Smart Bioenergy: Guiding Sustainable Bio-based Energy and Fuels Development
Recent studies have concluded that avoiding dangerous climate change will require the United States and other industrialized countries to reduce their global warming emissions approximately 80 percent below 2000 levels by mid-century. This goal is attainable, but only if we act immediately, and on multiple fronts. One major part of the climate solutions equation is a shift to renewable energy resources such as wind, solar, and bioenergy.
Use of bioenergy—energy produced from organic matter or biomass—has the potential to increase energy security, promote economic development, and decrease global warming pollution. But efforts to expand production and use of bioenergy could have unintended economic and environmental consequences. We must therefore strive to develop bioenergy resources in ways that help meet our present challenges without compromising future generations. Moreover, even the smartest bioenergy policy can only be successful if pursued as part of a larger solution set, including aggressive increases in energy efficiency, demand reductions through conservation, and reforms in land use policies.
The Union of Concerned Scientists’ research and policy efforts are guided by a set of core bioenergy principles to help guide us down the path to a cleaner, more secure energy future. They include:
- Minimize global warming pollution
- Combine bioenergy with efficiency, conservation, and smart growth
- Protect public health
- Promote ecologically sound bioenergy systems
- Ensure bioenergy developments expand economic opportunity
WHAT'S NEW IN SMART BIOENERGY?
- Land Use, Biofuels, and Global Warming: A new look at the latest science analyzing the carbon impact of both direct and indirect land use in the production of biofuels.
- The Renewable Fuel Standard: Analysis of the potential and pitfalls of the federal Renewable Fuel Standard as passed in the 2007 Energy Bill.
- Biofuels: An Important Part of a Low-Carbon Diet: This first report in the UCS Smart Bioenergy series details the carbon landscape that faces biofuels and other alternatives to oil in the race for environmental and energy solutions; and what policy options can help create an advantage for agriculture and the environment by "counting carbs and making carbs count."
| What is Bioenergy?
Bioenergy refers to sources of energy (electricity and solid, liquid, or gaseous fuels) derived from biomass: plant- or animal-based materials such as crops, crop residues, trees, animal fats, by-products, and wastes. These materials are often obtained from agriculture and forests, but can also be derived from industrial and municipal sources. Biofuel is bioenergy converted into a liquid fuel such as ethanol or biodiesel, but biomass can also be converted into gaseous fuels via biological or chemical processes such as digestion and gasification. Biomass solids can also be burned alone or with fossil fuels to generate direct heat, steam, and/or electrical energy. |
