Bio-based substitution of fossil raw materials and products
Short Description
In 2015 about 5,800 kt of fossil raw materials and products for material use (excluding energy use) were imported to Austria. In addition, about 150 kt of fossil raw materials (crude oil and natural gas) were extracted in Austria. From this, about 2,750 kt of fossil products were manufactured for domestic use and about 2,950 kt for export.
Considering this material use (as production volume plus imports minus exports) in detail, the largest product applications are:
- 1.107 kt plastics in primary forms (including 408 kt for packaging products and 334 kt for industrial products),
- 561 kt bitumen,
- 548 kt acyclic hydrocarbons (partly for production of plastics), and
- 449 kt synthetic resins.
To support the bio-based substitution of fossil raw materials and products, the fossil material flows in Austria for the reference year 2015 were collected and analysed. Furthermore, a broad bio-based technology research was part of the present study.
An essential result of this technology research is an interactive relationship diagram, which presents the possible production chains of bio-based raw materials to finished products.
In addition, a complete transition to a bio-based industry was estimated for Austria in three highly simplified scenarios. These estimations show a land use range a fully bio-based industry in Austria can mean – focussing on the most space-efficient bio-based technologies currently available.
The scenario results show land use needs between 0.9 and 3.8 million hectares. About 7.4 million hectares are currently used in agriculture and forestry in Austria, hence a strong and flexible circular economy is required to not overstrain the existing land use competition.
Project Images
Terms of use: The pictures listed underneath the header “Project Pictures” originate from the projects in the frame of the programmes City of Tomorrow, Building of Tomorrow and the IEA Research Cooperation. They may be used credited for non-commercial purposes under the Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC).
Project Partners
- scenario editor e.U.
- alchemia-nova GmbH
Contact Address
scenario editor e.U.
Ing. Thomas Steffl, MSc.
Hauptstraße 149
A-2504 Sooß
Tel.: +43 (660) 264 4747
E-Mail: steffl@scenarioeditor.at
Web: www.scenarioeditor.at