Global Energy Partnership Establishes Bioenergy Sustainability Indicators

The Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP), a government-level organization of 23 countries recently announced that they have established a set of 24 bioenergy sustainability guidelines. The sustainable bioenergy indicators are described as "voluntary", "practical" and "science-based", with the objective of helping countries assess and develop sustainable production and use of bioenergy.

According to the GBEP press release, "The 24 indicators identified by GBEP partners and observers take a holistic approach to assessing many important aspects of the intersection of bioenergy and sustainability, including greenhouse gas emissions, biological diversity, the price and supply of a national food basket, access to energy, economic development, and energy security".

The indicators are grouped into three main categories: (1) the Environmental Pillar (which includes: life cycle GHG emissions, water use/efficiency, biological diversity in the landscape), (2) the Social Pillar (which includes price and supply of a national food basket, jobs in the bioenergy sector, income change), and (3) the Economic Pillar (which includes:productivity, net energy balance, gross value added, infrastructure/logistics for distribution of bioenergy, change in the consumption of fossil fuels and traditional use of biomass). The GBEP has also plans to launch a capacity building initiative for the promotion of the optimum use of bioenergy for sustainable development.