Working Groups
Bioenergy (Completed)
The Bioenergy working group of the Leopoldina prepared the statement “Bioenergy – Chances and Limits” that focuses on the opportunities and limits of bioenergy. The statement addresses questions such as whether biomass energy is ecologically and socially justifiable and sustainable. In June 2011 the group submitted a statement to the German Minister of Education and Research, Annette Schavan, entitled “Energy and research policy recommendations following the events in Fukushima”. The Leopoldina previously worked in cooperation with acatech and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities on a “Concept for an Integrated Energy Research Program for Germany”.
Bioenergy is energy taken from plant matter. The biomass that comes from this plant matter can either be combusted for immediate use as energy or it can be converted into ethanol, biodiesel, biogas, hydrogen or syngas. Such conversions involve biological, chemical or mechanical processes that use up part of the energy that was originally available in the biomass. Bioenergy is renewable, at least in principle. And it is usually considered to be carbon-neutral, since the net production of biomass via photosynthesis theoretically requires the same amount of carbon dioxide as that which is released when the biomass is used for energy.
The Leopoldina’s statement on the opportunities and limits of bioenergy was born out of a biofuels and bioconversion workshop that took place at the Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg in Greifswald from 14 to 16 October 2010. The international workshop focused on the following questions:
- Does it make good economic sense to use bioenergy on a grand scale, as Germany is planning to do?
- Is it ecologically and socially justifiable?
- Is it sustainable?
- Are the answers to these questions different for first and second-generation biofuels?
- How does the situation in Germany compare with the situation in other countries?
- Can photosynthesis compete with photovoltaics?
- What role can biocatalysts play in energy generation processes and how can they be used as a model for chemical catalysts?
Institutions
- National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
Spokespersons of the Working Group
- Prof. Dr. Bärbel Friedrich ML
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schink ML
University of Konstanz - Prof. Dr. Rudolf K. Thauer ML
Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg
Members of the Working Group
- Dr. Vincent Artero
Institute de Recherches en Technologies es Sciences pour le Vivant, Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble (France) - Prof. Fraser A. Armstrong FRS
Department of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Oxford (Great Britain) - Prof. Dr. Holger Dau
Fachbereich Physik, Freie Universität Berlin - Prof. Dr. Peter Dürre
Institut für Mikrobiologie und Biotechnologie, Universität Ulm - Prof. Dr. Helmut Haberl
Institute of Social Ecology, University of Klagenfurt - Dr. Thomas Happe
Lehrstuhl Biochemie der Pflanzen, AG Photobiotechnologie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum - Prof. Dr. Gerd Kohlhepp
Geografisches Institut, Eberhard Karls-Universität Tübingen - Prof. Dr. Katharina Kohse-Höinghaus ML
Fakultät für Chemie, Universität Bielefeld - Prof. Dr. Christian Körner ML
Institut für Botanik, Universität Basel (Schweiz) - Dr. Philipp Kurz
Institut für Anorganische Chemie, Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel - Christian Lauk
Institut für Soziale Ökologie (SEC), Universität Klagenfurt - Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lubitz
Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Energiekonversion, Mühlheim a.d. Ruhr - Prof. Dr. Matthias Rögner
Lehrstuhl für Biochemie der Pflanzen, Ruhr-Universität Bochum - Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schink ML
Lehrstuhl für mikrobielle Ökologie, Universität Konstanz - Dr. Ulrike Schmid-Staiger
Fraunhofer-Institut für Grenzflächen- und Bioverfahrenstechnik IGB, Stuttgart - Prof. Dr. Ernst-Detlef Schulze ML
Max-Planck-Institut für Biogeochemie, Jena - PD Dr. Thomas Senn
Institut für Lebensmittelwissenschaft und Biotechnologie, Universität Hohenheim - Prof. Dr. Victor Smetacek
Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven - Prof. Dr. Rudolf K. Thauer ML
Max-Planck-Institut für Terrestrische Mikrobiologie, Marburg - Dr. Peter Weiland
Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, Braunschweig - Dr. Karen Wilson
Cardiff School of Chemistry, Cardiff University (Great Britain)
ML = Member of the Leopoldina
Related Publications
Bioenergy – Chances and Limits (2012)
Energy- and research-policy recommendations following the events in Fukushima (2011)
Konzept für ein integriertes Energieforschungsprogramm für Deutschland (2009)
G8 Statement Climate Change Adaptation and the Transition to a Low Carbon Society (2008)
G8 Statement „Sustainability, energy efficiency and climate protection“ (2007)
G8 Statement „Energy Sustainability and Security” (2006)
Empfehlungen für die Energieversorgung in Deutschland (2003)
Events
Leopoldina Discussion "Bioenergie: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen", 12 September 2012, Berlin
