THE IMPORTANCE OF MODERN BIOENERGY
THE IMPORTANCE OF MODERN BIOENERGY FOR MEETING
GLOBAL RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGETS
While advances in wind and solar have made recent headlines, modern bioenergy has the potential
to become the most important source of growth in renewable energy use over the next 20 years.
According to REmap 2030 – the plan to double the global share of renewables by 2030 – rapid progress in
modern biomass is essential to meet international targets.
There are two forms of bioenergy in use today: “traditional” and “modern”. Traditional use of biomass includes
fuelwood, animal waste and traditional charcoal. Modern biomass technologies include liquid biofuels produced from straw and wood, industrial cogeneration and biorefineries, biogas produced through anaerobic
digestion of residues, pellet heating systems and other technologies.
Bioenergy as a whole accounted for 12% of the world’s total final energy consumption (TFEC) in 2010. Of this,
9% came from traditional sources and 3% from modern bioenergy. All forms of renewable energy combined
accounted for 18% of global energy consumption in 2010. This means that three-quarters of the world’s current
renewable energy use comes from bioenergy as a whole, and more than half from traditional biomass.
Doubling the share of renewable energy worldwide needs to be accompanied by a massive shift
from traditional to modern biomass.
The world used approximately 51 exajoules (EJ) of primary biomass in 2012, including 105 billion litres (2.5
EJ) of liquid biofuels. This equals 10% of global primary energy supply. Under current policies, bioenergy use
will grow to 79 EJ by 2030, and biofuels to 287 billion litres. REmap 2030 shows that to reach international
objective, the use of bioenergy needs to rise to 108 EJ in 2030, including biofuels growth to 650 billion litres.
Traditional use of biomass would be phased out.
A mix of policy solutions in various end-use sectors is needed to support the shift to modern
biomass.
REmap envisages that 60% of total renewable energy use in 2030 would come from modern biomass. In
particular, modern biomass would account for more than 80% of renewable energy use in the heating and
transport sectors. This requires a six-fold growth in the use of liquid biofuels. About half of the growth in biofuels between business as usual and REmap 2030 would come from conventional biofuels, such as sugarcane
bioethanol, and half from advanced biofuels, such as lignocellulosic bioethanol.
Biomass differs from other types of renewable energy in several ways. It needs a large amount of feedstock,
which requires land and water. It is essential to grow biomass in a sustainable way which does not clash with
other needs, such as food. Bioenergy is also the only source of renewable carbon – which can serve as feedstock for plastics and other synthetic organic materials – and it can be stored with limited effort and low cost.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF MODERN BIOENERGY
To boost the global bioenergy share, biomass trade would need to grow significantly.
REmap analysis suggests that the global biomass supply could reach 95-145 EJ in 2030, including 65-108 EJ of
residues, waste and forestry products. The other 31-37 EJ would come from dedicated energy crops. Trends in
agricultural productivity, food demand and forestry will have a significant impact on these numbers. International bioenergy trade will be important. Between 20% and 35% of the total global demand by 2030 could be
met by imports. This trade poses a significant business opportunity, but it requires a widely applied, uniform
framework to ensure sustainability and assumes the development of the necessary logistical infrastructure.
Future biomass prices are uncertain and will depend on rents and market integration.
REmap 2030 estimates the average price of primary biomass to be USD 8.3 per gigajoule (GJ), less than half
of today’s crude oil price but three times current coal prices. Today’s biomass markets are fragmented, and
prices range from near zero or even negative for post-consumer waste, to more than USD 20 per GJ for pellets
for residential use.
The uncertainty of biomass prices for the cost of doubling the
share of renewable energy is in the order of USD 200 billion per year in 2030. The uncertainty translates into
less than 5% of the cost of total global primary
energy that year.
Th e Int e r na t iona l Re n ewa b l e E n e r g y Ag e n cy ( I R EN A ) i s a n i nt er gover nm ent a l o r ga ni s a t i o n p ro m o t in g the
wid es pread an d i n c re as e d adop ti on an d sus t a i na bl e us e o f a l l fo r m s o f renewa bl e ener gy wo r l d wid e ,
­i nclud ing bioen e r g y, g e oth e r m al e n e r g y, hy d ro p ower, o cea n ener gy, w i nd ener gy a nd s o l a r ener gy.
w ww.ire na.or g
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Fac t sh e et 03: T he Impor ta n ce o f M od e r n Bi oe ne r gy
For more details, please visit
www.irena.org/remap.