Report: Biomass could cover ten percent of future global energy demand

Ten percent of global energy demand could be covered by biomass in the medium term. This is the conclusion drawn by the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) in its latest report, which the scientists handed over to the Federal Government on Wednesday. According to the authors of the study it is decisive for the long-term success of biomass that energy generation does not take place at the cost of food production or nature and climate protection. In order to achieve this binding sustainability standards should be introduced both at the national and international levels.

"We have already taken up central recommendations on research needs", Federal Research Minister Annette Schavan said at the presentation of the report. By way of example she referred to funding priorities of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research, such as "Bioenergy 2021 – Research for the use of biomass" and "Sustainable land management". The members of the Council have identified a particular need for action in the field of research on precise greenhouse gas balances for various types of biomass. Moreover, interactions between energy generation from biomass and agricultural use should be studied further. "This is where our future initiative 'Bioenergy and healthy nutrition' comes in, in which we will invest 200 million euro in the next few years" Minister Schavan added.

"The Advisory Council has aptly taken up the controversial global issue of biomass", Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel commented. "The new report reaffirms our priorities of avoiding competing biomass uses for bioenergy and food production and ensuring that the use of bioenergy is sustainable. My ministry has already acted upon key recommendations. For example, legal provisions have been established for the electricity, heat and fuel sectors stipulating that biomass must be produced in a verifiably sustainable way to qualify for the different funding instruments. With the reorientation of its bioenergy strategy the Federal Environment Ministry has laid important foundations for the use of biomass from residual and waste materials and for a greater focus on the contribution of bioenergy to climate protection."

"We welcome very much that this report evaluates both the environmental and the development policy effects of bioenergy", said Karin Kortmann, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. "It clearly shows that our efforts to reduce CO2 must not lead to poverty, hunger, environmental destruction or the loss of biodiversity worldwide. The right to food outweighs the right to mobility." According to the study, blending quotas for agrofuels could compromise food security and aggravate competition over land use. This is why Karin Kortmann highlights: "In order to guarantee that bioenergy is used sustainably, we must integrate social and ecological minimum standards." Developing countries can benefit from the opportunity of establishing decentralised systems of energy supply, for example by burning organic waste or using plant oil for electricity production. Bioenergy could thus contribute to overcoming energy poverty.

The report on bioenergy is the first comprehensive analysis of the topic in connection with global environmental and development policy. From the authors’ point of view further research is decisive to achieve the best possible use of bioenergy. The Advisory Council states that bioenergy makes the greatest contribution to climate protection if it is used for electricity generation. In this area, the benefit for climate protection is about twice as great as in the transport sector or in heat generation. The scientists particularly recommend highly efficient combined heat and power generation. For this technology energy utilities should primarily focus on residual materials such as waste wood, slurry or straw, since these are ideal energy sources which, if used properly, hardly pose any risk to the soils, water or climate. Moreover, they are not in competition with food production.