Sustainability of biofuel policies is a largely debated issue, particularly with regards to environmental impacts. To address these issues, European and national legislative initiatives have been designed that aim to ensure the sustainability of biofuels. Germany has been among the top runners in trying to implement sustainability criteria for biofuels. In August 2009 the German government set up the Biomass-electricity-sustainability ordinance ("Biomassestrom-Nachhaltigkeitsverordnung", abbreviated "BioSt-NachV"). The background paper written by the Ecologic Institute in October 2009 provides an overview for plant operators who will need to proof their compliance with the new ordinance.

The ordinance defines the basic requirements for the sustainability of liquid biomass and the conditions to receive feed in tariffs for bioenergy under Germany’s Renewable Energy Law. For example, it sets out rules for the management of agricultural land as well as GHG emissions. In order to prove compliance with the ordinance, certification systems and other certificates by specific environmental consultants ("Umweltgutachter") will be used. In January 2010, the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food approved the "International Sustainability & Carbon Certification System" (ISCC) as the first system to certify the sustainability requirements of the BioSt-NachV.

The Ecologic Institute’s background paper [pdf, 260 KB, German] is now available for download.