Bioenergy sector wants next govt to advance its role in emission removal

Germany’s leading bioenergy industry organisations are calling on the next federal government to boost the sector’s role in climate protection efforts, particularly in the areas of electricity generation, heating and transport. Proposals listed in a joint paper published by the Hauptstadtbüro Bioenergie (HBB) and the Federal Association for Bioenergy (BBE) include the approval of higher biofuel admixtures, incentives for the use of liquid manure in biogas plants, the establishment of local district heating networks and the development of a national CO2 sink strategy, presented in a separate paper.
In addition to reducing emissions to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality, it is also necessary to remove CO2 from the atmosphere in order to compensate for residual emissions, the associations state. “Bioenergy can not only replace fossil energy in the CO2 cycle and thus reduce emissions, but also act as a greenhouse gas sink in cultivation, in energy supply and following energy generation. Bioenergy is the only renewable energy form to provide solutions for both the avoidance and removal of greenhouse gases.” HBB head Sandra Rostek added: “The removal of CO2 from the atmosphere is already part of the EU and Germany’s climate goals. These goals now need to be underpinned. We need a debate on how we are going to achieve the CO2 removal targets. We want to initiate this debate because we are convinced that bioenergy, with its integration into the natural CO2 cycle, offers a multitude of opportunities to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

While bioenergy’s role in Germany’s energy transition has faced difficulties, the use of renewable biomethane has been on the rise.