How to measure the impact of biogenic residues, wastes and by-products: Development of a national resource monitoring based on the example of Germany

The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals call for affordable, clean energy. The efficient use of biogenic residues offers various means of promoting that goal. Key questions, however, are which biomasses are available to what extent, and what additional contribution can be expected from improved use. Answering these questions require cross-sectoral, regular and consistent information on the available resources. A comprehensive, continuously applicable measuring instrument for this task does not yet exist. To fill this gap, a monitoring system was developed which is able to quantify the resource base annually, is easy to update and can be used internationally. Using Germany as a case study, a review was carried out for 77 biomasses from five different sectors. The result is a network of 1,113 calculation elements, which forms the basis for an automatic data processing. Based on that, Germany's supply of technically usable biogenic residues was determined to 86–140 million Mg (DM) in 2015. Between 66% and 84% of this amount already has an established use, while the potential which can still be mobilised is in the range of 14–48 million Mg (DM). If this amount were provided as e.g. biomethane, the amount of final energy coming from renewable sources in Germany could thus be increased by up to 18%. Just four biomasses bear the main responsibility for this figure. The monitoring system is able to prioritise areas for action and can provide crucial support in the development of policy and business strategies for the future use of residues. •Development of a regularly updatable balancing system for the supply and use of biomass.•Automated network of >1,100 dynamic and non-dynamic calculation elements.•International transferable based on geocoding and calculation flowcharts.•Mobilisable potential in Germany can increase share of renewable energies by 18%.•Public database for individual data processing available.