Sustainability of Bioenergy Production - Term Paper Example

Bio-energy
1. Sustainability of bioenergy production from forests
a. Defend or refute the statement that forests can be managed sustainably for
bioenergy.
Bio-energy is energy that is retrieved from biological sources. According to Oko Institut. Sustainability Standards for Bioenergy (3), bioenergy supplies about 10% of the world’s primary energy demand and about 90% of global renewable energy supplies. One of the main sources of bio-energy is forests. Forests if properly managed can remain productive with several benefits to the wider environment. However, if mismanaged, the forest resources can get depleted within a short period of time. There are several ways that forest resources can be sustainably managed. When forests are managed sustainably, their biodiversity, vitality, productivity, and capacity to regenerate both at present and in the future are conserved. As a result, the forests maintain their capacity to perform social, economic, and ecological functions without interfering with other ecosystems negatively at the local, national, and global levels. There are several challenges to sustainable use of forest-derived bioenergy sources including the land-use conflict and land availability in many areas (Oko Institut 10).
When selective logging is done at a rate that is sustainable, the forest is bound to be conserved. By adopting Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) practices such as establishing buffer zones along watersheds and streams, applying modern technologies to mitigate the effects of log extraction, and careful planning of the forest to prevent forest encroachment by humans, the productivity of the forest will be sustained according to CBD (Oko Institut, 8). Even as forest resources are harvested, the way they are used determines how much sustainable the resources will last. Wood products can be recycled to reduce the rate at which forests are harvested. Furthermore, when agro-forest bi-products and residues such as leaves, husks, shells, and straw are used in producing energy, the rate at which the felling of trees is done can be greatly reduced.
Developing countries have a lot of forest resources compared to developed countries according to Tomaselli (V). In this respect, the capacity of developing nations to produce high amounts of bioenergy compared to developed countries. However, with respect to sustainability, developing countries have a long way to go. This is so considering that the policies instituted by their governments with the aim of making sustainable development are never well implemented. Furthermore, the technologies that they commonly use in the production and application of the energies are less efficient. Overall, both developed and underdeveloped countries have a huge capacity to increase their share of forest bioenergy production, the former having the need to capitalize on the technological advantage that they have.
2. Realizing the potential
a. Compare and contrast developed and less developed countries with respect to the
potential for increasing the share of energy supplied by forest resources.

Both developed and developing countries to some extent depend on forest resources to provide energy used in industries and for domestic purposes. However, forest resources can easily get depleted when used in a manner that is unsustainable whether in developed or underdeveloped countries. Forest-derived bio-energy in most places is used in the form of fuel wood or charcoal. In developed countries, using biofuels including those from forests has often been considered old-fashioned, its share in the national economy grossly declining until the period succeeding the oil crisis that hit the world in the 1970s. However, production of this kind of energy has been on the steady rise following growing concerns related to climate change and the development of new biomass technologies among other factors.
Following several studies conducted on the potential of bioenergy on a global scale taking into consideration population, yield, and agricultural factors, it has been realized Africa and Latin America which are less developed areas have the potential to become “green Eldorados” for the production of bio-energy. In spite of this, developing countries in a bid to reduce dependence on forest bioenergy will have their potential for producing energy decline over time as part of their strategy to develop according to Tomaselli’s Forests and Energy in developing countries (10). On the other hand, the production and use of forest bioenergy are bound to increase in most developed (and a few developing) countries as they purpose to apply their modern bioenergy technologies in energy production (Tomaselli 10).
In as much as many countries, developed or otherwise, have the potential to increase their share of bioenergy production from various sources including mill residues, agricultural plants, and forests, one major constraint in this regard is cost. Direct cost analyses show that even with the fluctuation and volatile nature of international oil prices, the cost of producing and using forest bio-energy sources is still very high. Both developed and developing countries will increase their share of output in forest bioenergy as they adopt the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol while at the same time engaging in research to come up with more efficient technologies for energy conversion. Read More