Challenges in Bioenergy

The next ten years will be decisive for turning biomass into a modern and reliable energy supply source. The on-going development of bioenergy technologies and know-how, related to increasing international trade with biofuels, and policies to restrict carbon emissions are likely to create favorable conditions for a larger utilization of bioenergy. Equally important is the review of agricultural policies to guarantee increasing biomass supply on a sustainable basis (Silveira 2005).

Four major challenges in the development of bioenergy are:

1. Biofuel Supply and Market Development: Increasing internationalization of commodity markets for biofuels requires standardization and regulations that are still under development. Policy makers need to find ways of balancing local supply with imported fuels in order to retain the positive community impacts of biomass production and guarantee energy security. Transnational bioenergy companies are emerging.
2. Integration: A more rapid and effective development of bioenergy, with the reliability and cost efficiency commercially required, demands integration and coordination. In logistical terms, bio-based industrial clusters may emerge to promote the desired synergies. This poses challenges also in terms of designing multi-sectoral policies.
3. Competitiveness and Mainstreaming: In the near future, bioenergy will benefit from the formation of carbon markets and incentives being provided to increase the use of renewables. But as bioenergy becomes a mainstream alternative, it will have to deal with decreasing incentives and increasing cost competitiveness. Conditions for designing strategies for the segment are changing significantly.
4. Sustainability: As biofuel markets grow and bioenergy evolves from a peripheral to mainstream alternative in the energy sector, close monitoring of the impacts of large-scale biomass utilization is necessary to guarantee the environmental sustainability of bioenergy systems.

Other challenges related to bioenergy development include:

• Creating Synergies
• Managing Competition and Bottlenecks