Our working group
The growing importance of the bio-based economy, based on natural material cycles, requires the optimisation of value chains as a whole - from the extraction of biogenic resources to their recycling. Against this background, the working group Mobilisation identifies and evaluates relevant resources for bioeconomic activities and develops strategies for their mobilisation.
Central topics of our working group:
- Design and implementation of regional scientific studies to analyse material flows and utilisation pathways of biogenic resources and their environment
- Development of optimisation and mobilisation strategies for biomass and value chains as well as the innovative technologies under consideration
- (International) stakeholder analyses and mobilisation within the system
- Identification of financial and regulatory frameworks as well as derivation of policy recommendations for biomass flow management and their communication
Resource Mobilisation
The occurrence and availability of biogenic resources is a crucial basis for assessing the opportunities and risks of existing and potential material and energy uses of biomass and thus for a sustainable bioeconomy. The working groups Resources and Mobilisation therefore develop, implement and operate resource monitoring systems for more than 100 raw materials from numerous sectors at regional, national and international level. The knowledge and results are published in the open access Resource Database with the support of the Data Laboratory. In addition, strategies are being developed to capture and interpret the bioeconomic activities of different stakeholders and shareholders. Based on the results of the research and consultancy projects, recommendations will be made on the following aspects of resource mobilisation: Which raw materials play an important role in which regions regarding the transformation of the fossil-based economic system to a sustainable economic system based on renewable raw materials, and with which stakeholder groups can further optimisation and mobilisation strategies be implemented?
Our team
Romy Brödner has been a research associate at the DBFZ since 2020 and head of the working group Mobilisation in the department Bioenergy Systems since 2023. Previously, she worked as a researcher at the Faculty of Economics at Chemnitz University of Technology. She holds a PhD in economics and her research interests include biomass and value creation potential at national and international level. She also specialises in issues related to the bioeconomy and its potential for regional development and economic transformation.
Karl-Friedrich Cyffka joined the DBFZ as a research assistant in 2016 and has been a research associate at the DBFZ since 2019. He studied Sustainable Development (M.Sc.) and dealt with topics such as the technical utilisation of residues for biofuel production. At the DBFZ, he is a member of the working group Mobilisation and works on concepts for the development of biogenic resources and the evaluation of biomass potential.
Karoline Fürst has a degree in food chemistry and has been working as a research associate at the DBFZ since 2021. She works on bioeconomic value chains and stakeholder analyses, in particular on the development of the food sector and bio-based solutions for the chemical industry. She brings extensive knowledge and experience from her previous work as an expert in the field of food analysis.
Christiane Hennig has been a research associate at the DBFZ since 2008. She works on applications of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies, renewable hydrogen and bio-based processes and products. As a member of IEA Bioenergy, she leads the international research group ‘Task 40 Deployment of biogenic value chains and carbon management’ as well as the IEA Bioenergy research areas Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Utilisation or Storage (BECCUS) and Hydrogen from Biomass. She studied environmental management and policy with a focus on bioenergy at the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) at Lund University, Sweden.
Dr Konrad Siegfried has been a research associate at the DBFZ since 2021. He works on the development of strategies to mobilise stakeholders in the bioeconomy, mainly in the context of international projects. Before joining the DBFZ, Dr Konrad Siegfried worked in various small and medium-sized enterprises in areas of technology and innovation support as well as water treatment and analytic. He holds a PhD in ecological agronomy (University of Kassel) and a degree in geography (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg). He also has extensive experience in implementing international research projects in countries such as Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Oman.
Alia Spode has been working in the working group Mobilisation as a research associate in the field of regional and stakeholder analyses for a sustainable bioeconomy since March 2024. Her work focuses on the identification and mobilisation of relevant players in national and international projects. She studied International Area Studies - Global Change Geographies (M.Sc.) with a focus on Digital Geography at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg.
Dr Burkhard Wilske has been a research associate at the DBFZ since 2022. He works on the monitoring and development or mobilisation of biogenic wastes and residues for new or more sustainable utilisation pathways. He holds a degree in biology (HHU Düsseldorf, focus on botany/ecology/soil science) and completed his PhD at the JGU Mainz and at the MPI-C (focus on biogeochemistry). He has experience as project manager, coordinator and scientific advisor of research projects, development cooperation and public institutions in Germany, Israel, USA, Canada, China and India.