IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v186y2019ics0360544219315312.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The crucial role of biomass-based heat in a climate-friendly Germany–A scenario analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Szarka, Nora
  • Lenz, Volker
  • Thrän, Daniela

Abstract

The future provision of heat from biomass in Germany is strongly influenced by the country's climate policy goals, such as the target of reducing GHG emissions by 80%–95% over 1990 levels by 2050. Emphasizing one goal over the other could significantly shape the bioenergy and heating sector. The aim of this paper is to analyze long-term energy scenario results and interpret the possible influence of different GHG goals on biomass utilization in the heating sector. The findings show that a 95% reduction in GHG emissions in Germany would lead to an energy system that is almost completely based on renewables. A significant proportion would be fluctuating energies, such as direct heating from surplus wind and PV power, as well as solar-thermal and ambient heat from electrical air-to-water heat pumps. In this case, the role of bioenergy would shift away from being an efficient source for base-load generation, towards being an effective “stabilizer” of the heat and combined power system. The study presents comparative results of scenario parameters and analyzes the consequences for bioenergy in the heating sector. Finally, it concludes with recommendations for policy adjustment.

Suggested Citation

  • Szarka, Nora & Lenz, Volker & Thrän, Daniela, 2019. "The crucial role of biomass-based heat in a climate-friendly Germany–A scenario analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:186:y:2019:i:c:s0360544219315312
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2019.115859
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544219315312
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2019.115859?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mäki, Elina & Kannari, Lotta & Hannula, Ilkka & Shemeikka, Jari, 2021. "Decarbonization of a district heating system with a combination of solar heat and bioenergy: A techno-economic case study in the Northern European context," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 1174-1199.
    2. Martínez-Gordón, R. & Morales-España, G. & Sijm, J. & Faaij, A.P.C., 2021. "A review of the role of spatial resolution in energy systems modelling: Lessons learned and applicability to the North Sea region," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    3. Bašić Maja & Kovše Špela & Opačić Andraž & Obrecht Matevž & Pecarević Marijana, 2023. "Supply chain management mitigation to climate change in three selected industrial sectors," Logistics, Supply Chain, Sustainability and Global Challenges, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    4. Ralf-Uwe Syrbe & Tran Thuc Han & Karsten Grunewald & Suili Xiao & Wolfgang Wende, 2022. "Residential Heating Using Woody Biomass in Germany—Supply, Demand, and Spatial Implications," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-11, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:186:y:2019:i:c:s0360544219315312. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.