Dr. Wolfgang Urban, Fellow at Ecologic Institute, contributed to the 7th VDI conference reader "Biogas 2013." He informs about the objectives and guidelines as well as the current status of discussions on the funding framework for renewable energies. He also discusses the possible contribution of bioenergies to future energy supply and future challenges.

The German government promotion by the Renewable Energies Law (EEG) has triggered a rapid development of biogas production in Germany. But in recent years, it has led also to conflicts and potential limits became evident. The future role of biogas for power generation is controversial. Against the background of limited potential and high costs of bioenergy, the majority of studies and scenarios for a future energy mix assume that the further construction of renewable energy will be based on wind and solar energy. Only a limited future expansion of electricity generation from biogas is useful. The discussion centers around a role change of biogas in the power supply. Therefore biogas should not longer be supplying to continuous electrical power. Instead, it should be used as balancing energy and as a flexibility option.