Publication: Monitoring the German Bioeconomy

The report “Monitoring the German Bioeconomy” presents headline indicators from multiple domains, including socio-economic relevance, environmental impacts, biomass flows and innovation potentials, with the ultimate aim of developing a comprehensive, robust and manageable national bioeconomy monitoring. Such a monitoring should build the evidence basis for steering Germany’s bioeconomy in a way that minimises trade-offs and promotes climate neutrality, circular biomass flows and responsible consumption. Ultimately, this report shows how Germany’s bioeconomy is progressing, identifies challenges and reflects on the monitoring toolbox. It found both positive and critical trends, highlighting the need to scale up levers for change while mitigating risks with counterbalancing measures. Key such trends include, for example: 

• Innovation in the areas of biochemicals, biopharmaceuticals, carbon capture and re-use, agriculture 4.0 and biotechnology, which are already comparatively strong and could be particularly relevant for developing Germany’s future bioeconomy.
   
• A strong shift from the use of crop-based to the use of waste-based biofuels between 2020 and 2022 aligned with policy goals. However, around 80 per cent of biofuels are still imported. Untapped potentials within Germany, including increased quotas of households connected to obligatory biowaste, need mobilisation.
   
• Meat consumption is steadily declining in Germany, and turnover in alternative meat products nearly tripled between 2019 and 2023. However, the pace and magnitude of change is not high enough. The country uses four times as much biomass for feed than for food, and meat consumptions levels are at least three times higher than dietary recommendations.
   
• While indicators of biodiversity in some German forests have increased, drought and bark beetle infestations strongly impacted the forestry sector in recent years. Germany became a net exporter of roundwood in 2020, due to salvage harvesting, and if high disturbance levels continue, harvest deficits for conifers in the mid-2030s could disrupt supply. 
   
• The bioeconomy can help mitigate climate change, but currently generates GHG emissions in proportions higher than its contribution to value added and employment: The bioeconomy comprises at least 5 per cent of total gross value added, 7 per cent of total employment and around 15 per cent of the total climate footprint in Germany.
   
• Footprints show decreasing trends, but still point to high levels of consumption. For example, Germany’s agricultural land footprint was around 2.8 times larger than the land used for agricultural production within Germany in 2021. The water footprint shows that the majority (86 %) of water use associated with the German bioeconomy occurs abroad, and that around 16 per cent of the water footprint currently stems from water-stressed regions.

Altogether, a sustainable bioeconomy transition, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, could help Germany to develop future-oriented markets characterised by social acceptance and economic viability. To this end, the production and consumption of biomass must be effective, efficient, safe and fair. Both technical and social innovation is needed. Monitoring can help policy-makers to get the incentives for change right by providing data on state and potentials, raising public awareness and identifying risks and opportunities.

Meghan Beck-O’Brien, University of Kassel, Germany
Contact: meghan.beck-obrien(at)uni.kassel.de

This report was published by the Center for Environmental Systems Research (CESR) at Germany's University of Kassel. It is based on the key findings of two German research projects: SYMOBIO 2.0, led by the Center for Environmental Systems Research and Mobi II, led by Thünen Institute.  Over 40 researchers from more than ten institutions contributed to the report. The lead author and editor, Dr Meghan Beck-O’Brien, is also the co-coordinator of the follow-up SYMOBIO 2^PLUS project going forward, which is focused on consolidating findings towards possible regular monitoring.

More information and link to report