ISS

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ISS
Institute for Software Systems in Business,
Environment and Administration
Design of a Regional Biomass Information Portal
Rolf Krieger S. Naumann K. Schäfer
B. Wern FH Trier, University of Applied
Sciences Umwelt-Campus Birkenfeld May 2005
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Motivation Goals
European Commissions Energy Policy Increase of
the share of renewable energy in primary energy
consumption
Thereby Energy production based on biomass is
considered as a key
technology. Biomass forestry and agriculture
residues, energy crops, animal
wastes, etc.
Regional Biomass Information Portal

• Promotes the utilisation of biomass at a
  regional level

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Outline

• What is a Biomass Information System?
• Regional Biomass Information Portal
• Application Components
• Technical Architecture
• Conclusions

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1. What is a Biomass Information System

• Internet-based environmental information system
• Provides information and services concerning the
  utilisation of biomass.
• Helps market actors in the bioenergy sector
  communicate, collaborate and share information
  resources.
• Ranges from static Web sites to complex
  multi-tier systems offering sophisticated
  functionality.

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Users
Government Agencies
Public
Biomass Information System
Biomass Consumer (Bioenergy Plants)
Biomass Producer (e.g. Farms)
Service Companies and Associations
Product Companies
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Examples

• AGORES A Global Overview on RenewableEnergy
  Resources (www.agores.org)
• IEA Bioenergy (www.ieabioenergy.com)
• Bioenergy Atlas of Australia (www.brs.gov.au/maps
  erv/biomass)
• Renewable Energy Atlas of the West A Guide to
  Regions Resource Potential(www.energyatlas.org)
  

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2. Regional Biomass Information Portal

• Internet-based information system
• providing information on biomass, bioenergyand
  related services at a regional level.(the
  regions biomass resources)
• bringing together different actors interested in
  biomass, bioenergy, etc (regional authorities,
  agriculture organisations and industries,
  etc.).
• supporting regional biomass trade at an
  operational level

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Region Data
Data Assessment of Biomass Potentials (Heck et
al., 2003 2004)
Region Rhineland-Palatinate Population 4,0
million Area 19,849 sq km Capital Mainz
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3. Application Components
Biomass Facilities
Biomass/Energy Calculator
General Information
E-Market
Biomass Potentials
Yellow Pages
News
www.biomasse-rlp.de
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Search and Selection
Granularity of information

• Biomass Types

• Administrative Units

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Biomass Classification Systems
Classification System (root)
. . .
Agriculture Crops
Woody Biomass

Firewood

. . .
Beech
Coniferous Wood
. . .
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Biomass Potentials
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Map with Biomass Potentials
Web Browser
J2EE Server

• Document Handler
• Adaptation of colours, ... of the SVG
  graphic
• Generation of a map as JPG file and image
  map.

HTML /JPG
SVG - MAP
HTML / Image Map
Advantage No browser plug-in required
for viewing SVG!
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Biomass/Energy - Calculator
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Electronic Marketplace

• Information system that
• Link together many buyers and sellers.
• Support exchange of information relevant for
  biomass trade (offer to buy, offer to sell,
  etc.)
• Reduce transaction costs.
• Objective

Increase of the regional biomass trade by
offering a platform where buyers and sellers can
meet and sell or buy biomass.
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Phase Model of Market Transactions

• Our Work
• Biomass potentials
• Yellow pages
• Biomass facilities
• General information
• E-market (offers to buy, offers to sell)

Buyer
Seller
improves
Offers
Information Phase
Agreement Phase
Contract

• Our Work
• Travel planning service

Settlement Phase
End of Transaction
Schmidt/Lindemann 98
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4. Technical Architecture
(JBOSS EJB Container 3.08)
(PostgreSQ)
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5. Conclusions

• Internet-based biomass information portal
• Application components, e.g. providing
  information on biomass potentials and supporting
  biomass trade.
• Functional framework for regional biomass
  information systems.
• Main objective is to promote the utilisation of
  biomass at a regional level.

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Sessions
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Future Work

• Graphical presentation of biomass potentials
• Utilisation of GIS technology
• Maps showing the geographical distribution of
  the biomass potential.
• Analysis of the usage of the e-marketplace
• Insights in influencing factors on the regional
  biomass trade.
• Development of decision support tools.
• E.g. Calculation of the profitability of biomass
  projectstaking into account regional factors.