IEA Technology Roadmap. Bioenergy for Heat and Power

May 2012

This roadmap further develops past IEA analysis in line with the forthcoming Energy Technology Perspectives 2012. The ETP 2012 2°C Scenario (ETP 2DS) sets out cost effective strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector by 50% in 2050 compared to 2005 levels. This is intended to stabilise atmospheric greenhouse gases around 450 parts per million (ppm) and to limit global temperature rise to 2°C by the end of this century. The analysis in the 2DS and this roadmap shows that bioenergy could make an important contribution to reducing emissions and enhancing energy access. It would involve increasing bioenergy from around 10% of world primary energy supply today to 24% by 2050. An important transition required to achieve this vision is to use biomass more efficiently, for example by deploying more efficient conversion technologies, some of which are still in the demonstration phase, and better integrating bioenergy production into biomass value chains in other industries.
This roadmap aims to identify the primary tasks that must be undertaken globally to accelerate the sustainable deployment of bioenergy to reach the 2DS projections. The roadmap also discusses barriers and challenges to large-scale bioenergy deployment. These include the need for commercialisation of new bioenergy conversion technologies, the establishment of viable, large-scale supply chains for biomass, and broader issues governing sustainable feedstock production and bioenergy market structures. In some markets, certain steps described here have already been taken or are under way; but many countries are only just beginning to develop modern bioenergy supply. Therefore, milestone dates set in this roadmap should be considered as indicative of urgency, rather than as absolutes.
The roadmap does not attempt to cover every aspect of bioenergy conversion technology and deployment, since more detailed reports on these topics have recently been published. The use of biomass as transport fuels, for instance, has been covered in the IEA Technology Roadmap Biofuels for Transport (IEA, 2011b), and a more detailed analysis on the role of bioenergy in providing universal energy access has been undertaken in the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2011 (IEA, 2011c).So this roadmap should be regarded as part of a longer work in progress. As global analysis moves forward, new data will emerge, which may provide the basis for updated scenarios and assumptions. More important, as the technology, market and regulatory environments continue to evolve, additional insights, opportunities, and tasks will come to light.
This roadmap is organised into six sections. The first discusses current bioenergy supply, bioenergy heat and electricity generation, the status of different conversion technologies, relevant sustainability issues and recent policy developments to ensure the sustainable production of bioenergy. The next section describes the vision for bioenergy heat and power deployment and CO2 abatement based on ETP 2012 2DS. Then the roadmap addresses the importance of land and biomass resources and the role of international trade in achieving this vision. The following section discusses the current and future economics of generating bioenergy heat and power, including generation costs and total investment needs required to meet the targets described in this roadmap. The roadmap concludes with technology actions and milestones, required policy action and the next steps to support the necessary RD&D and achieve the vision of sustainable bioenergy deployment.

By: IEA

 
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