New Publication – Charting global positions and visions of stakeholders towards sustainable bioenergy

Feb 2020
Publications

Charting global positions and visions of stakeholders towards sustainable bioenergy

Open-access paper, available at: https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13705-019-0225-0

This paper examines the position and vision of a wider range of stakeholder groups towards bioenergy and its development at a global level. Some conclusions:

  • Overall, there is a lack of awareness in the general public towards bioenergy and its developments.
  • Internet and social media are the most consulted sources of information but least trusted, while scientific information is most trusted but least used. Effectively disseminating scientific information is an important influencing factor on the position towards bioenergy.
  • Agricultural residues, energy crops cultivated on marginal or degraded land and forestry residues are generally accepted as feedstocks for bioenergy production, whereas use of agricultural land is viewed critically by stakeholders.
  • Stakeholders generally support bioenergy development when jointly agreed sustainability requirements are met. Enhancing support for the bioenergy sector relies on sustainability requirements covering social, economic and environmental aspects, applied to all types of biomass regardless of end use.
  • Transparency in demonstrating compliance with sustainability criteria is an expected pre-condition to enhance support for bioenergy (and ultimately the bioeconomy) in the long term.

The work was part of the IEA Bioenergy project “Measuring, governing and gaining support for sustainable bioenergy supply chains”. More info available at: http://itp-sustainable.ieabioenergy.com/

The paper was published in the Journal Energy, Sustainability and Society on 19 December 2019. Citation: Mai-Moulin, T., Fritsche, U.R. & Junginger, M. Charting global position and vision of stakeholders towards sustainable bioenergy. Energ Sustain Soc 9, 48 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13705-019-0225-0