Future Vision for Producing Thermal Heat from Biomass

A new statement paper outlines the sustainable and effective use of heat from biomass.

Leipzig, December 8, 2017 – In addition to the electricity and transport sectors, the challenges posed by the energy turnaround in Germany are primarily in the area of heating. Around 87% of sustainable thermal energy, an energy quantity of around 500 PJ, currently comes from the use of biomass. The group working on the "Heat Market" of the BMWi Research Network Bioenergy (Funding Programme "Biomass Energy Use") published a statement paper, now proposing specific measurements in order to enable the energy transition.

The set target: The increase in the global average temperature is to be limited to well below 2 degrees Celsius. By 2050, Germany wants to do without fossil fuels as far as possible (German Government's Energy Concept 2010). In the heating sector, the share of renewable heat has risen to 13.2% in 2015 since 1990. In the last ten years, not only heat pumps have experienced a strong expansion in the area, but also solid biomass, such as wood pellets.

An expert group consisting of scientists from the DBFZ German Biomass Research Center non-profit GmbH, the IZES gGmbH, the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy gGmbH, Hoval GmbH, and the C.A.R.M.E.N. e.V. presents in the statement paper "Heat from Biomass", a current status report and an outlook on the future of heat. The paper was also signed by members of the working group “Heat Market” of the Bioenergy Research Network of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi).

"Biomass, as a storable and flexible applicable energy source, offers a comparatively more cost-effective solution, especially for strongly integrated, future concepts", Dr.-Ing. Volker Lenz of DBFZ German Biomass Research Centre GmbH and moderator of the working group “Heat Market” sums up the recommendations.

More information (German press release)

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