In view of the many risks and opportunities that bioenergy represents, a number of experts were invited to participate in the IRGC workshop on Risk Governance Guidelines for Bioenergy Policies. held on 25 and 26 February 2008. At this workshop, the participants worked together on:
Determining what should be the priorities to be reached by bioenergy policies
Agreeing on tools to develop sustainable production and policies
Proposing guidelines on how governments and industry should proceed to avoid the risks while developing the opportunities of bioenergy
The participants sought to find an appropriate balance between:
scientific data (and uncertainty of the knowledge in many cases);
policy options (including policies already in place); and
possible regulatory approaches
The experts considered the many problems linked to the biased and unsustainable development of liquid biofuels as well as the many opportunities associated with the small-scale development of bioenergy production facilities. At a local scale and in specific situations, these can provide numerous prospects for local and rural development, particularly with regard to meeting energy needs in developing countries. In the short term, most win-win opportunities appear to be optimal at a small, local scale, primarily due to the low energy density of biomass resources. These include niche applications such as farm-scale biogas plants or biomass for combined heat and power (CHP). While IRGC has endeavoured to avoid the current political debate surrounding biofuels, the experts noted the widespread growing concerns about the current development of large scale production of bioethanol and biodiesel.
In particular, the workshop participants identified three important dimensions for improving the risk governance of bioenergy:
Land-use change (both the direct and indirect impacts)
Sustainability criteria and certification schemes
Appropriate economic instruments
In view of the complexity of the issue, the members of the project’s Advisory Board have discussed and agreed that IRGC would propose policy options, with clear-cut targets, summarised as follows:
Industrialised countries and major exporters of bioenergy among developing countries should encourage the development of bioenergy only where it can be demonstrated that doing so will reduce GHG emissions throughout the entire life-cycle;
Other developing countries and countries with economies in transition should primarily develop bioenergy that benefits local livelihoods through the provision of affordable, safe and more efficient heat, electricity and fuel for transportation, and to support wider sustainable development goals that do not, in doing so, jeopardise food security.