged activity of BEN3 is the elaboration of a manual. This manual will give an overview of the bioenergy topic, including acquisition of biomass, state of bioenergetic technologies and advice regarding the planning phase of RES power plants. BEN and also BEN3 can be seen as good examples for RES projects implemented in a transborder region.

 

 

Contact details

 

Institut für Ökologie und Umweltschutz (IÖU) (Lead Partner), Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz (University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz)
Theodor-Körner-Allee 16
D-02763 Zittau
Phone: +49 (0) 3583 61 14 84
Fax: +49 (0) 3583 54 09 498
E-Mail: mmeyer@hs-zigr.de