This thesis examines several aspects of the use of CO₂ as a carbon source for the chemical industry in Germany. The analysis focuses on the usage potential for CO₂ in the chemical and plastics industries, the current and future competitiveness for the production of CO₂ based chemicals in Germany and the characteristics of a CO₂ based value chain for polymer products. To investigate the different aspects, multiple methods of system analysis are applied, which investigate environmental and economic aspects of CO₂-based ...

Änderungen im Landsystem sind eine zentrale anthropogene Ursache globaler Klima- und Umweltveränderungen. Der stetig wachsende Bedarf an landwirtschaftlichen Flächen für Nahrung, Futter, Fasern und Energie und die damit verbundene Konversion natürlicher Ökosysteme gelten als wesentliche Triebkräfte der Landänderungen. Globale räumlich-explizite Landsystemmodelle tragen dazu bei, ein besseres wissenschaftliches Verständnis für derartige Landänderungsprozesse zu erlangen und zukünftige Entwicklungen mit Szenarien zu ...

Land use is a crucial link between human activities and the natural environment and one of the main driving forces of global environmental change. Large parts of the terrestrial land surface are used for agriculture, forestry, settlements and infrastructure. Given the importance of land use, it is essential to understand the multitude of influential factors and resulting land use patterns. An essential methodology to study and quantify such interactions is provided by the adoption of land-use models. By the application ...

The 21st century has brought new challenges for forest management at a time when globalization in world trade is increasing and global climate change is becoming increasingly apparent. In addition to various goods and services like food, feed, timber or biofuels being provided to humans, forest ecosystems are a large store of terrestrial carbon and account for a major part of the carbon exchange between the atmosphere and the land surface. Depending on the stage of the ecosystems and/or management regimes, forests ...