07/15/2026

New Study: More Efficient and Environmentally Beneficial Use of Biomass Based on the National Biomass Strategy

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The National Bioeconomy Strategy (NBÖS) was adopted in 2020. It aims to facilitate the transition to a post-fossil fuel economic system across all economic sectors through products, processes, and services produced from biogenic sources. It is also intended to feed a growing global population, stimulate innovation and growth, and in doing so create income opportunities in rural regions of industrialized nations as well as in countries of the Global South. However, the bioeconomy does not, in and of itself, lead to improved sustainability or even to compliance with planetary boundaries. Rather, an expansion of biomass use carries the risk of significant ecological conflicts. An increase in production in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and aquaculture leads to conflicting goals with nearly all planetary boundaries. Even though biomass is considered a renewable raw material, its production is limited by the available land area. As the range of potential uses increases, so does competition for land use. The NBÖS therefore also calls for biomass to be prioritized—based on sound scientific evidence—for uses that are as efficient and ecologically beneficial as possible.

These are precisely the issues addressed in the recently published study by ifeu and the Öko-Institut, commissioned by the Federal Environment Agency.

To the report