Resource information
The last five to ten years have seen a
strong resurgence of interest in bioenergy along with the
gradual development of more modern and efficient bioenergy
production systems. This has been driven by several factors
including instability in oil producing regions, financial
market shift of investments in 2007-2008 to commodities and
oil, extreme weather events, and surging energy demand from
developing countries. Bioenergy developments present both
opportunities and challenges for socioeconomic development
and the environment and have a number of potential impacts
on forests and the rural poor who depend on forests for
their livelihoods. In developing countries, the impact of
bioenergy on poverty alleviation will depend on the
opportunities that are presented for agricultural
development, including income and employment generation and
the potential to increase poor peoples' access to
improved types of bioenergy. There are significant concerns
surrounding the efficiency of different bioenergy options to
combat climate change, the impact on agriculture, food
security and sustainable forest management and the social
impacts of bioenergy development, particularly related to
land use changes, land tenure, and land rights. Food
insecurity may result if staple crops are used for energy
production or land conflicts and if production displaces
local communities or restricts access to land. The
environmental impacts of these developments are uncertain
and will vary considerably from case to case. The
development of bioenergy is likely to have significant
impacts on the forest sector directly, through the use of
wood for energy production, and indirectly, as a result of
land use changes. It is expected that energy production from
solid biomass will have both direct and indirect impacts on
the sector, whereas liquid biofuels will mainly have
indirect effects.
