Katherina Reiche's controversial reform: Biomass comes off well in the new renewable energy law

While the wind and solar energy sectors have to fight against worse conditions in the negotiations over the Renewable Energy Act (EEG), things are looking comparatively good for bioenergy. The law from the Federal Ministry of Economics by Katherina Reiche (CDU), which is currently being discussed by the parliamentary groups in the Bundestag and by experts, provides for new expansion targets for biomass.

Their installed capacity is expected to increase to 9.5 gigawatts in 2030 and be fixed there until 2035. The old EEG envisaged an installed capacity of 8.4 gigawatts. Biomass includes wood, but also biogas from manure or corn. Second example: In the future, operators of wind power and solar systems will have to pay back profits in times of high electricity market prices. This should not apply to operators of biomass plants.

The role of bioenergy in the future electricity mix is ​​controversial: the nature conservation association Nabu, for example, is calling for wood to be generally excluded from the EEG and for its use as energy to be no longer promoted. “In the vast majority of cases, wood is too valuable to burn,” says a corresponding position paper, “continuing to promote wood burning harms forests, the climate and the economy.” The basis for the promotion of wood as an energy source in the EEG is the Biomass Ordinance, which is also currently being revised. It determines which types of wood can be funded - for example sawn wood and veneer wood, which can also be used to build furniture, or industrial waste wood.

Behind this is the EU's requirement to use the valuable raw material wood in cascades - i.e. first as furniture or construction wood and only then as pellets or wood chips. If the legislature supports wood-fired power plants, for example, it ensures “that wood that could in principle be used for material purposes is also burned,” says Eric Häublein, bioenergy consultant at Nabu. In addition, combustion would produce direct CO2 emissions, while forests can act as carbon storage and sinks - but are under pressure.

Rubert Röder, Professor of Sustainable Business Administration at Weihenstephan University, points out that the furniture, construction and paper industries' demand for wood has been declining for years. The use of hardwood fell by a total of 4.6 million cubic meters between 2010 and 2024. During this period, between 10 and 14 million cubic meters of hardwood were harvested in Germany.

“Wood is a good energy source for regional heat supply,” says Röder. “It replaces heating oil and natural gas and thus makes a significant contribution to climate protection.” Insisting on cascade use when upstream processing continues to decline does not make sense. Rather, the use of wood should be promoted in many areas - for example with a timber construction offensive, but also with energy use.

Both those in favor of increased use of wood and their opponents agree that wood-fired power plants for generating electricity are not a meaningful contribution to the renewable energy system because their efficiency is very low at 30 to 40 percent.