IEA Bioenergy Task 39 Group releases Germany country profile in year end newsletter

The IEA Bioenergy Task 39 Group released its end of year newsletter, which included a comprehensive  country profile for biofuels activity in Germany, authored by Franziska Müller-Langer (DBFZ and Nicolaus Dahmen (KIT). The overview includes Background and policy, the

Current regulatory framework in Germany, Developments and perspectives until 2020 and post-2020 in Germany, and an Overview of Germany’s ongoing transport biofuels research at pilot and demonstration levels including pyrolysis, direct liquefaction and hydrothermal processes. The authors write:

“The 6% target for the German GHG quota continues after 2020. However, the EU’s regulatory framework is binding until 2030 (-40% GHG, 27% renewable energies) but not sector-related. Especially with regard to increasing capacities or building up markets for advanced biofuels, it is very difficult to create likely scenarios as the biofuel and renewable energy market sectors are constantly undergoing changes depending on global and regional policy (e.g. targets post-2020, market interventions such as, e.g. subsidies and support schemes) as well as fluctuating market conditions (e.g. development of prices for raw materials, auxiliaries and mineral oil).

Moreover, there is also the challenge of societal acceptance, which leads invariably to further market variability. However, there is ever increasing attention being given to biorefinery concepts, which are promoted to maximize biomass-to-products ratio, as biorefineries are multi-product facilities (e.g. biofuels, bulk chemicals, feed and food, energy). Through the diversification of biomass based products, such plants may be less susceptible to market shifts.”

The complete report is here.