target group: communities, local/regional/national energy agencies
Reliable allocation of biomass potentials is essential for sustainable energy planning that incorporates biomass as an energy source. Unlike many other renewable resources, biomass availability is strongly influenced by competing uses, logistics and the long-term mobilisation of local feedstocks.
Mapping biomass potentials
A recent study commissioned by the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund, Gustav Resch et al., Studie Erneuerbare Energie-Potenziale in Österreich für 2030 und 2040, final report, Vienna, 2026 (hereafter “RES-AT-2040”), presents approaches for estimating and mapping renewable energy resources. The biomass methodology outlined below is based on the approach applied in this Austrian study.
According to RES-AT-2040, numerous biomass-potential assessments have already been carried out by local energy agencies, biomass associations and European initiatives, including the ENSPRESO database (https://data.jrc.ec.europa.eu/collection/id-00138). Available sources can be combined in a multi-layered, spatially explicit approach that integrates resource data, technological assumptions and scenario modelling. The mapping should distinguish between biogas/biomethane and solid biomass, and between technical and realisable potentials.
The approach provides a practical framework for the following main objectives:
- Combine spatial data on agricultural, forestry and waste-based resources.
- Estimate technical potentials using substrate availability, technological performance and yield coefficients.
- Derive realisable potentials by applying spatial, infrastructural, land-use, competing-use, regulatory and market constraints.
Biomass mapping is intended to achieve the following key results:
- A harmonised, transparent and reproducible overview of bioenergy potential.
- Identification of locally available feedstocks and suitable locations for their utilisation.
- A consistent evidence base for municipal and regional energy planning and project development.
All input data, assumptions, coefficients and scenarios should be documented. Results should be integrated into regional or national energy cadastres so that they can be analysed together with heat demand, infrastructure and other renewable energy resources.
Biomass data collection
For biogas and biomethane, the available substrate potential should be aggregated at municipal level, with particular focus on residue streams with low competition, including straw, manure, intermediate crops and organic waste.
For solid biomass, forestry inventories, agricultural and waste statistics, and sectoral studies should be combined. The data should cover existing resource streams, mobilisable feedstock volumes and possible additional sources, such as imported wood and landscape-maintenance residues.
Data sources like the Austrian National Forest Inventory https://www.waldinventur.at/#/en or the official Logging Report from the Federal Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry can provide reliable and up-to-date relevant national data. Further information on the topic of woody biomass and data provided by the EU Joint Research Centre is also available under https://forest.jrc.ec.europa.eu/en/activities/forestbioeconomy/
Assessing biogas and biomethane potential
Technical potentials are estimated by combining available substrate quantities with technology performance and substrate-specific yield coefficients. Realisable potentials are then derived by applying geographical and infrastructural constraints, such as proximity to the natural gas and electricity grids, as well as limitations arising from land-use conflicts and competing applications. Scenario modelling should also account for regulatory developments and evolving market conditions.
Assessing solid biomass potential
The assessment should integrate forestry, agricultural and waste-based resource streams and estimate mobilisable feedstock volumes from both existing and additional sources. National statistical data and sectoral studies provide the main basis for the analysis and should be aligned with parallel modelling of wood-based material flows and climate scenarios.
Local biomass supply and long-term availability
For plant-level planning, it is highly recommended that potential maps are complemented by a detailed assessment of the quantities that can actually be reliably supplied over the lifetime of the project by local foresters, cooperatives or traders. Therefore, suitable long-term framework agreements for local supply of biomass at a business-to-business level should be negotiated at an early stage of project development.
