(418aw) An Industrial Symbiosis Approach to Produce Bioenergy and Integrate with Urban Areas and Ports

Industrial Symbiosis enhances both environmental and economic efficiency of a certain area, by exchanging industrial flows. These effects are maximized in areas which support a) low transportation costs, b) wide range of industrial activity and c) industrial infrastructure to support future investments. Based on the above, it is apparent that among the most promising areas are the industrial ports, being hubs of agricultural, livestock, industrial and urban material and energy flows. EPIC2020 is a European project that is taking place in four European ports: in Malmoe (Sweden), Wismar (Germany), Mantova (Italy) and Astakos (Greece), in order to create a general methodology on applying Industrial Symbiosis tools and methods for promoting integration of flows and bioenergy production.

Firstly, the ports are interviewed to provide data concerning the energy demands and bioenergy goals of the area, the available infrastructure (e.g. NG, District Heating and steam networks), existing bioenergy actors and stakeholders, ports’ geographic boundaries, hinterland and seaward connections and the types of material trade in and out of the ports. Additionally, the ports interview the industries which are present within and around the port area using all the possible communication channels: personal communication, workshops, emails, telephone calls. The industries fill in specially designed templates with as much detailed information as possible for describing the flows including: amount, purity, current solution, supply patterns. Data concerning biomass availability of the greater area are also collected by the ports e.g. manure, straw, branches etc.

Secondly, the collected data are classified based on the details availability: a) statistical - for agricultural and livestock by-products, b) detailed – for industrial flows that are described analytically, c) implied – for industries which gave no feedback or were not directly contacted, d) enablers – new units that produce bioenergy from by-products e) Networks – the final users of the produced bioenergy. Each type of activity is called a “Functional Unit” and it is considered as a “black box”, where only inputs and outputs are evaluated.

Finally, ontology engineering was applied for classifying both materials and functional units. This classification enables the automated matching and the proposition of new bioenergy producers. The analysis is refined according to the social guidelines received during the workshops and interviews. The study proves that there is need for new, green and economically sustainable investments and that there is a bioenergy potential of over 2,5 times of the projected goal. A GIS tool is under development to act as a dissemination tool, informing stakeholders of the numerous possibilities for cooperation, establishing energy and material “source to sink” connections and / or selling their by-products to newly established bioenergy units.