One main reason stated for the implementation of Germany's energy turnaround (Energiewende) is climate protection. However more criteria are needed to evaluate the success of the Energiewende and to take into account possible side effects. Not only should the security of energy supply, land use and changes in landscape be taken into account, but resource use as well. The resource use of the German Energiewende has not yet been fully and consistently quantified for all of Germany's renewable energy systems.

Set against this background the resource rucksack for electricity from renewable energy supply in 2050 shall be determined in this project. This resource rucksack is compared to that of todays electricity supply as well as to that of 1990.

The resource rucksack is defined according to the concept "Material Input per Service Unit" (MIPS) which in the context of the project includes the resource categories abiotic and biotic resources (including economically unused extraction) as well as water.

The project consists of the following work packages (WP):

• WP 1 Project management
• WP 2 Calculation of the resource rucksacks for renewable energies for electricity production
• WP 3 Calculation of the resource rucksacks for network infrastructure and energy storage
• WP 4 Calculation of the resource rucksacks of the German electricity supply for the years 1990, 2010 and 2050

The project is carried out on behalf of the German Umweltbundesamt (UBA).