Can sparsely populated rural districts become self-sufficient in energy if they only consistently convert their biomass - wood, manure, plant residues, reed grass - into electricity? What contribution can efficiency improvements and other renewable energy sources such as direct sunlight or wind make in this context?

These are the questions addressed by a new research project that the IZT has been working on together with the German Biomass Research Centre (project management).

Three districts were selected as case studies: The Bavarian Cham with a rather good economy and abundant forests, the district of Kyffhäuser with a particularly large amount of farmland in central Germany (Thuringia) and the northern Uecker-Randow (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) with an agriculture characterised by livestock farming and particularly high out-migration tendencies.

The task of the IZT was to analyse the spatial, demographic and economic conditions for the use of biomass in the three districts and then to search for comparable, sparsely populated districts in Germany. The project was funded by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR).

The increasing number of bioenergy villages has recently raised public awareness of biomass as a renewable raw material. In peripheral regions in particular, where industry and commerce were only weakly established, the existing biomass potential offered an important contribution to an alternative form of energy generation and to the development of rural value creation.

The aim of the project was to determine the spatial and technical possibilities for increased use of biomass as a main source of energy or as part of a decentralised energy supply. This analysis took into account the provision of public services and security of supply for rural population groups.

In order to achieve this, the project selected reference regions that differed in terms of their spatial, demographic and economic structure. In addition, bioenergy plants were characterised from a technical and environmental, spatial perspective. This characterisation was also carried out for other renewable energy sources such as wind, solar thermal energy, photovoltaics, hydropower, geothermal energy and sewage gas.

With the subsequent development of bioenergy scenarios and renewable energy scenarios, different regions were classified with regard to possible implementation.

At the end of the research project, recommendations for action were made that addressed both political decision-makers and planners. These included planning, technical and economic aspects, made statements on the legal and administrative regulatory framework and provided information on existing uncertainties for the transfer of the results obtained.

The main focus of the IZT's tasks was the thematisation of the spatial, demographic and economic framework conditions of peripheral regions.