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The broader view – systems analysis for sustainable bioenergy

Edited by: Dr. Katja Bunzel, Prof. Daniela Thrän

This series originates from a selection of papers based on presentations during the international workshop “Biomass for energy – lessons from the Bioenergy Boom” (24th to 25th November 2014, Leipzig). In six engaging sessions, 25 distinguished international experts discussed their latest research findings with more than 100 participants from 25 countries. The presented aspects ranged from the impacts of bioenergy crops on water bodies, soils and biodiversity, to impacts and challenges in the political, legal and societal fields, as well as to the challenges in the system integration and in the evaluation of potential environmental impacts at a regional scale. These selected articles will provide readers from research, the private sector and politics with unique focused information on the interactions among bioenergy production, the environment and society.

  1. Dynamics in rainfall patterns are posing a threat to crop production in Uganda. Irrigation can be used to ensure constant production; however, the motorized powered irrigation methods are quite costly to run i...

    Authors: Shaffic Ssenyimba, Nicholas Kiggundu and Noble Banadda
    Citation: Energy, Sustainability and Society 2020 10:6
    Content type: Original article Published on:

  2. Renewable energies such as biogas are considered as clean sources of energy that minimize environmental impacts and are sustainable with regard to current and future economic and social needs. Biogas offers an...

    Authors: Lemma Shallo, Mitiku Ayele and Getachew Sime
    Citation: Energy, Sustainability and Society 2020 10:1
    Content type: Original article Published on:

  3. The transition towards a renewable based power system in Germany largely depends on variable renewable energy sources (vRES) like wind power and solar PV. Their high variability over time poses new challenges ...

    Authors: Philip Tafarte, Christiane Hennig, Martin Dotzauer and Daniela Thrän
    Citation: Energy, Sustainability and Society 2017 7:3
    Content type: Original article Published on:

  4. Renewable energy (RE) production is a land-use driver with increasing impact on landscape configuration and a matter of controversial debate. Woody biomass cropping provides an opportunity to interlink RE supp...

    Authors: Gerald Busch
    Citation: Energy, Sustainability and Society 2017 7:2
    Content type: Original article Published on:

  6. Biodiversity is severely declining in intensively managed agriculture worldwide. In response, land-management strategies for biodiversity conservation on farmland are in debate, namely ecological intensificati...

    Authors: Jens Dauber and Saori Miyake
    Citation: Energy, Sustainability and Society 2016 6:25
    Content type: Forum article Published on:

  7. The last decade has seen major development and adoption of bioenergy, particularly in Germany. This has resulted in a scattering of decentralised bioenergy plants across the landscape, due to their dependency ...

    Authors: Sinéad O’Keeffe, Sandra Wochele-Marx and Daniela Thrän
    Citation: Energy, Sustainability and Society 2016 6:12
    Content type: Original article Published on:

  8. Understanding the response of nitrogen fluxes to changes in land use and agricultural practices is crucial for improving the instream water quality prediction. In central Germany, the expansion of bioenergy cr...

    Authors: Seifeddine Jomaa, Sanyuan Jiang, Daniela Thraen and Michael Rode
    Citation: Energy, Sustainability and Society 2016 6:11
    Content type: Original article Published on:

  9. Bioenergy is given an important role in reaching national and international climate change targets. However, uncertainties relating to emission reductions and the timeframe for these reductions are increasingl...

    Authors: Mirjam Röder and Patricia Thornley
    Citation: Energy, Sustainability and Society 2016 6:6
    Content type: Review Published on:

  10. The area used for bioenergy crops (annual row crops (e.g., wheat, maize), herbaceous perennial grasses, and short-rotation woody crops (e.g., poplar)) is increasing because the substitution of fossil fuels by ...

    Authors: Mehmet Senbayram, Christian Wenthe, Annika Lingner, Johannes Isselstein, Horst Steinmann, Cengiz Kaya and Sarah Köbke
    Citation: Energy, Sustainability and Society 2016 6:2
    Content type: Original article Published on:

  11. Dedicated bioenergy crops such as switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), miscanthus [Miscanthus x giganteus (Mxg)], indiangrass [Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash], and big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) can provid...

    Authors: Leonard C. Kibet, Humberto Blanco-Canqui, Robert B. Mitchell and Walter H. Schacht
    Citation: Energy, Sustainability and Society 2016 6:1
    Content type: Original article Published on: