Gaining New Energy From Waste Wood

Sun, wind or water - these three energy sources connect most with renewable energies. But there is another sustainable energy source with a lot of untapped potential: waste wood. So wood that has already been used for other purposes, such as building houses or furniture. Bernhard Böcker-Riese has set itself the task of getting the most out of this raw material. The thermal power station he developed in the Swiss canton of Nidwalden supplies over 2,000 households with clean energy. The VDI presents Böcker-Riese's story in a video in his engineering stories campaign.

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During his earlier training as a farmer, the studied agricultural engineer was enthusiastic about the small combined heat and power plant, which supplied the farm with electricity and heat on a decentralized basis. "I became infected with the topics of bioenergy, combined heat and power and sustainability."

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Cascading use of a raw material

Bernhard Böcker-Riese realized his first major project in 2007 with the thermal power station in the Swiss canton of Nidwalden. According to the principle of combined heat and power (CHP), clean gas is initially generated from waste wood, from which heat is generated that is completely CO ₂ -neutral. The gas also drives motors that generate electricity and heat again. Böcker giant speaks in this context of cascading use. “Wood is a renewable raw material that first serves as a versatile building material and then for clean energy generation. When using forest wood, high-quality fertilizer can also be obtained from the rest. A sustainable cycle.”

From farmer to engineer

Today, the Nidwalden CHP plant has a nominal output of 1.2 MW and 8000 operating hours per year. This means that over 2000 households can be supplied with energy. Dimensions that illustrate why decentralized biomass electricity generation in the energy mix of the future has become a serious alternative for Bernhard Böcker-Riese. "And the overall efficiency of the power plant is also impressive," reports Böcker-Riese, "which is now almost 80%. A remarkable value when you consider that the efficiency of conventional base load power plants without heat is often not more than 40%.”

Bringing the farmer and the engineer under one roof professionally was not a balancing act for Bernhard Böcker-Riese, but the logical consequence of his love for nature and his enthusiasm for renewable energies. After completing his training as a farmer, he first studied agricultural science in Bonn and then agricultural engineering in Stuttgart Hohenheim. He now has his own engineering office based in Lucerne. He still looks after the wood power generation in Nidwalden. “The power plant is my baby, so to speak. I know every screw in the system, I am the direct contact for all technical questions and I am happy if it stays that way in the future.”

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About the engineering stories campaign

With its “Engineering Stories” campaign, the VDI wants to make the many large and small developments of engineers known to people outside the technology community. And who could speak for the profession better than engineers themselves? For its film contributions to the campaign, the VDI has already received the German Economic Film Award 2016 in the "Image films from the economy" category.

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