Ecologic Institute

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. Read more ...

Biomass use and the production of biofuels face several international challenges. The main tasks of the project are to describe and compare national and international support programmes and framework conditions for the production of biofuels as well as to accompany discussions on EU Directives in the field of bioenergies and the sustainability of biofuels. Read more ...

On 5-12 July 2009, the second transatlantic Farmer-to-Farmer exchange brought together farmers, foresters, journalists and policy-makers from the United States and Germany to discuss the role of agriculture in future climate policies. On their trip through Ohio and Pennsylvania and ending in Washington DC, the group of 30 participants visited several farms applying climate friendly agricultural practices, as well as biofuel and algae processing facilities. One topic of major concerns was possible ways to off-set GHG emissions by industry through mitigation activities in agriculture. Moreover, participants intensively exchanged knowledge and experiences in different bioenergy applications. Read more ...

25 May 2007, Berlin - R. Andreas Kraemer
The United States  –  though the 2005 Energy Policy Act – and the European Union – through the European Energy Policy – created incentives for expanding biofuel production and use.  On 25 May 2007, the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) and DaimlerChrysler convened a conference in Berlin on "Transatlantic Approaches to Biofuels".  R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic spoke on Assessing European and U.S. Policies. Read more ...

24 May 2007, Brussels - R. Andreas Kraemer

The United States -- though the 2005 Energy Policy Act -- and the European Union -- through the European Energy Policy -- created incentives for expanding biofuel production and use.  On 24 May 2007, the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) convened a seminar in Brussels on "Transatlantic Approaches to Biofuels" and invited R. Andreas Kraemer of Ecologic to provide indight to sustainability and trade policy aspects. Read more ...

The project compiles available scientific information on the likely impact of bioenergy production on water quality and water resources. The results of this project were presented in a background paper entiteled "WFD and Bioenergy production at the EU Level - A review of the possible impact of biomass production from agriculture on water" for the European conference "Water Framework Directive and Agriculture" in Paris, 21-22 September 2007. Read more ...

In this literature review Ecologic analyses more than 25 recent and relevant scientific studies with regard to the potential (positive as well as negative) environmental impacts of large-scale biomass production for bioenergy. Read more ...

Biogas plants have different effects on a region depending on their size, the feed-in product, the plant operator and the biomass which is used. The advantages and disadvantages for the regional economy and the environment of different plant types are assessed in this project. The study focuses on a concrete region in Northeastern Germany.

Background: Read more ...

23 February 2008, Berlin - Timo Kaphengst
As part of a series of European conferences on human dimensions research, the Berlin conference this year focused on governance of social-ecological change. Timo Kaphengst showed in his presentation, how the current debate on sustainable standards for biofuels could be used to create an international standard-setting scheme for the sustainable use of all natural resources. Read more ...

The EU has set ambitious targets to raise the share of renewable energies, particularly biofuels. This article, written by Stephanie Schlegel and Timo Kaphengst, discusses the role that bioenergy plays in the European policy context and the approach the EU is currently following to ensure the sustainability of biofuels. It addresses the limits of the chosen approach, concluding that certification schemes can not serve as the only safeguard for sustainable bioenergy but need to be complemented by other tools and policies. Read more ...

18 October 2007, St. Gallen - Timo Kaphengst
The Oikos-conference “Limits to growth – growing beyond limits“ took place from 18.-19. Oktober in St.Gallen (Switzerland). Different actors from research, economy and politics discussed the relationship between sustainable development and economic growth. During a workshop on limits to growth for renewable energies, Timo Kaphengst gave a presentation on the economic and political framework of bioenergy production as well as on the social and environmental impacts of the current bioenergy boom. His presentation is available for download. Read more ...

AGRINERGY (EU Bioenergy Policies and their effects on rural areas and agriculture policies) is a Specific Support Action (SSA) within the Sixth EU Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP6). Read more ...

Biomass constitutes an important but limited renewable energy source for the future. In this article Timo Kaphengst discusses sustainability aspects of biomass use for bioenergy in the European context. Read more ...

9 February 2007, Berlin - Stephanie Schlegel
Sustainable energy and climate change policy with respect to biofuels has become more and more important. In addition to offering a noteworthy alternative to fossil fuels, they also offer carbon reduction potential. However, increasing use of biofuels has led to new challenges in the field of economy, nature protection and social acceptance. Due to these new challenges, one important step is to develop a certification system for biofuels based on criteria of sustainability. Stephanie Schlegel, a Fellow at Ecologic, presented experiences with the FSC Forest Certification at the workshop ”Sustainable biofuels – How to certify?“, organised by Econsense. Read more ...