Potentials and risks of renewable materials.
In domestic energy and raw material supply, plant biomass is of minor importance. The proportion of energetical use is well below 1% in Germany. The proportion of renewable raw materials for chemical/technical use in chemical industry is about 8%.
The discussion of renewable resources focuses on a number of advantages, such as a reduction of agricultural surpluses, new income for agriculture or the contribution to CO2 reduction. These are also aspects partly describing sustainability.
In this paper some results of studies on renewable resources and organic wastes are presented and discussed critically concerning their potential contribution to sustainability in Germany. The following conclusions can be drawn from the analysis performed: Energy production and CO2 reduction by renewable resources and organic wastes seem to be the greatest advantages under the viewpoint of sustainability. In the medium-term (2005) the utilization of renewable resources in Germany would reduce CO2 emission by 20 to 50 mio t CO2. This corresponds to 7% up to 20% of the CO2 target reduction specified by the federal government. On the other hand, the implementation of these strategies requires additional subsidies which seems not to be the best sign for economic sustainability. From this viewpoint the use of renewable resources is only a small step towards sustainability.