Background

Rising fuel prices, growing energy demand, concerns over domestic energy security and global warming from greenhouse gas emissions have triggered the global interest in bioenergy and biofuel crop development. It is widely argued that developing countries can benefit particularly from its development as relatively high dependency on imported petroleum places considerable pressure on their balance of payment and enhances their exposure to supply shocks. Commercial bioenergy development has the potential to not only alleviate these energy concerns, but also to give renewed impetus to the agricultural sector and rural development.

Governments in industrialised and developing countries alike are showing keen interest in renewable energy sources, particularly biofuels, and have begun to set sectoral targets for their use. The European Union and a number of other, predominantly industrialised, countries have set short- and long-term targets for the percentage or quantity of biofuels to be incorporated into conventional fuel. This is prompting a surge in domestic demand that, in the long term, cannot be met by domestic production. As a result, commercial investors are actively seeking out opportunities in developing countries, so as to capitalise on favourable conditions for biofuel crop cultivation.
 

Large-scale jatropha plantation with forest in background, Brong Ahafo region, Ghana. Photo by Laura German

However, a growing number of governments and civil society organisations, both in developed and in developing countries, have expressed concern about the potential downsides of bioenergy development, notably its potential effects on forests and rural livelihoods. In many parts of the world, it is likely to displace customary land uses (grazing, collection of fuel and other forest products, shifting agriculture), placing an additional burden on women and the poor. Research has shown that satisfying the projected demand for bioenergy will require significant shifts in land use. In many cases, new biofuel crops could be grown well on degraded land, but in many other cases, bioenergy development may result in accelerated deforestation, which will have a major impact on biodiversity and other ecosystem services.

The potential impact of bioenergy development on forests can therefore be seen as a subset of the larger REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) issue, as well as a challenge in its own right, due to associated social and environmental impacts beyond carbon emissions. Despite the significance of these potential impacts, the only notes of caution prominent in the public discourse to date are focussed on the potential of bioenergy to compete with food crops and thereby affect nutrition. Further analysis is needed to illuminate the degree to which other concerns – the potential impact of bioenergy development on forests, carbon emissions and the livelihoods of those who depend most on the natural resources displaced by biofuels – are well-founded, and how they might be addressed.

The current focus on bioenergy development also largely ignores the current and potential role of forests as a sustainable source of bioenergy for rural communities and industry. For example, large volumes of wood waste left behind in logging concessions could be utilised for energy. Already, firewood and charcoal make up a major portion of energy use in sub-Saharan Africa, and play an important role in local livelihoods. Renewed attention to the nexus of forests and rural energy in the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation is warranted.
 

A tree and its canopy in a forest area in Papua, Indonesia, which has been designated  for non-forestry uses (oil palm). Photo by Heru Komarudin

This research attempts to address these concerns in order to inform bioenergy-related policies in both consumer and producer nations to ensure that forest destruction and rural economic disempowerment are not unintended consequences of bioenergy development. Through the project, attempts are made to achieve good governance, ensuring that the processes of decision making related to bioenergy development are participative, accountable, transparent and responsive to the present and future generations. Processes for capturing the views of minorities in formal research as well as multi-stakeholder policy processes are employed to ensure the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard by decision makers.

Research also illuminates – e.g. through economic valuation of alternative land uses – the current trade-offs and possible synergies in developing countries among forests as sources of carbon-neutral energy, forests as sources of other ecosystems services such as biodiversity, and forests as sources of livelihoods. The results of the research can be used to develop land use planning frameworks for achieving sustainable bioenergy production benefits for local people in developing countries, minimising negative impacts on the local environment and the livelihoods of women and the poor, and contributing to global climate change mitigation.

Relevance of the Project to Policy Developments in the EU

The Biomass Action Plan of the European Union (COM 2005/628, adopted on 7 December 2005) identifies various actions to encourage the use of all types of biomass for renewable energy production. This Communication sets out an EU Strategy for Biofuels which has three aims:

1. To further promote biofuels in the EU and developing countries, to ensure their production and use is globally positive for the environment and that they contribute to the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy taking competitiveness considerations into account;

2. To prepare for the large-scale use of biofuels by improving their cost competitiveness through the optimised cultivation of dedicated feedstocks, research into 'second generation' biofuels, and support for market penetration by scaling up demonstration projects and removing non-technical barriers;

3. To explore the opportunities for developing countries – including those affected by the reform of the EU sugar regime – for the production of biofuel feedstocks and biofuels, and to set out the role the EU could play in supporting the development of sustainable biofuel production.

The project aims to contribute to the three aims defined in the EU Strategy for Biofuels through scientific research and other actions to advance sustainable bioenergy development that benefits local people in developing countries, minimises negative impacts on the local environment and communities, and contributes to global climate change mitigation.