Bioenergy Policy Research Articles

Innovative Biomass Cooking Approaches for sub-Saharan Africa

Eradicating poverty and achieving food and nutrition security in a sustainable environment is difficult to achieve without adequate access to affordable cooking fuel. It is therefore important to understand the common sources of cooking energy used by people in rural areas and the challenges faced in making fuel sources economically viable, socially acceptable and ecologically sustainable. In the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region, more than 90% of the population relies on firewood and charcoal (wood fuel, collectively) as a primary source of domestic energy. Wood fuel sustainability is challenged by unsustainable harvesting and inefficient methods of converting wood into energy. The use of inefficient cook stoves contributes to wood wastage and smoke exposure associated with severe illnesses. Households often abandon traditional nutritious diets that take a long time to cook, reduce the number of meals, and spend income on fuel at the expense of food costs. Innovations exist that have the potential to provide affordable and cleaner tree-based cooking fuel. Pruning trees on the farm as a fuel source brings firewood closer to women, lightens their workload, saves time and reduces income spent on cooking fuel. Using briquettes or gas cook stoves can reduce health risks associated with food preparation and reduce income spent on cooking fuel due to increased fuel efficiency. The development of these innovations indicates the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to increase awareness of the benefits of cooking fuel innovations, encourage further research on product quality enhancement and standardization, to understand cultural and behavioral issues influencing adoption, and integrate innovations into bioenergy policy frameworks.

Is the expansion of sugarcane over pasturelands a sustainable strategy for Brazil's bioenergy industry?

Biofuels are fundamental for meeting societal energy needs within the next few decades, but the sustainability of large-scale land use conversions to supply feedstock crops remains unclear. Quantitative data documenting how biofuel crop expansion will affect ecosystem services (ES) is needed to develop sustainable energy policies. Using pairwise comparisons of published and novel environmental, social and economic indicators, we quantitatively assessed the provision of critical ES related to key aspects of the sustainability of pasture-to-sugarcane transitions in Brazil. We found that with the exception of maintaining biodiversity, conversion of pasturelands to sugarcane fields enhanced many ES. Based on the Sustainability index, aimed to capture changes on key sustainability aspects by considering multiple ES and properly integrating them, we concluded that pasture to sugarcane transitions would increase the sustainability by 78% in south-central Brazil. Our results provide science-based empirical evidence that the expansion of sugarcane into degraded pasturelands is a suitable strategy to enhance Brazil's biomass feedstock supplies for producing bioenergy. Moreover, facing the complex and multidimensional concept of sustainability, our study also illustrates the importance of considering holistically land use change effects rather than individual ESs when establishing sustainable land management practices and bioenergy policies.

Exploring the impacts of biofuel expansion on land use change and food security based on a land explicit CGE model: A case study of China

Biofuel plays an important role in the transition to low-carbon energy systems. However, the large-scale expansion of biofuels may cause drastic land use change (LUC) due to feedstock cultivation and further result in other sustainability impacts (e.g., food supply), which are the key concerns for policy makers when designing bioenergy policies. However, biophysical models omit the indirect LUC from interactions of economic agents, whereas economic models lack the depiction of heterogeneous land use types. Thus, through either technique, it has formidable challenges to simulate land conversions among alternative uses driven by socioeconomic activities, especially policy mandates. To bridge the gap between these models by simultaneously considering land heterogeneity and market mechanisms and to gain better insights into specific national/regional cases to supplement previous global biofuel and LUC analyses, in this study, we develop a national computable general equilibrium (CGE) model augmented with an explicit land allocation module and design a scenario approach to simulate different patterns of land use management. Food grains and dedicated energy crops are considered feedstock sources and marginal land is incorporated as a potential land supply. Using this model, the case study of China quantifies the direct and indirect LUC driven by the bioethanol (one of the main biofuels) expansion of the new nationwide E10 mandate (gasoline containing 10% ethanol) in 2020, as well as the further impacts on food security. The results show that a slight land reallocation occurs with decreases in the land supply for rice (−0.016%), other non-feedstock grains and crops, as well as forest and grassland (−0.023%). The land competition among existing croplands would be intense in the non-deforestation scenario. If marginal land is reclaimed for feedstock cultivation, the cropland competition could be softened. The results of sensitivity analysis indicate that the total LUC scale would be 4.0–5.9% with no corn stockpile serving as feedstock. Additionally, the bioethanol expansion would trigger higher food prices (around +0.1%). To alleviate the negative impacts on land resources and food security, planting energy crops on marginal land could increase non-grain feedstocks by 10% and save 0.217% of croplands; therefore, it may be one of the promising pathways for sustainable biofuel development in China. This study can lay a common foundation for further integrated impact assessments of biofuel expansion.

Resilience through policy integration in Europe? Domestic forest policy changes as response to absorb pressure to integrate biodiversity conservation, bioenergy use and climate protection in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden

In this paper, we analyse how and why domestic forest policies in Europe have responded to pressures to integrate biodiversity conservation, climate and bioenergy policies. We use content analysis of documents and interviews to analyse change and stability in domestic forest policy goals, instruments and practices in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden over time. We find that decision-makers in forest policy and practice responded to pressure to integrate biodiversity into forestry through four different types of policy change outcomes and processes. Depending on the context, these responses included layering, drift, conversion and/or replacement. In all countries, the forest policy changes were driven by (partly shifting) coalitional politics and changes in external conditions. Domestic forest policy regimes shifted from ‘timber production’ towards ‘multifunctional’, ‘sustainable forest management’ or ‘biodiversity’ primacy, and then back to ‘timber harvesting’. Forest policy also integrated bioenergy and climate change policies in order to minimise pressure by EU and national biodiversity policy sectors and to enable ‘timber harvesting’ (re-)turns in forest policy. We conclude that policy integration processes and the shifts in forest policy they contain refer to a sectoral resilience, that is, the ability of forest policy to react to, minimise, and absorb pressures to integrate biodiversity conservation policies.

Modelling national policy making to promote bioenergy in heat, transport and electricity to 2030 – Interactions, impacts and conflicts

Governments must increase bioenergy use to realise the Paris agreement ambition. Most countries have limited biomass resources and policy goals beyond carbon reduction. This can lead to policy incoherence. Previous studies tended to focus on one end-use sector or on optimising CO2 reduction. This study goes beyond optimisation approaches and investigates cross sector impacts of bioenergy policy proposals via simulation methods for policy proposals in Ireland. As an EU member with ambition for increased bioenergy use, Ireland is a useful case to examine trade-offs. Using the BioHEAT policy decision support tool (Durusut et al., 2018) we find policy in the heat and transport sector close the gap to Ireland's 2030 climate targets by 3%. Policy supporting co-firing of biomass with fossil-fuel to produce electricity increases emissions by 8.3 MtCO2 overall and reduces the policy impact on national climate targets by 63%. Co-firing uses more of the available biomass resources and this limits renewable uptake in the heat sector. Coal conversions and the use of advanced biofuels are found to rely on high availability of imports. Policy supporting biomass use in the power sector may make national climate targets less achievable for EU countries.

Impact of state policies on generating capacity for production of electricity and combined heat and power from forest biomass in the United States

This research enhances the understanding of the complex relationship between state policies and decisions to invest into bioenergy generation capacity. Specifically, the paper evaluates the impact of state policies on large-scale generating capacity (over 1 Megawatt) for production of electricity and combined heat and power from forest biomass in the United States. Controlling for state-specific factors, the article investigates which policy types (regulation, information provision, production incentives, tax incentives, or project financing) and policy foci (e.g. policies specifically targeting forest bioenergy vs. renewable energy production in general) were associated with higher bioenergy capacities in the years 2004–2013. The analysis is based on a unique dataset of 450 state bioenergy policies in effect in the years 2003–2012. The introduction of tax incentives (especially tax credits), as well as policy packages with ten or more policies is associated with higher installed bioenergy capacity. In contrast, no statistically significant relationship was found between bioenergy capacity and introduction of production incentives, project financing, and regulations. Apart from policy impacts, the strongest predictor of installed capacity is the sufficient availability of forest biomass.

Spatially explicit LCA analysis of biodiversity losses due to different bioenergy policies in the European Union

In this study, the potential global loss of species directly associated with land use in the EU and due to trade with other regions is computed over time, in order to reveal differences in impacts between the considered alternatives of plausible bioenergy policies development in the EU.The spatially explicit study combines a life cycle analysis (LCA) for biodiversity impact assessment with a global high resolution economic land use model. Both impacts of domestic land use and impacts through imports were included for estimating the biodiversity footprint of the member states of the (EU28). The analyzed scenarios assumed similar biomass demand until 2020 but differed thereafter, from keeping the growth of demand for bioenergy constant (CONST), to a strong increase of bioenergy in line with the EU target of decreasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 80% by 2050 (EMIRED) and with the baseline (BASE) scenario falling between the other two.As a general trend, the increasing demand for biomass was found to have substantial impact on biodiversity in all scenarios, while the differences between the scenarios were found to be modest. The share caused by imports was 15% of the overall biodiversity impacts detected in this study in the year 2000, and progressively increased to 24% to 26% in 2050, depending on the scenario. The most prominent future change in domestic land use in all scenarios was the expansion of perennial cultivations for energy. In the EMIRED scenario, there is a larger expansion of perennial cultivations and a smaller expansion of cropland in the EU than in the other two scenarios. As the biodiversity damage is smaller for land used for perennial cultivations than for cropland, this development decreases the internal biodiversity damage per unit of land. At the same time, however, the EMIRED scenario also features the largest outsourcing of damage, due to increased import of cropland products from outside the EU for satisfying the EU food demand. These two opposite effects even out each other, resulting in the total biodiversity damage for the EMIRED scenario being only slightly higher than the other two scenarios.The results of this study indicate that increasing cultivation of perennials for bioenergy and the consequent decrease in the availability of cropland for food production in the EU may lead to outsourcing of agricultural products supply to other regions. This development is associated with a leakage of biodiversity damages to species-rich and vulnerable regions outside the EU.In the case of a future increase in bioenergy demand, the combination of biomass supply from sustainable forest management in the EU, combined with imported wood pellets and cultivation of perennial energy crops, appears to be less detrimental to biodiversity than expansion of energy crops in the EU.

Forecasting ethanol market volatility: new evidence from the corn implied volatility index

AbstractGlobal ethanol production has expanded significantly in recent years as a result of a sharp rise in the worldwide crude oil price. Currently, the USA is the leading producer and exporter of ethanol fuel globally and hence fluctuations in ethanol price could play a vital role in influencing the country's overall bioenergy policy. It is hence important to model and forecast the US ethanol price precisely to minimize the market risk. Surprisingly, this issue has not received considerable attention in the biofuel and bioenergy literature. To rectify this situation, the present study aims to model and predict US ethanol market volatility using the recently published corn price implied volatility (CIV) index. Employing a set of generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) volatility approaches, we show that the information content of CIV index is a significant factor in explaining the variation in the ethanol price. The inclusion of the CIV index also generally improves the volatility forecasts of the US ethanol price index. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

The effects of site selection, opportunity costs and transportation costs on bioethanol production

Abstract Policy and legislative initiatives, along with volatility in agricultural commodity prices, have encouraged farmers to consider alternative crops, such as potential advanced biomass feedstock for bioenergy, including energy beets. This paper employs an integrated biophysical, economic and transportation GIS-based model to examine the production of beet-bioethanol from five sites in North Dakota. The study finds that beet-bioethanol could provide net benefits to farmers and ethanol producers in the state, under current market conditions, but only if the bioethanol plant site is carefully selected. Specifically, a 75 million litre plant could produce a profit at capacity offering a beet price of $33/t at an ethanol price of $0.40/L at one of five analyzed sites. Policy initiatives that increase the price of ethanol could make production attractive at all of the investigated sites. Both increased agricultural opportunity costs and decreased transportation costs move feedstock production away from the plant site to higher quality lands. This result implies that, in some cases, to pursue biomass production on marginal lands, policy initiatives would need to increase transportation costs, lower agricultural commodity prices, or increase biomass prices. Therefore, assumptions about land quality should be carefully considered in biomass and bioenergy policy.

Optimization of specific methane yield prediction models for biogas crops based on lignocellulosic components using non-linear and crop-specific configurations

Basing the prediction of specific methane yield (SMY) of crop biomass on lignocellulosic components has become a promising tool in biogas plant management and bioenergy policies. Most studies on SMY prediction provide linear or non-linear models across crops with lignin content as major regressor variable. To determine the effect of crop-specific regressions, a meta-analysis was conducted using data from 14 published studies (518 observations) and three of the authors' own experiments (160 observations). In total, 678 observations of biomass components and SMY from 13 potential biogas crops were included. The data were used to validate seven published models and both develop and cross-validate new linear and non-linear models with and without crop-specific regressions. Available models showed correlations between r = 0.12 and 0.51. New models reached correlations of up to r = 0.66. Both crop-specific intercepts and slopes as well as non-linear regressions significantly increased model predictability. Of these, crop-specific intercepts brought about the largest improvement but still allowed easy use and interpretability. Therefore, it was shown that the use of biomass source information can help optimize the precision of SMY prediction.

From pure science to participatory knowledge production? Researchers’ perceptions on science–policy interface in bioenergy policy

Abstract There is a plea for dialogue and interaction between researchers and policymakers, particularly in relation to burning and complex societal problems. However, day-to-day science–policy interaction remains a challenge. By investigating researchers’ perspectives on challenges and opportunities of evolving interaction between science and policy, this article contributes to the ongoing discussions on workable and effective science–policy interface. The analysis, based on twelve in-depth interviews with experienced forest bioenergy researchers working at different organizations in Finland, shows that researchers appreciate a variety of roles and contributions from pure scientist to participatory knowledge production. Paradoxically, researchers ideologically still adhere to objective and linear knowledge production, which is, however, associated with multiple challenges such as politicization of science, disuse or misuse of scientific knowledge and communication. The article concludes that more nuanced consideration and acknowledgement of science–policy context as well as researchers’ role in it could create mutual benefits for research and policy.

Where did the marginal land go? Farmers perspectives on marginal land and its implications for adoption of dedicated energy crops

Dedicated energy crops such as miscanthus and short rotation coppice willow were expected by UK policy and academic modelling to be deployed across large swaths of UK marginal lands in response to farm and market level incentives, delivering on bioenergy policy objectives. Yet, this never materialised. This article examines a previously unanalysed component of this policy failure by comparing and contrasting policy and farmer perspectives on marginal land as a suitable site for energy crops.Drawing on qualitative interviews with 32 livestock, arable and mixed farmers in England this research suggests that the policy framing of energy crops on marginal land to resolve sustainability controversies, was translated by the farming community into ‘energy crops are for marginal land’. This acted as a multifaceted barrier to dedicated energy crops due to complex interactions between farmers’ personal and cultural values, on-farm practices, technologies, regulations and market developments. Farmers, never considered their land marginal enough, consequently this policy framing invoked considerable resistance. This highlights the importance of embedding understandings of farmers’ cultural values, on-farm practices, technological change, and tensions between different bodies of regulation when articulating new policy initiatives and the way in which policy narratives translate into practical settings.

Biomass production and carbon balance in two hybrid poplar (Populus euramericana) plantations raised with and without agriculture in southern France

Poplar is useful in different climates for bioenergy production and carbon sequestration when planted as a single species or in agroforestry. Europe has large areas potentially suitable for poplar forestry and a bioenergy policy that would encourage poplar forestry. In this study I estimated biomass production and carbon sequestration in poplar monoculture plantation and poplar-wheat agroforestry, in the Mediterranean region of France. A single-tree harvesting method was used to estimate biomass and an empirical conversion factor was adopted to calculate sequestered carbon. Total biomass was higher in agroforestry trees (1223 kg tree−1) than in monoculture plantation trees (1102 kg tree−1). Aboveground and belowground biomass distributions were similar in both cases (89 and 88% aboveground, and 11 and 12% belowground, respectively in agroforestry and monoculture). The partitioning of total biomass in an agroforestry tree in leaves, branch, and trunk (aboveground), and fine roots, medium roots, coarse roots and underground stem (belowground) was 1, 22, and 77, and 6, 9, 44 and 40%, respectively. Except for branch and trunk, all other compartments were similarly distributed in a monoculture tree. Storage of C was higher in agroforestry trees (612 kg tree−1) than in monoculture trees (512 kg tree−1). In contrast, C storage on a per hectare basis was lower in agroforestry (85 Mg ha−1) than in monoculture (105 Mg ha−1) due to the lower density of trees per hectare in agroforestry (139 trees in agroforestry vs 204 trees in monoculture). On a per hectare basis, soil C stocks pattern were similar to per tree stocking: They were higher in agroforestry at 330 Mg ha−1 than in monoculture 304 Mg ha−1. Higher C accumulation by agroforestry has a direct management implication in the sense that expanding agroforestry into agriculture production areas with short rotation and fast growing trees like poplar would encourage quicker and greater C sequestration. This could simultaneously fulfil the requirement of bioenergy plantation in Europe.

Impacts of Bioenergy Policies on Land-Use Change in Nigeria

In recent years, bioenergy policies have increased the competition for land as well as the risk of adverse environmental impacts resulting from deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). Primary land-use objectives confronting society today include meeting the growing demand for agricultural products, especially energy crops, preserving essential ecosystem services for human well-being and long-run agrarian production, and contributing to the climate policy target. Here, future agricultural, societal and environmental consequences of bioenergy policies under different global climate and societal development scenarios were assessed using a novel Forest and Agricultural Sector Optimization Model for Nigeria (NGA–FASOM). The results reveal that, in Nigeria, meeting emission reduction requires an implementation of a minimum carbon price of $80/ton within the forest and agricultural sectors. A carbon price alone is not sufficient to preserve the remaining forests and pasture land in Nigeria when bioenergy is subsidized. Furthermore, the result shows that subsidy on bioenergy does not have any significant effect on the total social welfare. The findings in this study provide a guide for policymakers in designing appropriate policies addressing bioenergy industry issues in Nigeria.

Impact of bioenergy policy induced land use change on water quality under changing climate in the Northern Great Plains of the USA

Lake Ashtabula, located in the Northern Great Plains of the USA, has been listed as a nutrients-impaired water body by the United States Environmental Protection Agency with high priority to develop total maximum daily load (TMDL) reduction plans. The watershed draining into the lake is predominantly of agricultural land uses, which have changed considerably in recent years due to bioenergy policies. The region has also been experiencing a decade-long abnormally wet weather pattern since the early 1990s. A Soil and Water Assessment Tool model for Lake Ashtabula watershed was developed and calibrated to estimate annual sediment and nutrient loads into Lake Ashtabula under different land use and climate scenarios. The model could be used further for developing sediment and nutrient TMDLs for Lake Ashtabula and for identifying contributing areas targeted for watershed management and lake water quality improvement.

Impact of bioenergy policy induced land use change on water quality under changing climate in the Northern Great Plains of the USA

Lake Ashtabula, located in the Northern Great Plains of the USA, has been listed as a nutrients-impaired water body by the United States Environmental Protection Agency with high priority to develop total maximum daily load (TMDL) reduction plans. The watershed draining into the lake is predominantly of agricultural land uses, which have changed considerably in recent years due to bioenergy policies. The region has also been experiencing a decade-long abnormally wet weather pattern since the early 1990s. A Soil and Water Assessment Tool model for Lake Ashtabula watershed was developed and calibrated to estimate annual sediment and nutrient loads into Lake Ashtabula under different land use and climate scenarios. The model could be used further for developing sediment and nutrient TMDLs for Lake Ashtabula and for identifying contributing areas targeted for watershed management and lake water quality improvement.

Translating bioenergy policy in Europe: Mutation, aims and boosterism in EU energy governance

Supranational policies move from their places of spatial design towards domestic and local materialization, a journey on which policy programs are subject to multiple loops of translation in various spatial contexts. These loops involve shifting rationalities, historically formed path dependencies and distinct constellations of stakeholders, all of which affect the means of their implementation within national and regional socio-spatial environments. This article evaluates the complexity of governance assemblages based on the translation and mutation of European Union bioenergy policies. As part of the transition towards a low carbon economy, EU member states have been given the responsibility to choose their own approaches within the common EU 2020 renewable energy framework. While EU documents highlight energy security, energy union and sustainability, a contested policy translation process reformulates governance means and aims along the way and sometimes causes the generic targets to vanish. Thus, context dependent decision making assemblages are portrayed as shaping the policy process and the advancement of renewable energy in various directions. The article bundles the empirical results of case studies in Finland, Germany, Estonia, France, and Norway, as well as EU institutions in Brussels to conceptualize peculiarities that guide policy design, translation and boosterist processes in transnational governance.

Addressing uncertainty in decarbonisation policy mixes – Lessons learned from German and European bioenergy policy

For promoting innovation in the context of sustainability transitions, research emphasizes the importance of combining technology-push and demand-pull instruments in a coordinated policy mix. Designing such policy mixes, however, remains challenging, due to path dependencies, interacting market failures, and uncertainty regarding eventual economic, environmental and societal impacts of innovations. This results in the need for a learning and flexible policy design, but simultaneously, stable political framework conditions are required to bring about lasting changes in production and consumption behaviour. This paper undertakes an economic assessment of how this trade-off between flexibility and stability has been addressed in practice, focussing on a case study of the European and German bioenergy policy mix which serves as a prime example for the challenges of dealing with uncertainty (e.g. regarding land use impacts, GHG balances, cost developments). Informed by the theory of second best, new institutional economics and the interdisciplinary policy mix literature, we identify dimensions for assessing whether relevant uncertainties, interactions between market failures and other constraints on first-best policy making have been handled in a rational manner. From the case study, we derive lessons for bioeconomy policy, as a further example of a decarbonisation policy mix faced by high uncertainty and complexity.

Regional differences in impacts to water quality from the bioenergy mandate

The bioenergy mandate under Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA 2007) will result in large scale land-use changes in the US if it is ever fully realized. Energy crops such as switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and miscanthus (Miscanthus X giganteus) can grow well throughout the continental United States; however, most studies on the water quality impacts of land-use change from bioenergy policy are based in the Midwest. Insufficient research has been conducted to determine whether the results from the Midwest are applicable to other regions in the United States. This study compares water quality impacts of converting from corn to switchgrass in the Midwest (Upper Cedar watershed) and Southeast (Lumber watershed) with nitrogen loading to surface water as a proxy metric for overall water quality impacts using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The analysis shows that the fraction of nitrogen runoff compared to the fertilizer applied is 36% in Upper Cedar as compared to 6% in Lumber. Existing management practices like tile-drainage and land-cover like riparian wetlands contribute to this difference in the baseline nitrate export from each watershed. The potential reduction in nitrogen loading per potential liter of ethanol to surface waters, which account for both nitrate export and productivities, from the baseline corn-soy to switchgrass is about 40% for the Upper Cedar watershed and around 80% for the Lumber watershed. Although, the trend in reduction is similar in both watersheds, this study shows that results extrapolated from the Midwest may not be representative of other bioenergy producing regions.

The hidden costs of renewables promotion: The case of crop-based biogas

This paper finds that specific characteristics of bioenergy investments – namely long times to build, relatively high variable costs, and the managerial ability of corrective actions during the project – help bioenergy producers to respond to market uncertainties. This effect is shown to compromise the economic effectiveness of bioenergy policies. The paper compares the effectiveness of financial and regulatory incentive programs aiming to stimulate production of crop-based biogas. A stylized stochastic real-options based investment model is developed to analyze the investment behavior of biogas producers under alternative policies. The model is solved by a numerical approach combining stochastic simulations and the genetic algorithm technique. Unless bioenergy schemes account for structural characteristics of the bioenergy industry, they will tend to encourage investments in unused production capacities. This would cause additional welfare costs and benefit mainly crop producers.