Promoting Bioenergy
Despite many factors favoring bioenergy today, the utilization of bioenergy has increased at a modest rate. Large-scale utilization of biomass for energy purposes is still limited to a few countries.
Bioenergy needs to be considered from a systems perspective (Silveira 2005). Like the fuel chain, energy systems are composed of a variety of technologies for energy generation, distribution, and use which tend to cause significant environmental impacts. Even if individual technologies can sometimes be simple, the internal logistics of energy systems can be quite intricate. Single technological solutions are seldom sufficient to create an efficient energy delivery chain that is competitive with conventional solutions. It is at the systems level, in which various specific technologies are included, industrial processes integrated, and resources well managed that bioenergy can become a mainstream alternative.
Three fundamental questions related to the development of bioenergy are: (1) what biomass conversion technologies and end-uses present the most favorable economic and environmental options in the energy mix; (2) what amount of biomass resources will these options require; and (3) can long-term, high productivity feedstock be economically and sustainably produced? Options range from heat and power production to liquid fuel substitutes and blending agents, but opinions vary widely on their potential contribution to future energy mixes and with regard to the appropriate resources, technologies, and scales to be applied.
Where do opportunities lie for establishing markets for bioenergy systems and biofuels in the near future? How does short-term development fit with the potential long-term role envisaged for biomass in the energy mix?
These questions will be answered in the following sections:
Encyclopedia ID: p1146
