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Environmental and socioeconomic footprints of the German bioeconomy

Author

Listed:
  • Stefan Bringezu

    (University of Kassel)

  • Martin Distelkamp

    (Institute of Economic Structures Research (GWS))

  • Christian Lutz

    (Institute of Economic Structures Research (GWS))

  • Florian Wimmer

    (University of Kassel)

  • Rüdiger Schaldach

    (University of Kassel)

  • Klaus Josef Hennenberg

    (Öko-Institut)

  • Hannes Böttcher

    (Öko-Institut)

  • Vincent Egenolf

    (University of Kassel)

Abstract

Hoping to support sustainability, countries have established policies to foster the bioeconomy (BE), based on the use of biomass and knowledge on biological principles. However, appropriate monitoring is still lacking. We estimate global key environmental footprints (FPs) of the German BE in a historic analysis from 2000–2015 and in projection until 2030. Overall, the agricultural biomass FP is dominated by animal-based food consumption, which is slightly decreasing. The forestry biomass FP of consumption could potentially shift from net import to total supply from domestic territory. Agricultural land use for consumption is triple that of domestic agricultural land (which covers half of Germany) and induced substantial land use change in other regions from 2000–2015. The FP of irrigation water withdrawals has decreased over 2000–2015 and might continue to decline in absolute terms by 2030, but the share of supply regions with water stress might increase. The climate FP of BE contributes 18–20% to the total climate FP of domestic consumption, while employment makes up 10% and value added only 8% of the total German economy. These findings imply that sufficient monitoring of the BE needs to consider both production and consumption perspectives, as well as global FPs of national economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Bringezu & Martin Distelkamp & Christian Lutz & Florian Wimmer & Rüdiger Schaldach & Klaus Josef Hennenberg & Hannes Böttcher & Vincent Egenolf, 2021. "Environmental and socioeconomic footprints of the German bioeconomy," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 4(9), pages 775-783, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:4:y:2021:i:9:d:10.1038_s41893-021-00725-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-021-00725-3
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Mark Meyer & Martin Distelkamp & Dr. Christian Lutz, 2021. "Globale Fußabdrücke der Umweltinanspruchnahme – aktuelle Methoden und Datensätze," GWS Discussion Paper Series 21-3, GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research.
    2. Nils Grashof & Stefano Basilico, 2023. "The dark side of green innovation? Green transition and regional inequality in Europe," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2314, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jun 2023.
    3. Meghan Beck-O’Brien & Stefan Bringezu, 2021. "Biodiversity Monitoring in Long-Distance Food Supply Chains: Tools, Gaps and Needs to Meet Business Requirements and Sustainability Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-23, July.
    4. Kriesch, Lukas & Losacker, Sebastian, 2024. "A global patent dataset for the bioeconomy," Papers in Innovation Studies 2024/8, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    5. Florian Siekmann & Sandra Venghaus, 2024. "Regional transformation pathways for the bioeconomy: A novel monitoring approach for complex transitions," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 28(3), pages 603-616, June.
    6. Simon Kaiser & Felix Siems & Clemens Mostert & Stefan Bringezu, 2022. "Environmental and Economic Performance of CO 2 -Based Methanol Production Using Long-Distance Transport for H 2 in Combination with CO 2 Point Sources: A Case Study for Germany," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-22, March.
    7. Johannes Reinhard Többen & Martin Distelkamp & Britta Stöver & Saskia Reuschel & Lara Ahmann & Christian Lutz, 2022. "Global Land Use Impacts of Bioeconomy: An Econometric Input–Output Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-24, February.
    8. Tévécia Ronzon & Susanne Iost & George Philippidis, 2022. "Has the European Union entered a bioeconomy transition? Combining an output-based approach with a shift-share analysis," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(6), pages 8195-8217, June.

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