Electricity, heat and fuels can be produced from energy crops (e.g. rapeseed, maize, grain), from wood as well as from residual materials (e.g. slurry and biowaste).

In 2007, energy crops grew on 2 mln hectare in Germany; that is 12 % of the land available for agriculture.According to a study by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, by 2030 this area could be more than doubled to 4.4 mln hectare - without calling into question the food supply. In future, less land will be needed for food cultivation: Demographic change, falling exports and rising yields make it possible.The arable land can of course only be committed once—but biomass is also available in the form of residual materials from food and feedstuff production, e.g. turnip leaves, slurry, manure and by-products such as potato peelings. Agriculture and bioenergy therefore do not have to compete against each other but instead have long since gone hand in hand.If the many different sources of residual materials are added to the specially cultivated energy crops, this potential suffices to cover 25% of Germany‘s energy supply with bioenergy by 2050.