5.06 - A Global Bioenergy Market

Abstract

The demand for bioenergy is growing at a rapid pace as the world aims to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. At the same time, as bioenergy markets are growing in terms of traded volumes, they are also expanding in a geographical sense. Traditionally, bioenergy markets have been local or regional, but in recent years, international, as well as intercontinental, trade in solid and liquid biofuels has developed. This is leading to important changes in how bioenergy is produced, consumed, and handled. Furthermore, since the bioenergy sector to a large degree is connected to sectors such as forestry, agriculture, and waste management, the expansion and internationalization of bioenergy markets is having effects outside the bioenergy markets themselves. Fears of competition over raw materials have been expressed with regard to forest products markets as well as food and feed markets. However, it should be noted that despite the growth in bioenergy trade, the markets for both liquid and solid biofuels are still a long way from being globalized to the same extent as, for example, the markets for crude oil. Several barriers to international trade still remain, in the form of import tariffs and subsidies as well as informal trade barriers such as lack of comprehensive technical standards and absence of international sustainability criteria.