Sustainability of Bioenergy

Jean-Philippe DenruyterGlobal Bioenergy CoordinatorWWFFebruary 22, 2008

• Context••• The demand sideThe demand sideThe demand side••• Potential benefits and realityPotential benefits and realityPotential benefits and reality••• How can we improve?How can we improve?How can we improve?

Context

• Bioenergy, biomass, biofuels?• Various drivers for bioenergy• Fast growth: Bioenergy targets in > 50 countries worldwide • Several discussions back alive

• Agriculture Subsidies, Tariffs, Free Trade Agreements...• Expansion of “Sensitive” Commodities (palm oil, soy...)

• Globally around 46 EJ of bioenergy (IEA, 2006)• Traditional solid biomass (fuelwood, dung, charcoal,

straw...): 35 EJ and over ½ of global wood consumption!

The Demand SideFocus on Transport Sector

Rabbit & Jatropha in Guatemala© WWF / JP Denruyter

EU 10% target by 2020 without imports ~20% of EU ag landEU 100% biofuels target by 2050 = ?

Grid-connected vehicles running on renewable electricity; sustainable biofuels provide range extension for PHEVsSame biofuel targets with 4 times less volume and land!!!

Second generation biofuels for second generation cars!

Land cleared for soy, around Brazilia© WWF / László Máthé

ContextContextContextThe demand sideThe demand sideThe demand sidePotential benefits and realityHow can we improve?How can we improve?How can we improve?

Potential Benefits & Reality

• GHG savings - For WWF, GHG emission reductions are the primary reason for investigating bioenergy potentials• Corn & rapeseed not very beneficial for climate: how do we

diversify?• Contribution to Rural Development & renewable

energy strategies• Often large scale plantations, in developed countries heavily

subsidised: which models to encourage?• Replacing inefficient biomass

with modern bioenergy• Poorest countries far away from

efficient bioenergy

Fish Waste Biodiesel in Honduras© WWF / JP Denruyter

Example 1

Plant Capacity: 3 million litres/monthThe plant owners have identified 280 farmers in the poorest part of the country, who will grow higuerilla (castor oil) for a good price on 1000 hectares of land.

Biocombustibles BiodegradablesSan Jose, Costa Rica

Eladio in his office© WWF / JP Denruyter

men chopping down Amorpha in the Tisza floodplains© WWF / Csaba Vaszko

•Chop down invasive Amorpha in Tisza floodplains•Use for green power production in AES power plant•Replanting native floodplain forest species

“The waste products case”

Rural Development: Mali Folkecenter

These are the latest images from MFC's Jatropha plantations north of Bamako. The plants are just 2 years old but already well established andready to give the first significant harvest of seeds, which is great news for the local population with whom we have been working. No significant maintenance has been performed on the plants, nor have any harmful pesticides or fertilisers. The soil on which the Jatropha was planted was very sandy in some places as can be seen from the pictures above.

“The small-holders case”

Jatropha (West Africa, Greater Mekong, Central America...): low productivity, hype. Announcements increase share value but farmers might give up quickly

Other examples

• EU & US ag dumping• ACP countries with modified sugar regime• Degraded land (e.g. Haiti, Indonesia...)• West Africa: “food vs fuel” or “productivity vs lack of food &

fuel”?

Negative Impacts include

Increased bioenergy use = Intensification of agriculture and forestry on currently used land AND expansion on new land

This can lead to various impacts such as• Increased water use up to non renewable levels – e.g.

Thirsty crops in South-Africa.• Degradation of HCV areas – e.g. Deforestation due to oil

palm plantations in Indonesia; soy expansion in Brazilian Cerrado

••• ContextContextContext••• The demand sideThe demand sideThe demand side••• Potential benefits and realityPotential benefits and realityPotential benefits and reality• How can we improve?

Need for Bioenergy Sustainability Assurance!

• Sustainability of bioenergy comes down to sustainability of agriculture & forestry and GHG performances• protection of HCV forests, permanent grasslands, floodplains etc.• Water, toxicity, soil erosion, nitrogen, biodiversity• access to land• ...

Need for protected areas, environmental legislation, voluntary certification etc. But can we do something on top for bioenergy?

GHG Performance

• Measure GHG performance of bioenergy• Try to include indirect land use change (for example, by

promoting use of degraded land)• Link incentives to GHG performance• Benefits for climate but also for security of energy supply

and economic sustainability of bioenergy

Need for Sustainability Standards Status Quo

• Voluntary Commodity Initiatives such as FSC, RSPO, RTRS & Basel Criteria, BSI... are established or under development• principles and criteria• only a certain % of the market

will comply• GHG calculation not required,

as the initiatives were not developed for bioenergy initially

• Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels

http://www.rspo.orghttp://www.fsc.orghttp://www.responsiblesoy.org http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/policy/agriculture_environment/index/our_solutions/better_sugarcane_initiative/index.cfm

Current EU and US efforts

Status quo:• EU: certification of GHG with minimum savings and go/no-

go areas. Incentives for waste & ligno cellulosic. Recognition of existing schemes!

• EU, CA: “fuel quality directive”What is missing?• BMPs• Social aspects!• Indirect impacts

International Meta-Standard Strategy

RSPO

FSC

RTRS

BSIRSBRSB

Governments

Companies Institutions

GHG

incentives

Indirect Effects

Prioritise production of bioenergy through:• Use of idle/degraded land (e.g. Kalimantan, Haiti...) but expensive!• Increased Productivity• Use of Waste products

• No competition with food (the debate should be about land use, not about food vs non food crops)

• No direct or indirect deforestation• Rehabilitation of abandoned, unproductive land!

Conclusions: R&D needs

• Balance between use of land for different types of bioenergy – biofuel for transport, electricity...• The 10% target for renewable energy in transport (EU) is good

way forward. Future transport strategies need to include biogas and electrification.

• Focus efforts on increased productivity, use of waste products and degraded land

• Biotech can help to diversify the sources of biomass, reduce energy and GHG balance, make most efficient use of land, reduce water consumption, reduce toxicity...

Thank you!

Rabbit & Jatropha in Guatemala© WWF / JP Denruyter

Jean-Philippe DenruyterJdenruyter@wwfepo.org+32 2 740 09 27http://www.panda.org