DBFZ Monitoring the biofuel sector

Together with colleagues at Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum gGmbH and Technologie- und Förderzentrum (TFZ) Straubing, experts at Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik GmbH prepared parts of the  DBFZ Report No. 11 on “Monitoring the Biofuels Sector”. The fourth edition provides an overview of the current status of renewable energy sources in the transport sector, with a special focus on biofuels, and gives an outlook on foreseeable further developments.

The transport sector faces the challenge of enabling sustainable and climate-friendly mobility. In view of existing and foreseeable volume availability and competitiveness, biofuels will continue to play a decisive role. The fourth revised edition provides an overview of current and expected national and international developments in the field of renewable fuels.

The latest Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) calls for decisive action and for a paradigm shift, especially in the energy sector, transport and agriculture to achieve the agreed Paris climate targets (i.e. reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) of at least 80 to 95 % by 2050 compared to 2010). A key to this lies in drastically reducing energy consumption, while massively increasing the share of sustainable renewable energy sources. This requires a technological revolution across sectors in the coming years.

The transport sector in particular faces enormous challenges in enabling mobility in a sustainable and climate-friendly way. In Germany, final energy consumption in the transport sector has risen by 5% and greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 equivalents) by 8% since 2010. This is despite the fact that around 4% of greenhouse gases have been avoided through the use of sustainable biofuels. To achieve the climate protection target for transport by 2030, not only a significant reduction in final energy consumption is required, but also an increase in the share of all renewable energy sources. In view of the existing and foreseeable volumes of renewable energies and their competitiveness, biofuels will continue to play a decisive role.

Against this background, the fourth revised and expanded edition of DBFZ Report No. 11 on monitoring of the biofuel sector provides an overview of current and expected national and international developments in the field of renewable fuels. Regulatpry frameworks, raw materials, production, distribution, use as well as economic and ecological aspects are addressed comprehensively. Together with scientists from the Technology and Promotion Centre (TFZ) and Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik GmbH (LBST), additional aspects were added, for example on the use of biofuels and the associated emissions, as well as on the status and perspectives of electricity-based power-to-X fuels.