UNEP DTIE Energy Branch: Bioenergy

Bioenergy

In a world facing growing energy demand, high oil prices and an urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, bioenergy is an essential energy option for a range of applications as part of a mix that includes energy efficiency, renewable energy, and changed patterns of production and consumption.

Since the discovery of fire, bioenergy - the use of organic materials to provide heating, lighting and motive power - has been one of the most dominant sources of energy worldwide. Today, all forms of biomass together provide about 14% of the world primary energy supplies, and represent about 80% of the global renewable energy supply. In some developing countries the share of biomass is as high as 90% of energy supply, with the use of traditional bioenergy for cooking and heating prevailing. There is increasing interest in developing and developed countries in modern bioenergy or biofuels.

This is due to the many environmental, social and economic benefits linked to bioenergy at times when carbon constraints and high crude oil prices limit further growth in the use of fossil fuels.

At the same time, we have seen recent debate questioning that these benefits will materialize and adding a whole range of concerns to the list of things to be examined.

No energy source is without drawbacks - it is urgent to ensure that we do not add new environmental and social problems while trying to solve old ones. A comprehensive set of policies needs to be put in place to assure that bioenergy is produced in manners that ensure sustainability, ie. through an internationally agreed system that guarantees that bioenergy commodities are of a known pedigree and are produced sustainably, without destroying the sector's prospects.

Achieving this delicate balance is a challenge and more work is needed to understand the interrelations and how a policy mix balancing the different interests, i.e. energy, agriculture, environment, transport, trade, could look.

'Bioenergy yes or no' is not the question, but rather 'to what extent bioenergy will be part of the energy mix' and 'how will the pathways for sustainable bioenergy look like'.

To address these issues, UNEPs bioenergy programme is structured around the following priority areas:

Sustainable Development impacts and synergies
Resource Assessment
Market creation and policy interventions
Business development and finance.

The Bioenergy and Water Nexus

Bioenergy and water are inextricably linked. For the first time, this report examines in depth these interlinkages, highlights the risks and opportunities, and offers an outlook on ways to address them. It provides policymakers with scientific information to support informed strategies and policies. The report also points to the need for further research, filling data gaps, and the development of regionalized tools.
Water quantity and quality are factors that determine the extent to which bioenergy can contribute to the overall energy mix. For example, in a world already facing water stress, largely due to over 70% of freshwater being consumed by the agricultural sector, bioenergy development is likely to add to this - through feedstock production and conversion processes - and hence increase the pressure. At the same time, there are opportunities to harness bioenergy development to help increase access to water by leveraging the introduction of efficient water management techniques, by increasing soil absorption capacity in dry areas, by selecting appropriate crops, by providing energy for water pumping and cleaning water.
Some 45 international experts have contributed to this report through a process facilitated by UNEP, Oeko-Institut and IEA Bioenergy Task 43, and kicked off at the International Workshop: "Spotlight on Bioenergy and Water" held in Paris in July 2010.

Summary Report, Full Report,
Key Messages (English, French, Spanish),
Press Release (English, French, Spanish)

UN Energy Bioenergy Decision Support Tool (DST):

Targeted to decision makers to assist them in developing robust bioenergy policy and strategy, it summaries key issues and approaches to provide an entry point to the full material collection, which provides further detail, includes case studies, a set of guiding questions and reference to existing tools. The interactive website is forthcoming in early 2011.