Hannes Böttcher

• Dr.
• Senior Researcher at Öko-Institut e.V.

The German Projection Report 2023 describes the projected development of greenhouse gas emissions in Germany in a ‚With existing measures‘ Scenario (MMS) as well as in a ‚With additional Measures‘ Scenario (MWMS). The period covered is 2021 to 2050. The report follows the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of t...

Vauhkonen (2023) raised concerns regarding the applicability of the carbon balance indicator (CBI) applied in our paper (Soimakallio et al. 2022) to characterize the results in various contexts, the way the scenario pairs were compared, and the way the results were filtered. Here we respond to each of the above‐mentioned concerns Vauhkonen raised a...

Key issues to be considered in the design of funding instruments

This report examines how, and under which circumstances different forms of financing are suitable for results- or transfer-based mechanisms for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation as well as enhancing removals in forests (REDD+) in the context of different countries and measures. The approach of results-based payments is an...

The land-use sector plays a critical role for achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. This report discusses key environmental integrity challenges for using carbon market mechanisms to implement mitigation activities in the land-use sector. The report evaluates how existing carbon market mechanisms address these challenges in practice and to wh...

Der Bericht analysiert, wie für den Wald Instrumente als finanzielle Anreize ausgestaltet werden können, um bestmöglich zur Umsetzung der im Klimaschutzgesetz definierten Klimaschutzziele im ⁠LULUCF⁠-Sektor und somit zur Treibhausgasneutralität in Deutschland beizutragen. Dafür wird sowohl die Machbarkeit eines Anreizsystems untersucht, als auch di...

Fossil‐based emissions can be avoided by using wood in place of non‐renewable raw materials as energy and materials. However, wood harvest influences forest carbon stocks. Increased harvest may reduce the overall climate benefit of wood use significantly, but is widely overlooked. We reviewed selected simulation studies and compared differences in...

Under the Paris Agreement, Parties must track the implementation and achievement of their nationally determined contributions (NDCs). In many cases, NDC targets are expressed as a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions level and their implementation and achievement is tracked through national GHG inventories. To achieve their targets, it is thus essential...

Fossil-based emissions can be avoided through using wood in place of non-renewable raw materials as energy and materials. However, increasing wood harvest influences forest carbon stocks. This effect may reduce the overall climate benefit of wood use significantly but is widely overlooked. We carried out a systematic review of simulation studies an...

The global carbon neutrality challenge places a spotlight on forests as carbon sinks. However, greenhouse gas (GHG) balances of wood for material and energy use often reveal GHG emission savings in comparison with a non-wood reference. Is it thus better to increase wood production and use, or to conserve and expand the carbon stock in forests? GHG...

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) build synergies between biodiversity conservation and societal challenges such as climate change. This paper derives a working definition of NbS based on an evaluation of existing definitions, in particular the IUCN (2016) definition. It comprises the key elements of the existing definitions that we believe to be import...

The global carbon neutrality challenge places a spotlight on forests as carbon sinks. However, greenhouse gas (GHG) balances of wood for material and energy use often reveal GHG emission savings in comparison with a non-wood reference. Is it thus better to increase wood production and use, or to conserve and expand the carbon stock in forests? GHG...

Footprints are powerful indicators for evaluating the impacts of a country’s bioeconomy on environmental goods, both domestic and abroad. We apply a hybrid approach combining a multi-regional input-output model and land use modelling to compute the agricultural land footprint (aLF). Furthermore, we added information on land-use change to the analys...

Footprints are powerful indicators for evaluating the impact of the bioeconomy of a country on environmental goods, domestically and abroad. In this study, we apply a hybrid approach combining a Multi-Regional Input-Output model and land use modelling to compute the agricultural land footprint (aLF). Furthermore, we added information on land-use ch...

https://www.bmu.de/download/projektionsbericht-der-bundesregierung-2021 Projektionsbericht 2021 für Deutschland Gemäß Artikel 18 der Verordnung (EU) 2018/1999 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 11. Dezember 2018 über das Governance-System für die Energieunion und für den Klimaschutz, zur Änderung der Verordnungen (EG) Nr. 663/2009 und...

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 unti...

The management of forests, cropland and grassland impacts on the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This is due to the fact that the way habitats such as forests, peatlands or grasslands are used determines whether they are net sources of greenhouse gases or natural carbon sinks which draw down CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in the...

The aim of the REDIIBIO project is to provide technical assistance to the Commission to promote the robust and harmonised implementation of the new sustainability criteria for forest and agricultural biomass under the REDII (call for tender ENER/C1/2019-439) and for the preparation of relevant implementing acts. The specific objective of this proje...

Hoping to support sustainability, many countries established policies to foster bioeconomy (BE). While shifting towards more biomass use bears chances and risks, appropriate monitoring is still lacking. Here we show for the first time global key environmental footprints (FPs) of the German BE. From 2000 to 2030, the agricultural biomass FP is domin...

In den vergangenen zwei Jahren hat die anhaltende Dürre in den deutschen Wäldern zu erheblichen Schäden geführt. Laut aktueller Waldzustandserhebung war der Kronenzustand über alle Baumarten betrachtet seit 1984 noch nie so schlecht wie im Jahr 2019. Aufgrund des fortschreitenden Klimawandels ist zukünftig weiter mit langanhaltenden Dürreperioden z...

The EU LULUCF Regulation considers, for the first time, a separate target for the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector. The sector is also supposed to contribute to the legally bind-ing target of net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 proposed by the European Climate Law. Hence, the importance of the LULUCF sector emissio...

Natürliche Ressourcen und Ökosystemleistungen sind unsere Lebensgrundlagen. Ihre Nutzung kann durch Erhöhung der Ressourceneffizienz optimiert werden. Zahlreiche Indikatoren zur Beschreibung der Inanspruchnahme natürlicher Ressourcen weisen allerdings darauf hin, dass trotz erhöhter Effizienz, Nachhaltigkeitsgrenzen überschritten werden. Dieser Ber...

The agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sectors contribute substantially to the net global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To reduce these emissions under the Paris Agreement, effective mitigation actions are needed that require engagement of multiple stakeholders. Emission reduction also requires that accurate, consisten...

Forests provide a multitude of ecosystem services. In Sweden, the goal to replace fossil fuels could induce substantial changes in the current management and use of forests. Therefore, methods and tools are needed to assess synergies and trade-offs between ecosystem services for policy and planning alternatives. The aim of this study was to develop...

Humankind has never been so populous, technically equipped, and economically and culturally integrated as it is today. In the twenty-first century, societies are confronted with a multitude of challenges in their efforts to manage the Earth system.KeywordsGlobal Climate Observing System (GCOS)Ecosystem Service LevelsUN Framework Convention On Clima...

Forest biomass is a renewable resource that is increasingly utilised for bioenergy purposes in Sweden, which along with the extraction of industrial wood may conflict with biodiversity conservation. The aim of this paper is to present a method for integrated sustainability assessment of forest biomass extraction, particularly from bioenergy and bio...

The 2016 edition of the annual EEA report, Trends and projections in Europe, provides an updated assessment of the progress of the EU and European countries towards their climate mitigation and energy targets

A 2030 climate and energy policy framework was endorsed by the European Council in 2014. The main elements are a binding 40 % greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target compared to 1990, a renewable energy share of 27 %, and an energy savings target of at least 27 % by 2030. In this paper, we assess the impact of these targets on the European land use,...

The 2015 edition of the annual European Environment Agency (EEA) 'Trends and projections' report provides an updated assessment of the progress of the European Union (EU) and European countries towards their climate mitigation and energy targets. The assessment of Member States’ progress towards their climate and energy targets is based on: nationa...

This report tracks the progress of the EU and its member countries towards their climate and energy targets for 2020

From a biophysical perspective, woody biomass resources are large enough to cover a substantial share of the world's primary energy consumption in 2050. However, these resources have alternative uses and their accessibility is limited, which tends to decrease their competitiveness with respect to other forms of energy. Hence, the key question of wo...

Increasing bioenergy production from forest harvest residues decreases litter input to the soil and can thus reduce the carbon stock and sink of forests. This effect may negate greenhouse gas savings obtained by using bioenergy. We used a spatially explicit modelling framework to assess the reduction in the forest litter and soil carbon stocks acro...

Significance The livestock sector contributes significantly to global warming through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. At the same time, livestock is an invaluable source of nutrition and livelihood for millions of poor people. Therefore, climate mitigation policies involving livestock must be designed with extreme care. Here we demonstrate the larg...

Many of the major greenhouse gas emitting countries have planned and/or implemented domestic mitigation policies, such as carbon taxes, feed-in tariffs, or standards. This study analyses whether the most effective national climate and energy policies are sufficient to stay on track for meeting the emission reduction proposals (pledges) that countri...

This report is an update and extension of the previous trend scenarios for development of energy systems taking account of transport and GHG emissions developments, such as the “European energy and transport-Trends to 2030” published in 2003 and its 2005, 2007 and 2009 updates. The purpose of this publication is to present the new "EU Reference sce...

Preservation of biodiversity and reduction of deforestation are considered as key elements when addressing an increased use of bioenergy in the future. This paper presents different combinations of scenarios for global feedstock supply for the production of bioenergy under specified social and environmental safeguard provisions. The objectives of t...

Emissions and removals of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from land use activities play a significant role in the total GHG cycling. In the EU, the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector removes the equivalent of 9% of GHGs emitted in other parts of the economy. This net sink is the sum of emissions and removals from afforestation, deforest...

Several studies have shown the dynamic interaction between soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration rates, soil management decisions and SOC levels. Management practices such as reduced and no-tillage, improved residue management and crop rotations as well as the conversion of marginal cropland to native vegetation or conversion of cultivated land t...

Bioenergy derived from vegetation cycles carbon to and from the atmosphere using the chemical energy fixed by the plants by photosynthesis using solar energy. However bioenergy is not carbon neutral as energy is used and greenhouse gasses (GHG) are emitted in the process of growing bioenergy feeedstocks and processing them into a usable fuel, wheth...

The Biomass Futures project assessed the role of bioenergy in meeting Europe's renewable energy targets established by the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive for 2020 and provided outlooks to 2030 and 2050. This perspective sets the scene for the approaches followed within Biomass Futures, and presents the main issues addressed and the interactions of...

The EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) targets, implemented to achieve climate change mitigation, affect the level of agricultural production in the EU and in the rest of the world. This article presents an impact assessment of increased biomass supply under different sustainability constraints on land use and resulting total GHG emissions at glob...

Three scenarios are developed to illustrate the likely impacts of sustainability criteria on biomass supply and demand within the Biomass Futures project. This paper presents the rationale behind these scenarios. The reference scenario re-analyzes the NREAP bioenergy demands based on the EU Renewable Energy Directive sustainability criteria targete...

This paper investigates how different sustainability criteria restrict the supply of cropped biomass sources within the EU. There are already mandatory sustainability criteria formulated in the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) at EU level for biomass feedstocks to be used for conversion into biofuels. For solid and gaseous biomass feedstock, howeve...

Feeding nine to ten billion people by 2050 and preventing dangerous climate change are two of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Both challenges must be met whilst reducing the impact of land management on ecosystem services that deliver vital goods and services, and support human health and well-being. Few studies to date have considered the...

Many of the major greenhouse gas emitting countries have planned and/or implemented domestic mitigation policies, such as carbon taxes, feed-in tariffs, or standards. This study analyses whether the most effective national climate and energy policies are sufficient to stay on track for meeting the emission reduction proposals (pledges) that countri...

Forests of the European Union ( EU ) have been intensively managed for decades, and they have formed a significant sink for carbon dioxide ( CO 2 ) from the atmosphere over the past 50 years. The reasons for this behavior are multiple, among them are: forest aging, area expansion, increasing plant productivity due to environmental changes of many k...

With the increasing availability of European and global forest maps, users are facing the difficult choice to select the most appropriate map for their purposes. Many of these maps are potential input datasets for forest-related applications for the European Union (EU), due to their spatial extent and harmonised approach at the European level. Howe...

Human interaction with the land biosphere has contributed to climate change. The land biosphere can play an important role in climate mitigation, through measures such as the management of forests and other carbon sinks, management of agricultural practices, and shifts from fossil-fuel energy to renewable forms of bioenergy. The potential for mitig...

The expansion of biofuel production can lead to an array of negative environmental impacts. Therefore, the European Union (EU) has recently imposed sustainability criteria on biofuel production in the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). In this article, we analyse the effectiveness of the sustainability criteria for climate change mitigation and biod...

Results from biomass potential assessments vary considerably, both on global and European level. On the other hand reliable figures on biomass potentials are an important basis for energy policy and for strategies that aim at an increase of use of biomass for energy both on EU-Level as well as e. g. on national level in the National Renewable Energ...

While effects of thinning and natural disturbances on stand density play a central role for forest growth, their representation in large-scale studies is restricted by both model and data availability. Here a forest growth model was combined with a newly developed generic thinning model to estimate stand density and site productivity based on widel...

Producing bioenergy from forest harvest residues has been considered as an effective means to cut greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and simultaneously to fulfil the renewable energy targets agreed in the European Union. Previous studies have estimated technical, realizable and sustainable potentials of forest bioenergy in Europe. However...

In this paper we present forestry emission projections and associated Marginal Abatement Cost Curves (MACCs) for individual countries, based on economic, social and policy drivers. The activities cover deforestation, afforestation, and forestry management. The global model tools G4M and GLOBIOM, developed at IIASA, are applied. GLOBIOM uses global...

No consensus has been reached how to measure the effectiveness of climate change mitigation in the land-use sector and how to prioritize land use accordingly. We used the long-term cumulative and average sectorial C stocks in biomass, soil and products, C stock changes, the substitution of fossil energy and of energy-intensive products, and net pre...

Over 50% of the targets for renewable energy use in 2020 as specified in the National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAPs) will need to come from bioenergy. As a consequence the demand for biomass will increase strongly over the coming years. In the Biomass Futures project it is estimated that the EU biomass potential ranges between 375 to 429 Mt...

The results of assessment of energy potentials of forest and agricultural biomass are presented in the book. Study was made in a framework of FP�7 project “Biomass Energy Europe” (Grant Agreement №213417). For researchers and specialists in energy, forestry, natural protection and students studying forestry, ecology, biology and technical sciences.

In the last 10 years a number of new global datasets have been created and new, more sophisticated algorithms have been designed to classify land cover. GlobCover and MODIS v.5 are the most recent global land cover products available, where GlobCover (300 m) has the finest spatial resolution of other comparable products such as MODIS v.5 (500 m) an...

Recently, an active debate has emerged around greenhouse gas emissions due to indirect land use change (iLUC) of expanding agricultural areas dedicated to biofuel production. In this paper we provide a detailed analysis of the iLUC effect, and further address the issues of deforestation, irrigation water use, and crop price increases due to expandi...

Over the next decades mankind will demand more food from fewer land and water resources. This study quantifies the food production impacts of four alternative development scenarios from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the Special Report on Emission Scenarios. Partially and jointly considered are land and water supply impacts from population...

Policy and decision makers in the EU have put energy policy objectives high on the agenda, including the promotion of the use of biomass as an energy source. European Community policy aims for a strong increase of renewable energy in the EU's overall energy mix (from little over 10 % today to 20 % by 2020) and a considerable increase of the share o...

Biomass resource assessments indicate the availability of biomass for energy production. This handbook provides best practices for determination of biomass resource potentials and gives guidance for transparent presentation of results. Methods are provided for forest biomass, energy crops, agricultural residues and organic waste. For each biomass t...

Given the current high rank of the policy objectives for an increase of the use of renewable energy, a solid knowledge of the potentials of biomass for energy is crucial both for policy and industry. Since current potential estimates for the same area and biomass category differ considerably, a harmonisation of such potential estimates is necessary...

Decreasing the human impact on the atmosphere will necessitate active management of terrestrial carbon pools and greenhouse gas fluxes. Biospheric greenhouse gas emission mitigation measures such as increasing forest area and increasing forest biomass density, build-up of soil carbon and avoided emissions from deforestation offer cost-efficient sol...

Abstract The issues surrounding 'Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation' (REDD) have become a major component of continuing negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This paper aims to address two key requirements of any potential REDD mechanism: first, the generation of measurable,...

Background Negotiations on a future climate policy framework addressing Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) are ongoing. Regardless of how such a framework will be designed, many technical solutions of estimating forest cover and forest carbon stock change exist to support policy in monitoring and accounting. These technolog...

The overall objective of the Biomass Energy Europe (BEE) project is to improve the accuracy and comparability of future biomass resource assessments for energy by reducing heterogeneity, increasing harmonisation and exchanging knowledge. First, similarities and differences between the various approaches, methodologies and datasets used in biomass r...

This article was submitted without an abstract, please refer to the full-text PDF file.

This article was submitted without an abstract, please refer to the full-text PDF file.

This article was submitted without an abstract, please refer to the full-text PDF file.

Copyright: 2009 BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The issues surrounding 'Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation' (...

Today, forests in the northern hemisphere are a sink for carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, partly due to changes in forest management practice and intensity. Parties of the Kyoto Protocol had the option to elect to account for direct human-induced carbon (C) sources and sinks from land management activities since 1990. The effect of age–cla...

Industrialized countries agreed on a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol. Many countries elected forest management activities and the resulting net balance of carbon emissions and removals of non-CO2 greenhouse gases by forest management in their climate change mitigation measures. In this paper a generic dynamic forestry...