According to a study in the context of the EU project “Euwood? the demand for wood could exceed the regional supply already by 2015, whereby from 2006 to 2011 the consumption of wood pellets increased from 0.47 Mill. tons to 1.9 Mill. tons.

Through a cooperation of the companies Pusch AG and ERC GmbH as well as the research facilities of the University of Göttingen and ttz Bremerhaven within the BIORES-Network, the idea of the production of mixed industrial pellets of biogenic residues was developed. The development of the recipes for the pellets will be focused on the use of digestate residues, stalktype grain straw, rape straw, wood from the maintenance of landscapes and Miscanthus. The mixed industrial pellets can be used in medium-size combustion facilities of up to 500 kW and thus for the heating of public and administrative buildings.

The development of the mixed pellets will be conducted between March 2013 and May 2015. The selected substrates will be analysed by ttz Bremerhaven. The results of the analyses will serve as a basis for further investigations of the following sub-projects. The determined contents of polysaccharides, proteins and lipids serve as a basis for the increase of the stability of the pellets with the help of binders by the University of Göttingen. The contents of halogens, metals and alkaline earth metals serve as a basis for the development of the additives which will be conducted by ERC Additiv GmbH. When first statements on the properties of the additives can be made, the development of the dosing unit will begin by Pusch AG.

Based on the results of the project, definite statements about the possibilities of additivation and uses of the selected substrates will be possible. The calculation tool will allow, besides the possibility of a quick assessment of the feasibility of a pelletisation of a biomass combination, the regular updating of an implemented database on relevant biomass characteristics.