Arbeitspapier
Towards a sustainable biomass strategy: what we know and what we should know
The paper reviews the current knowledge on the use of biomass for non-food purposes, critically discusses its environmental sustainability implications, and describes the needs for further research, thus enabling a more balanced policy approach. The life-cylce wide impacts of the use of biomass for energy and material purposes derived from either direct crop harvest or residuals indicate that biomass based substitutes have a different, not always superior environmental performance than comparable fossil based products. Cascading use, i.e. when biomass is used for material products first and the energy content is recovered from the end-of-life products, tends to provide a higher environmental benefit than primary use as fuel. Due to limited global land resources, non-food biomass may only substitute for a certain share of non-renewables. If the demand for non-food biomass, especially fuel crops and its derivates, continues to grow this will inevitably lead to an expansion of global arable land at the expense of natural ecosystems such as savannas and tropical rain forests. Whereas the current aspirations and incentives to increase the use of non-food biomass are intended to counteract climate change and environmental degradation, they are thus bound to a high risk of problem shifting and may even lead to a global deterioration of the environment. Although the balanced approach of the European Union's biomass strategy may be deemed a good principle, the concrete targets and implementation measures in the Union and countries like Germany should be revisited. Likewise, countries like Brazil and Indonesia may revisit their strategies to use their natural resources for export or domestic purposes. Further research is needed to optimize the use of biomass within and between regions.
- Sprache
-
Englisch
- Erschienen in
-
Series: Wuppertal Papers ; No. 163
- Klassifikation
-
Wirtschaft
- Thema
-
Bioenergie
Nachwachsender Rohstoff
Stoffstrom-Management
Umweltbelastung
Nachhaltige Entwicklung
Welt
- Ereignis
-
Geistige Schöpfung
- (wer)
-
Bringezu, Stefan
Ramesohl, Stephan
Arnold, Karin
Fischedick, Manfred
von Geibler, Justus
- Ereignis
-
Veröffentlichung
- (wer)
-
Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie
- (wo)
-
Wuppertal
- (wann)
-
2007
- Handle
- URN
-
urn:nbn:de:101:1-200910121320
- Letzte Aktualisierung
-
10.03.2025, 11:45 MEZ
Datenpartner
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.
Objekttyp
- Arbeitspapier
Beteiligte
- Bringezu, Stefan
- Ramesohl, Stephan
- Arnold, Karin
- Fischedick, Manfred
- von Geibler, Justus
- Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie
Entstanden
- 2007
Ähnliche Objekte (12)
Sind mit öligem Kontrastmittel Granulome in den Lymphknoten zu erzeugen? : <Experiment. Untersuchgn an Hundelymphknoten>
Organizational unlearning as a process: What we know, what we don’t know, what we should know
Cutaneous Adnexal Cysts Revisited: What We Know and What We Think We Know
Freeports: What are they, what do we know, and what will we know?
What we know when we act
Must We Know What We Mean?
Economic agendas in civil wars: what we know, what we need to know
Pneumonia in Bhutanese children: what we know, and what we need to know
Microplastics in freshwater ecosystems: what we know and what we need to know
Plant hormone transporters: what we know and what we would like to know
Membrane fission by dynamin: what we know and what we need to know
Liposuction: What We Know Now
Sind mit öligem Kontrastmittel Granulome in den Lymphknoten zu erzeugen? : <Experiment. Untersuchgn an Hundelymphknoten>
Organizational unlearning as a process: What we know, what we don’t know, what we should know
Cutaneous Adnexal Cysts Revisited: What We Know and What We Think We Know
Freeports: What are they, what do we know, and what will we know?
What we know when we act
Must We Know What We Mean?
Economic agendas in civil wars: what we know, what we need to know
Pneumonia in Bhutanese children: what we know, and what we need to know
Microplastics in freshwater ecosystems: what we know and what we need to know
Plant hormone transporters: what we know and what we would like to know
Membrane fission by dynamin: what we know and what we need to know
Liposuction: What We Know Now
Sind mit öligem Kontrastmittel Granulome in den Lymphknoten zu erzeugen? : <Experiment. Untersuchgn an Hundelymphknoten>
Organizational unlearning as a process: What we know, what we don’t know, what we should know
Cutaneous Adnexal Cysts Revisited: What We Know and What We Think We Know
Freeports: What are they, what do we know, and what will we know?
What we know when we act
Must We Know What We Mean?
Economic agendas in civil wars: what we know, what we need to know
Pneumonia in Bhutanese children: what we know, and what we need to know
Microplastics in freshwater ecosystems: what we know and what we need to know
Plant hormone transporters: what we know and what we would like to know
Membrane fission by dynamin: what we know and what we need to know