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© The Agricultural Ecomomics Society and the European Association of Agricultural Economists 2005 Biomass is a widely available energy resource that is receiving increased consideration as a renewable substitute for fossil fuels. Developed sustainably and used efficiently, it has the potential to create jobs and economic growth in developing countries, reduce demand for costly oil imports, and address environmental problems ranging from desertification to climate change. Paragraph 31(iii) of the Doha Ministerial Declaration encourages negotiations on ‘the reduction or, as appropriate, elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers to environmental goods and services’ (EGS). Bioenergy fuels derived from sustainable agricultural practices have many attributes that qualify them as EGS. They can also play a major role in economic development strategies. Modern energy services - heat, electricity and transportation fuel - are essential for economic advancement Guest Editorial The Contribution of Bioenergy to a New Energy Paradigm and breaking the cycle of poverty, a key element of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly when oil prices are hovering around USD 60 per barrel. The Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) offers an additional economic incentive for development of bioenergy services in developing countries. All these elements are pointing to a new era in which the energy paradigm, environmental sustainability, and poverty alleviation should all be mutually supportive endeavours - and demand international policy coherence. Potential for win-win-win development The notion of a new energy paradigm may conjure images of automobiles propelled by fantastic hydrogen- powered engines and solar panels illuminating houses and streets. Many experts believe that the world is at least 50 years from this vision. Some predict that it will be necessary to decarbonize the world’s energy systems to protect the global climate system. In any case, the world is likely to move towards utilization of multiple sources of energy (Smil, 2003), and the question we must ask is how best to use the renewable energy portfolio – wind, solar, biomass, thermal, ocean tides – available today. Bioenergy derived from sustainable agricultural practices provides an opportunity for developing countries to utilize their resources and attract the necessary investment to accelerate their sustainable development process. Some of the potential benefits include: environmental benefits from the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) and the recuperation of soil productivity and degraded land; economic benefits from the increased activity resulting from improving access to and quality of energy services; and international benefits derived from the development of sustainable bioenergy trade. La bioénergie dans le nouveau paradigme énergétique Der Beitrag von Bioenergie zu einem neuen Energieparadigma Daniel De La Torre Ugarte Le paradigme énergétique, le maintien de l’environnement et la réduction de la pauvreté doivent être considéré comme des objectifs complé- mentaires, impliquant la cohérence des politiques internationa- les. … Les règles du commerce internatio- nal doivent favoriser l’émergence d’un marché des biocarbu- rants tout en autorisant les politiques nationales de développement durable. 06 EuroChoices 4(3)

The Contribution of Bioenergy to a New Energy Paradigm

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© The Agricultural Ecomomics Society and the European Association of Agricultural Economists 2005

Biomass is a widely available energy resource that is receiving increased consideration as a renewable substitute for fossil fuels. Developed sustainably and used effi ciently, it has the potential to create jobs and economic growth in developing countries, reduce demand for costly oil imports, and address environmental problems ranging from desertifi cation to climate change.

Paragraph 31(iii) of the Doha Ministerial Declaration encourages negotiations on ‘the reduction or, as appropriate, elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers to environmental goods and services’ (EGS). Bioenergy fuels derived from sustainable agricultural practices have many attributes that qualify them as EGS. They can also play a major role in economic development strategies. Modern energy services - heat, electricity and transportation fuel - are essential for economic advancement

Guest EditorialThe Contribution of Bioenergy to a New Energy Paradigm

and breaking the cycle of poverty, a key element of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly when oil prices are hovering around USD 60 per barrel. The Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) offers an additional economic incentive for development of bioenergy services in developing countries. All these elements are pointing to a new era in which the energy paradigm, environmental sustainability, and poverty alleviation should all be mutually supportive endeavours - and demand international policy coherence.

Potential for win-win-win development

The notion of a new energy paradigm may conjure images of automobiles propelled by fantastic hydrogen-powered engines and solar panels illuminating houses and streets. Many experts believe that the world is at least 50 years from this vision. Some predict that it will be necessary to decarbonize the world’s energy systems to protect the global climate system. In any case, the world is likely to move towards utilization of multiple sources of energy (Smil, 2003), and the question we must ask is how best to use the renewable energy portfolio – wind, solar, biomass, thermal, ocean tides – available today.

Bioenergy derived from sustainable agricultural practices provides an opportunity for developing countries to utilize their resources and attract the necessary investment to accelerate their sustainable development process. Some of the potential

benefi ts include: environmental benefi ts from the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) and the recuperation of soil productivity and degraded land; economic benefi ts from the increased activity resulting from improving access to and quality of energy services; and international benefi ts derived from the development of sustainable bioenergy trade.

La bioénergie dans le nouveau paradigme énergétique Der Beitrag von Bioenergie zu einem neuen Energieparadigma

Daniel De La Torre Ugarte

Le paradigme

énergétique, le maintien de l’environnement et la réduction de la pauvreté doivent être considéré comme des objectifs complé-mentaires, impliquant la cohérence des politiques internationa-les. … Les règles du commerce internatio-nal doivent favoriser l’émergence d’un marché des biocarbu-rants tout en autorisant les politiques nationales de développement durable.

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The Brazilian experience in biofuels, dating back to the Alcohol Programme of 1980, shows that it is possible to achieve a sustainable and economic ethanol production. Ethanol production in Brazil is economically viable without any government support at oil prices above USD 35 per barrel (Cohelo, 2005); this experience based on the use of sugarcane is transferable to other countries. Biofuels based on corn or other feedstock is maturing rapidly and reaching the point that ethanol prices would cover the cost of production.

The increased use of agricultural products for energy could also facilitate a transition away from traditional agricultural support programs in highly industrialized countries (De La Torre Ugarte and

Hellwinkel, 2004; Fulton et al., 2004). At the same time, coherent and mutually supportive environmental and economic policies may be needed to encourage the emergence of a globally dispersed bioenergy industry that will pursue a path of sustainable development and achieve win-win outcomes for the environment and economic development.

Biomass was the world’s primary source of energy until the late 1920s. Today about 10 per cent of the world’s energy use is still derived from biomass; however, this average masks the far greater importance of bioenergy in less developed countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where its share is as high as 80 per cent (UNDP, 2000).

The potential contribution of modern biomass energy services to

a new energy paradigm is indeed signifi cant. The world consumes about 400 EJ (exajoules) of energy per year. However, the world annually generates the equivalent of about 100 EJ of largely unused crop residues (Woods and Hall, 1994), and could produce an additional 180 EJ from energy dedicated grasses and trees (IPCC, 1996). The size of bioenergy’s ultimate contribution, however, is conditional upon the use of sustainable agricultural practices, land use consistent with the food needs of local and global populations, and the technically and economically effi cient distribution and conversion of feedstock into energy. However, bioenergy has to be viewed not as a replacement for oil, but as one element of a portfolio of renewable sources of energy.

One of the advantages of bioenergy is the diversity of both the feedstocks that can be utilised and the products and services that can

be obtained.

FibreFibre

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The production of energy from biomass involves a range of technologies that includes solid combustion, gasifi cation, and fermentation, among others. These

technologies produce liquid and gas fuels from a diverse set of biological resources – traditional crops (sugar cane, corn, oilseeds), crop residues and waste (corn stover, wheat straw, rice hulls, cotton waste), energy-dedicated crops (grasses and trees), dung, and the organic component of urban waste. The results are bioenergy products that provide multiple energy services: cooking fuel, heat, electricity and transportation fuels.

It is this very diversity that holds the potential of a win-win-win development path for the environment, social and economic development, and energy security. The opportunity at hand is to develop an international trade framework that, together with domestic policy instruments, will enhance the role of bioenergy as part of a successful development strategy.

Bioenergy and the environment

Under current trends, global oil use and carbon dioxide emissions in the transport sector will nearly double between 2000 and 2030 (Fulton et al., 2004). Increased use of bioenergy fuels such as ethanol and bio-diesel could help change this picture by offering an important low-carbon alternative to petroleum over this time frame and beyond. Production of biofuels, especially ethanol from grain and sugar crops, has been increasing dramatically in recent years,

and many countries have taken an active interest in producing and using these fuels in the transport sector. Many regions and countries, including the European Union and Argentina, have adopted national targets of fi ve to ten per cent displacement of oil with biofuels. Thailand recently implemented a biofuels programme that includes tax incentives and low interest loans for processors, to help reduce its dependence on imported oil and create a new market for its high tapioca yields. Incentives for the production of biofuels are being put in place around the globe.

The potential for bioenergy to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions varies, depending not only on the feedstock conversion technology but also on the methods used to produce the feedstock. For example, ethanol produced in industrialized countries from corn may reduce life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions only 10-30 per cent compared to oil, whereas ethanol produced from sugar cane or cellulose may reduce it by 90 per cent or more (Smil, 2003). In both cases, the greenhouse gas reductions increase dramatically if agricultural practices are adopted that enhance soil carbon sequestration and are less intensive in their use of petroleum-based fertilizers and fuels. This is especially signifi cant in the case of bioenergy-dedicated crops like grasses and trees, as their production is characterized by relatively low use of fertilizer and other petroleum-based products.

Environmental benefi ts from bioenergy are also created when high intensity agricultural techniques shift towards soil conservation and the production of native perennial grasses. The soil benefi ts in terms of erosion reduction, chemical leaching, and water quality can be signifi cant (McLaughlin et al., 2002). Even in countries where biofuels are not produced, environmental benefi ts from their use exist; improvements in air quality and reduced reliance on fossil fuels benefi t all.

The development of a strong bioenergy sector would open in many countries the prospect of exporting EGS with favorable trade potentials. The gains from trading bioenergy

Das

Energieparadigma, die ökologische Nachhaltigkeit und die Armutsbekämpfung sollten sich gegenseitig unterstützende Unterfangen darstellen und erfordern interna-tionale politische Kohärenz ... die Handelsbestimmungen sollten eine Expansion von Märkten für Biobrennstoffe fördern, aber dennoch im Inland Politikmaßnahmen zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung zulassen.

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services would not only result from the direct benefi ts of these services, but from the compounding benefi ts to the environment resulting from a more sustainable use of the natural resources in the production of the feedstock, and from the utilization of the fuels themselves as substitutes for fossil fuels. Kenya, Poland, and China are successfully developing bioenergy industries.

Energy services and development

There is a clear link between access to energy services and poverty alleviation and development. The fi rst set of critical energy needs are those that satisfy basic human needs: fuel for cooking and heating, energy for pumping water, and electricity for health and education services. The second set of critical energy needs are those that provide energy for income-generating activities that help break the cycle of poverty.

As was mentioned before, the poor heavily rely on biomass as a source of energy. In this context, traditional bioenergy is mainly derived from the combustion of wood and agricultural

residues. The negative impacts of burning such substances are severe. First, when combusted in confi ned spaces, they produce signifi cant indoor pollution to which women and children are primarily exposed. This creates severe health consequences, including respiratory illnesses and premature death. Secondly, this use puts immense pressure on local natural resources, especially as communities must satisfy increasing demands for energy services (Kartha and Leach, 2001).

The benefi ts of moving from the use of traditional biofuels - direct burning of wood for cooking and heat - towards modern biofuels - electricity, ethanol - cannot be overlooked. It has the potential to directly impact the quality of life of two billion people by improving indoor air quality, providing additional energy services for development activities, and allowing for sustainable management of natural resources.

Bioenergy and rural development

For many countries, a key motivation in the development of biofuels is to diversify energy resources; however, the opportunities for rural development need also to be a key priority. Rural development benefi ts from a dynamic bioenergy sector begin with feedstock production. As agricultural production in many

developing countries is characterized by labor-intensive activity, additional demand for agricultural products will increase employment and wages in the agricultural sector. Furthermore, the additional personal income generated has the potential to induce signifi cant multiplier impacts as it is spent by the rural population.

The production of bioenergy dedicated crops, as well as use of residues from the production of food and feed grains, would not only provide the foundation to build a bioenergy industry, but would also directly support and enhance the production of crops that increase the food security of a region or country. The satisfaction of basic needs for both food and energy could lead to a more effi cient use of land and rural resources, when the complementarities between these two are recognized.

Because bioenergy production facilities need to be located in rural areas, close to where the feedstock is grown, construction and operation of those facilities will generate additional economic activity in rural areas. Transportation of the feedstock to the plant and distribution of the fuels produced will also benefi t rural areas.

Because certain energy crops like trees and grasses require fewer inputs, they sometimes can be grown on land too marginal for food crops. These energy crops have the potential to

The energy

paradigm, environ-mental sustainability, and poverty alleviation should all be mutually supportive endeavours, demanding interna-tional policy coherence…trade rules should promote the expansion of biofuels markets but allow for domestic sustainable development policy mechanisms.

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extend the land base available for agricultural activities and also create new markets for farmers.

The CDM of the Kyoto Protocol allows polluting countries or enterprises to purchase environmental goods from developing countries. This is an example of an instrument that offers the opportunity to export EGS from developing to developed countries, or even within a South-South framework. The CDM also furthers sustainable development in the countries providing the environmental benefi ts.

These positive impacts in the dynamics of the rural economy could have a substantial role in reducing the traditional exodus towards the urban areas, helping to create the critical mass required to invest in education, health, and other public infrastructure.

Development of a bioenergy sector

Thus far, the preferred path for bioenergy use in the transportation sector has been the conversion of traditional crops, like sugar cane and corn, into ethanol either to be blended or directly used in internal combustion engines. Soybeans, jatropha, and other oilseed crops also can be converted to bio-diesel fuel and used to extend or substitute for fossil-derived diesel fuel. These paths offer many developing countries that produce these crops a well-tested opportunity to build their biofuels sector and reduce their need for costly imported fossil fuel.

For the development of the cellulosic ethanol industry, a sensible path begins with existing feedstocks, namely crop residues, followed by dedicated energy crops as the industry expands. New technological advances focus on the conversion of feedstocks rich in cellulose (plant fi bre) like crop residues/waste, and bioenergy-dedicated crops (grasses and trees) into a family of fuels that include ethanol, gas, and solid fuels (for the production of electricity or heat). Industrial gasifi cation plants (such as those based on coal in China) could convert an even wider variety of waste materials, including urban solid waste, to fuels, chemicals and plastics (UNDP, 2000).

For many countries, including those in the Caribbean Basin, Europe, and

Asia, the conversion of sugar cane and sugar beets provides an opportunity to build on their longstanding investment in production technology and infrastructure for sugar and adapt it to the production of bioenergy. South Africa offers a clear example of linking the sugar industry with bioenergy production, through electricity generation from co-fi ring bagasse, a by-product from the crushing of the sugar stalks (Fulton et

al., 2004).

The supply of cellulosic feedstock will depend on the agricultural production methods employed. The availability of crop residues for energy can be increased by introducing agricultural practices, like cover cropping, that protect soils from the impacts of water and wind erosion, and maintain or improve long-term productivity. These practices tend to increase the volume of crop residues left on the ground, and consequently the potential supply for energy conversion. Such practices are a necessary element for a sustainable development strategy as well as a major component in the production of EGS.

Should cropland use in developed countries shift from food and feed towards energy, farmers in developing countries may benefi t from higher prices and expanded production of food and feed crops. This would also increase the availability of crop residues, and the bioenergy industry could gain additional strength, enabling a shift towards the use of energy-dedicated crops.

Given the low density of biomass feedstocks, it will be necessary to locate conversion facilities in the same rural area where the production of feedstocks occurs. This fact emphasizes the close link between the biofuels sector and rural development.

Bioenergy technology and trends

The use of modern technology to convert biomass into fuels and electricity in regions that now rely heavily on traditional biomass energy – such as wood burning for cooking

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and heat, especially in Africa and Latin America – opens new opportunities for development and sustainable management of natural resources.

The diversity of feedstocks that can be transformed into useful energy offers the possibility to almost every country to develop its own unique domestic energy industry. Combined with enhanced production practices in the agricultural and forest sector, this would increase the viability of rural economies and reduce the exodus of rural populations to urban areas. The many ways in which biomass feedstocks can be transformed into energy also opens the possibility for each country to fi nd its own strategy to take best advantage of the resources and infrastructure available.

The potential for success of a bioenergy sector is enhanced by its ability to use the existing energy distribution system – whether in the form of liquid fuels, gas and/or electricity. Every country with productive agricultural or forestry activities has a stake in the success

of a bioenergy sector. A benefi t of most biofuels is that they are relatively easy to store for delayed usage. In contrast, other alternative sources of energy - nuclear, solar, wind - typically pass through the generation of electricity, which has very limited ability to be stored.

New technologies and trade

The development of innovative conversion technologies and advanced feedstocks will eventually allow for greater productivity per unit of land, at a lower cost, world-wide. These technologies include conversion of cellulose into ethanol, and gasifi cation of any type of raw biomass, with the synthesis gas converted into any number of products (including synthetic bio-diesel and bio-gasoline). As these new technologies develop, opportunities for production of bioenergy will increase. In the near future, countries with substantial resource potential may be in a strong position to export excess bioenergy services.

Countries are already exploring the possibility of exporting and transferring new technologies to countries that are currently lower-cost producers of bioenergy. There may be tremendous potential, for example, for production of advanced, cellulosic ethanol in developing countries. Continuing technical advances in existing bioenergy production also present an important avenue for technology exports. In order for technology trade to fl ourish, a robust domestic bioenergy infrastructure must be established in many countries, opening the door to bioenergy services trade.

Current trade and development policy situation

The convergence of environmental, development, and trade concerns under a bioenergy framework can be attributed to the fl exibility of biomass itself – almost any type of feedstock can be used, multiple energy services can be produced, projects can be developed on a variety of scales

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based on resource availability, and many development goals present in the Doha Declaration and the Kyoto Protocol can be utilized.

There is a great gap between countries at the forefront of development of their biofuels industries, such as Brazil, the Philippines, and the US, and countries which, despite relying on biomass for a large share of their energy, have further to go. These countries require a new approach to their production and use of bioenergy – not only to increase energy effi ciency but also to develop a modern energy industry capable of generating environmental and rural development benefi ts.

The most advanced countries owe their progress to a set of economic incentives and domestic policies that have fostered the development of a bioenergy industry (Coelho). These policies, however, do not have to be protectionist in nature, but rather can spur market growth by setting national production targets or blending volumes. Many countries are now discovering the potential role that bioenergy could play in their economies and in the economies of countries that could be markets for bioenergy services, such as Japan, as well as opportunities that tradable environmental goods may have for their economies.

An international bioenergy trading system will be supported best by a diverse set of producers. Thus, trade could be seriously hampered if the development gap is not recognized. While trade rules should promote the expansion of biofuels markets, by reducing tariffs to biofuels trade, they should also allow for coherent domestic policy mechanisms oriented towards sustainable development, particularly in the South. For example, countries implementing a renewable fuels standard to promote the use of biofuels should be allowed to balance their own rural and industrial development goals with their potential contribution to expand the biofuel market.

To take full advantage of the opportunities that a sustainable bioenergy sector offers, an

institutional framework of mutually supportive environmental and economic policies should be the concern of local and international bodies. The Doha Ministerial Declaration already provides a guiding principle by encouraging negotiations on environmental goods and services. These rules of trade – within the WTO’s domain – should be fl exible enough to encourage countries with a large production potential, like Brazil and Thailand, to take advantage of their economies of size by promoting mechanisms that expand the production and use of bioenergy as well as international trade of energy services. At the same

time, these international rules should support conditions to generate investment in countries with a smaller volume potential, but that are capable of taking advantage of domestic resources suitable to their resource base.

The nexus of energy development, poverty alleviation, and environmental protection offers a unique opportunity for international development, fi nancial and trade organizations to develop a coherent framework for cooperation and trade to achieve a higher goal: the sustainability of both the environment and economic development.

Further Reading■ Coelho, S.T. (2005). Biofuels - Advantages and Trade Barriers. Paper prepared for the session on biofuels of the UNCTAD Expert Meeting on the Developing Countries Participation in New and Dynamic Sectors of World Trade. Geneva, 7-9 February, 2005.

■ De La Torre Ugarte, D. and Hellwinckel, C. (2004). Commodity and Energy Policies under Globalization. Paper presented at the Agricultural Competitiveness and Change under Globalization Conference, organized by the Center for Agricultural Policy and Trade Studies and the Freeman Center for International Economic Policy, Fargo, North Dakota, October 11-12, 2004.

■ Fulton, L., Howes, T. and Hardy J. (2004). Biofuels for Transport: An International Perspective. International Energy Agency, Paris, April 2004.

■ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1996). Climate Change 1995: Impacts, Adaptations, and Mitigations of Climate Change: Scientifi c – Technical Analysis. Cambridge University Press.

■ Kartha, S. and Leach, G. (2001). Using Modern Bioenergy to Reduce Rural Poverty. Stockholm Environment Institute, August 2001.

■ McLaughlin, S.B., De La Torre Ugarte, D. G., Garten, C. T. Jr., Lynd, L. R., Sanderson, M. A., Tolbert, V. R. and Wolf D. D. (2002). High-Value Renewable Energy from Prairie Grasses. Environmental Science Technology, 36 (10): 2122 -2129.

■ Smil, V. (2003). Energy at the Crossroads: global perspectives and uncertainties. MIT Press.

■ UNDP, Bioenergy Primer: Modernised Biomass Energy for Sustainable Development, (2000). United Nations Development Program, Bureau for Development Policy, Energy and Atmospheric Programme, New York.

■ Woods, J., Hall, D.O. (1994). Bioenergy for Development: Technical and Environmental Dimensions. FAO Environment and Energy Paper 13. FAO, Rome.

■ Survey of Energy Resources, (2001). World Energy Council, London.

Daniel De La Torre UgarteAgricultural Policy Analysis Center, University of Tennessee, USAEmail: [email protected]

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summary

summary

© The Agricultural Ecomomics Society and the European Association of Agricultural Economists 2005

Biomass is a widely available resource that is receiving increased

consideration as a renewable substitute for fossil fuels. Developed sustainably and used effi ciently, it can induce growth in developing countries, reduce oil demand, and address environmental problems. The potential benefi ts include: reduction of greenhouse gases, recuperation of soil productivity and degraded land, economic benefi ts from adding value to agricultural activities and improving access to and quality of energy services. The production of bioenergy involves a range of technologies, including solid combustion, gasifi cation, and fermentation. These technologies produce energy from a diverse set of biological resources – traditional crops, crop residues, energy-dedicated crops, dung, and the organic component of urban waste. The results are bioenergy products that provide multiple energy services: cooking fuel, heat, electricity and transportation fuels. It is this very diversity that holds the potential of a win-win-win for the environment, social and economic development. Bioenergy has to be viewed not as a replacement for oil, but as an element of a portfolio of renewable sources of energy. Coherent and mutually supportive environmental and economic policies may be needed to encourage the emergence of a globally dispersed bioenergy industry that will pursue a path of sustainable development.

Der Beitrag von Bioenergie zu einem neuen Energieparadigma

The Contribution of Bioenergy to a New Energy Paradigm

La biomasse est une ressource largement répandue, qui commence

à retenir l’attention comme substitut renouvelable aux énergies fossiles. En l’utilisant de façon effi cace et durable, on peut accélérer la croissance des pays en voie de développement, réduire la demande pour le pétrole et résoudre certains problèmes d’environnement. Au nombre des bénéfi ces potentiels il faut mettre : la réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre, la reconstitution de la fertilité des sols et des terres dégradées, les avantages économiques liés à l’accroissement de la production agricole et à l’ amélioration des services énergétiques, tant en qualité qu’en accessibilité. La production de bioénergie met en oeuvre un large éventail de techniques parmi lesquelles la combustion de produits solides, la gazéifi cation et la fermentation. Elles produisent de l’énergie à partir d’une grande variété de sources biologiques : cultures traditionnelles, résidus de cultures, cultures spécialisées, fumiers et déchets organiques urbains. Les produits bio-énergétiques qui en résultent couvrent une grande variété d’usages : énergie de cuisson, chauffage, électricité et transports. C’est précisément sur cette diversité que repose l’espoir de gains dans toutes les directions, sociales, environnementales et économiques. Il ne faut pas voir la bioénergie comme un simple substitut au pétrole, mais comme un portefeuille de ressources renouvelables. Pour encourager l’émergence d’une industrie bioénergétique largement répandue et susceptible de contribuer au développement durable, il faudra sans doute élaborer des politiques économiques et environnementales cohérentes, capables de se soutenir mutuellement.

Bei Biomasse handelt es sich um eine weithin verfügbare Ressource,

welche zunehmend als erneuerbarer Ersatz für fossile Brennstoffe in Betracht gezogen wird. Sie kann bei nachhaltiger Entwicklung und effi zienter Nutzung zu Wachstum in den Entwicklungsländern führen, die Nachfrage nach Öl senken und dazu beitragen, die Umweltprobleme in den Griff zu bekommen. Zu den potenziellen Nutzen gehören: Verringerung der Treibhausgase, Wiederherstellung von Bodenproduktivität sowie von erodiertem Land, wirtschaftlicher Nutzen durch zusätzliche Wertschöpfung aus landwirtschaftlicher Aktivität und besserer Zugang zu und Qualität in der Energieversorgung. Bei der Erzeugung von Bioenergie kommen eine Reihe von verschiedenen Technologien zur Anwendung, z.B. Verbrennung fester Brennstoffe, Vergasung sowie Gärung. Diese Technologien erzeugen Energie mittels unterschiedlicher biologischer Ressourcen – traditionelle Feldfrüchte und deren Rückstände, spezielle Energiepfl anzen, Mist sowie der organische Anteil städtischer Abfälle. Die daraus erzeugte Bioenergie kann zum Kochen, zum Heizen, als Elektrizität oder als Treibstoff genutzt werden. Gerade in dieser Vielfalt liegt der potenzielle Gewinn für die Umwelt und die soziale sowie die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung. Bioenergie sollte nicht als ein Ersatz für Öl, sondern als Bestandteil des Portfolios erneuerbarer Energiequellen angesehen werden. Kohärente und sich gegenseitig unterstützende ökologische und ökonomische Politikmaßnahmen könnten erforderlich sein, um die Entstehung einer global verbreiteten Bioenergieindustrie zu begünstigen, welche eine nachhaltige Entwicklung verfolgt.

La bioénergie dans le nouveau paradigme énergétique

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