Study: Straw could supply energy to several millions of
households in Germany
Straw from agriculture could play an important role in the
future energy mix for Germany. Up until now it has been underutilised as a
biomass residue and waste material. These were the conclusions of a study
conducted by the TLL (Thueringian regional institute for agriculture), the DBFZ
(German biomass research center) and the Helmholtz Center for Environmental
Research (UFZ). According to them, from a total of 30 million tons of cereal
straw produced annually in Germany, between 8 and 13 million tons of it could
be used sustainably for energy or fuel production. This potential could for
example provide 1.7 to 2.8 million average households with electricity and at the
same time 2.8 to 4.5 million households with heating. These results highlight
the potential contribution of straw to renewable sources of energy, scientists
state in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Applied Energy