Vor dem Hintergrund der Energiewende wird in diesem Beitrag die aktuelle Flächeninanspruchnahme für Anlagen für erneuerbare Energien (Windenergieanlagen, Biogasanlagen, Photovoltaik-Freiflächenanlagen) in Deutschland analysiert. Dabei geht es um die notwendigen Datengrundlagen und geeigneten Indikatoren für die Beobachtung der weiteren Entwicklung. Es wird deutlich, dass noch erhebliche Datenlücken bestehen und eine zentrale Sammlung von Geodaten zu diesem Thema bisher fehlt. Konkret wurde eine aktuelle Flächeninanspruchnahme von insgesamt mindestens 314 km² festgestellt (bis 2013). Dabei nehmen die Photovoltaik-Freiflächenanlagen mit 49,9 % den höchsten Flächenanteil ein. Wird jedoch die benötigte Anbaufläche für nachwachsende Rohstoffe für die Biogasanlagen in die Rechnung einbezogen, so liegt der aktuelle Flächenbedarf insgesamt zwischen ca. 11 300 km² und 17 700 km². Dies entspricht zwischen 3,2 % und 5 % der Fläche der Bundesrepublik. Die Flächeninanspruchnahme wird allerdings aufgrund der bestehenden Datenlücken eher unterschätzt. Weiterhin kommen noch Flächen für Wasserkraftwerke und Pumpspeicheranlagen sowie die Geothermie hinzu, die hier nicht betrachtet wurden.

The energy sector is one of the most active application domains being forced to re-think the current practice and apply data-management based IT solutions to provide a scalable and sustainable supply and distribution of energy. Challenges range from energy production by seamlessly incorporating renewable energy resources over energy distribution and monitoring to controlling energy consumption. Decisions are based on huge amounts of empirically collected data from smart meters, new energy sources (increasingly RES - renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, hydro, thermal, etc), new distributions mechanisms (Smart Grid), and new types of consumers and devices, e.g., electric cars.

The energy sector is in transition–being forced to rethink the current practice and apply data-management based IT solutions to provide a scalable and sustainable supply and distribution of energy. Novel challenges range from renewable energy production over energy distribution and monitoring to controlling and moving energy consumption. Huge amounts of “Big Energy Data,” i.e., data from smart meters, new renewable energy sources (RES–such as wind, solar, hydro, thermal, etc), novel distributions mechanisms (Smart Grid), and novel types of consumers and devices, e.g., electric cars, are being collected and must be managed and analyzed to yield their potential.

This method handbook tries to provide such a compromise: it gives guidance for diverse projects of the programme 'Biomass energy use' and as such improves the connectivity of the evaluation fi ndings. The suggested method documentations are based on the current state of scientifi c knowledge and range from qualitative descriptions of methods to detailed calculation methods. They are limited to selected questions and provide no complete evaluation of sustainability. It is the result of a four-year discussion process, enriched by the project partners of the funding programme. Valuable contribution were generated in working groups and at various workshops. Here the dedication of the working groups 'Biomass Potentials', 'Life-cycle Assessment', 'Thermochemical Gasifi cation' and 'Reference Systems' should be particularly mentioned. This version of the method handbook is now established and through its coordinated reference systems it forms a bridge for the overall classifi cation of the research projects and the funding programme in the framework of the German climate protection discourse. Without doubt, the approaches and calculation procedures listed here only represent a starting point; on which further developments can be based upon, both scientifi cally and in practical applications. Future constructive and fruitful collaborations within the programme are essential for this and other challenges surrounding the harmonisation of methods. All this is still driven by the need and the goal to further optimise, little by little, the use of biomass in energy production.

Nowadays, Renewable Energy Sources (RES) are attracting more and more interest. Thus, many countries aim to increase the share of green energy and have to face with several challenges (e.g., balancing, storage, pricing). In this paper, we address the balancing challenge and present the MIRABEL project which aims to prototype an Energy Data Management System (EDMS) which takes benefit of flexibilities to efficiently balance energy demand and supply. The EDMS consists of millions of heterogeneous nodes that each incorporates advanced components (e.g., aggregation, forecasting, scheduling, negotiation). We describe each of these components and their interaction. Preliminary experimental results confirm the feasibility of our EDMS.