Conference: Novel and Sustainable Pathways of Biomass Production

Challenging and competitive market conditions in the European bio-economy have led to increasingly intensified agricultural cultivation practices.

However, these practices have had ecologically adverse impacts such as high nitrate leaching, excessive soil erosion, and the loss of insect and bird populations in agricultural areas.

Hence, a reorientation of agricultural manage-ment practices that provides increased production and utilization of natural resources as well as ecological sustainability is needed.

This conference - organised as part of the SidaTim project - highlights the latest international research on biomass plants that can be used to mitigate some of these ecological challenges.

Particular focus will be given to the plants Sida hermaphrodita and Silphium perfoliatum, highlighting their productivity, potential uses, open research questions, and management experiences.  

DOWNLOAD THE CONFERENCE FLYER

Programme

Wednesday, 19 September
9:00 - 12:45 Morning Session 

• Welcome 
  Marek Bury, WPUTS, Poland 
• Biomass production in Germany: Promotion, trends and sustainability
  Theodor Fock, HS Neubrandenburg, Germany 
• Overview on the project SIDATIM
  Michael Nahm, University Freiburg, Germany 
• Towards a closer understanding of Sida: plant establishment, performance, and biomass utilization
  David Jablonowski, Forschungs-zentrum Jülich, Germany
  
  
• 10:45 - 11:15 Coffee Break 
  
  
• Sida and Silphium cultivation in Austria – sowing, biomass production and crop management
  Philipp von Gehren, AGES, Vienna, Austria 
• Economic and environmental sustainability of Sida and other biomass crops on Italian farms
  Gianni Facciotto & Pierluigi Paris, CREA & CNR, Italy 
• Biomass yields of Sida and Silphium growing in north-western Poland
  Marek Bury, WPUTS, Poland

• 12:45 - 13:45 Lunch Break
  
  

13:45 - 16:45 Afternoon Session 

• Practical experiences with the cultivation of Sida hermaphrodita in Poland
  Miroslav Kozakowski
• Practical experiences with the cultivation of Sida hermaphrodita in Germany
  Dirk Hellinghaus
• Chemical properties of Sida and Silphium
  Hanna Siwek, WPUTS, Poland
  
  
  
• 15:15 - 15:45 Coffee Break 
  
  
• Phytoremediation driven energy crop production using Sida hermaphrodita – the Phyto2Energy Project
  Jacek Krzyzak, Institute for Ecology of Industrial Areas, Katowice, Poland
• Growth and performance of Miscanthus sp. on contaminated arable land – the MISCOMAR Project
  Marta Pogrzeba, Institute for Ecology of Industrial Areas, Katowice, Poland

Thursday, 20 September 

• 9:00-11:30: Field Trip
  Excursion to the Experimental Agricultural Station in Lipnik Demonstration of experimental test plots with different energy plants including Sida hermaphrodita, Silphium perfoliatum, willow, Miscanthus, Spartina pectinata and others. Return to Hotel Wenus.
  
  
• 11:30-12:30: Poster Session
• 12:30-13:30: Lunch Break
• 13:30-14:30: Summary and closing of the conference

Registration and Contact

Registration is open until 31 August 2018.

Please register at the General Secretary: Magdalena Sobolewska (magdalena.sobolewska@zut.edu.pl)

The participation in the conference is free.

Call for Posters
Participants are invited to present a poster on their research into biomass production. Please submit an abstract (up to 200 words) by 31 August 2018 to Magdalena Sobolewska (see above). Authors of eligible abstracts will be invited to bring a poster to the conference.

Venue: Hotel Wenus, Szczecińska Street 21 73-108 Szczecin - Kobylanka, Poland