Göttingen
Smart Village initiative promoting local biomass as a community-owned energy source
Description
Göttingen is composed of 12 municipalities with around 150 000 inhabitants, and has a mixed economy in which industry, academia, agriculture and forestry all play a part. Göttingen is facing the challenges associated with an aging population, limited agricultural revenues, high energy prices, dependency on external energy sources, and the high amount of agricultural residues and forest biomass that needs to be managed. Under the Smart Rural 27 initiative, the city is attempting to address these issues by launching the Bioenergy Villages initiative in Reiffenhausen, Barlissen, Wollbrandshausen and Krebeck – four villages with populations ranging from 300 to 800. The initiative foresees the development of a sustainable model in which the villages produce and consume biogas-sourced energy created from local agricultural residues under a circular economy approach. The model also foresees the establishment of a community-owned heating plant powered by forest biomass that can satisfy the village's heating needs.
Technology
Under the Bioenergy Village initiative, a biogas plant, wood chip furnace and village heating grid were established, with the biogas plant producing electricity and heat from agricultural waste, and the wood chip furnace generating additional heat from local forest biomass. The heating grid, on the other hand, is a centralized system for the distribution of the heat generated by both the biogas plant and the wood chip furnace to homes and other village buildings. The systems are managed by a community-owned cooperative supported by income from the electricity fed into the national grid in accordance with Germany's Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). The model promotes energy self-sufficiency, reduces carbon emissions and supports the circular economy through its use of local resources
Target
The Bioenergy Village project is a multi-actor initiative with both regional and local actors, including the regional and municipal governments, a Local Action Group, the general public and farmers, the university and its network of experts and the Federal Government.
Impact
Local farmers and communities have diversified their income through the sale of the energy produced from biogas. The project has also brought significant social, economic and environmental benefits by reducing carbon dioxide emissions, soil erosion and nitrate leaching, making the village more sustainable.
Partners
European Commission
Four Betters
Better environment
Better life
