19 - Biomass energy prospects: A promising fuel for sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific

Summary

Energy consumption in general and biomass consumption in particular was examined for all 69 countries in Asia and the Pacific (Asia-Pacific: A-P) based on 2000 and 2015 data. In 2015, the 20 low-income countries of South, Northeast, and Southeast Asia, containing 85% of the A-P population, consumed 57% of total primary energy and 97.5% of biomass energy. Most biomass energy is still used in the unprocessed form by households, the service sector, and industry, but more and more solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels are being manufactured to substitute for fossil fuels, especially motor ethanol and biodiesel. Biomass is also used to generate heat and/or electricity. In many A-P countries, biomass is an important traded fuel, valued at US$42 billion in 2015, and gives full-time employment to an estimated 27 million each year. It is and will remain the dominant renewable energy in Asia and the Pacific. The supply and demand of biomass was examined, and for wood, the sustainable supply is more than three times the annual demand, with crop residues and dung many times more than demand. The use of biomass for energy and other purposes could be increased substantially. While biomass fuels are saving an estimated 685 million t of carbon emissions each year, at present, excluding China (and India), there is a net emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) from forests and forest soils of at least 615 million tC/yr due to agricultural clearing. This could and should be reversed. If China is included, then there is a net saving. All 69 A-P countries have signed the Paris Agreement (), which pledges to limit the global average temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Various strategies are proposed to maintain if not increase the share of biomass in the energy mix and to ensure there is a net sequestration of GHG in plants and soils under perennial crops. These initiatives are opportunities to alleviate poverty for millions by ensuring that rural people play a full part in sustainable economic and social development based on indigenous and renewable resources.