Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T01:49:15.827Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

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

from Part II - Sustainable Development: Challenges and Opportunities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2021

Pak Sum Low
Affiliation:
Xiamen University Malaysia
Get access

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.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Archer, G. (1993) Biomass Resource Assessment. Pakistan Household Energy Strategy Study (HESS). Washington, DC, UNDP/WB.Google Scholar
Barnes, D. F., Kumar, P. and Openshaw, K. (2012) Cleaner Hearths, Better Homes: New Stoves for India and the Developing World. New Delhi, Oxford University Press and World Bank.Google Scholar
Bouwman, A. F. (ed.) (1990) Soils and the Greenhouse Effect: The Present Status and Future Trends Concerning the Effect of Soils and Their Cover on the Fluxes of Greenhouse Gas. New York, John Wiley and Son.Google Scholar
Bui Xuan, An, Preston, T. R. and Dolberg, F. (1997) The introduction of low-cost polyethylene tube biodigesters on small-scale farms in Vietnam. Livestock Research for Rural Development 9(2). https://www.lrrd.cipav.org.coGoogle Scholar
Dougherty, W. W. (1993) Firewood Markets in Pakistan: Supply, Distribution and Profitability. Washington, DC, HESS. UNDP/WB.Google Scholar
ESMAP (2005) Aide Memoire. Scoping Study for Biomass Energy Development in Xing’an Meng, Inner Mongolia. Washington, DC, World Bank.Google Scholar
FAO (1993) Forest resource assessment 1990: Tropical Countries. Forest Paper 112. Rome, FAO.Google Scholar
FAO (1993) Forest resource assessment (2001a) State of the World’s Forests 2001. Rome, FAO.Google Scholar
FAO (1993) Forest resource assessment (2001b) Annual (agricultural) Production. Vol. 55. Rome, FAO.Google Scholar
FAO (1993) Forest resource assessment (2001c) Agricultural Statistics. Rome, FAO.Google Scholar
FAO (1993) Forest resource assessment (2003) Wood Energy Information Analysis in Asia. Bangkok, Thailand, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.Google Scholar
FAO (1993) Forest resource assessment (2010a) State of the World’s Forests 2010. Rome, FAO.Google Scholar
FAO (1993) Forest resource assessment (2010b) What woodfuels can do to mitigate climate change. FAO Forestry Paper, No. 162.Google Scholar
FAO (1993) Forest resource assessment (2010c) Global forest resource assessment 2010. Main report. FAO Forestry Paper, No. 163.Google Scholar
FAO (1993) Forest resource assessment (2014) Annual Agricultural Production 2000–2014. FAOSTAT 2014. Rome, FAO.Google Scholar
FAO (1993) Forest resource assessment (2015) Global forest resource assessment: Desk reference. FAO, Rome.Google Scholar
FAO (1993) Forest resource assessment (2018) State of the World’s Forests 2018. Forest Pathways to Sustainable Development. http://www.fao.org/state-of-forests/en/Google Scholar
Hall, D. O. and Rao, K. K. (1994) Photosynthesis (5th ed.). Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Haq, B. U. (1994) Sea Level Rise and Coastal Subsidence: Rates and Threats. ENVLW Technical Note No. 1. Washington, DC, World Bank.Google Scholar
IEA (2002) International Energy Agency: World Energy Statistics. Paris, France, IEA.Google Scholar
IEA (2010) World Energy Statistics. Paris, France, IEA.Google Scholar
IEA (2014) World Energy Statistics. Paris, France, IEA.Google Scholar
IEA (2015) World Energy Outlook 2015. Paris, France, IEA.Google Scholar
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (2007) Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Working Group I Contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.Google Scholar
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (2013) Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Working Group I Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/WG1AR5_all_final.pdfGoogle Scholar
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (2014a) Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Working Group II Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg2/Google Scholar
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (2014b) Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Working Group III Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg3/, https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/ipcc_wg3_ar5_full.pdfGoogle Scholar
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (2018) Special Report on Global Warming. Geneva, Switzerland, IPCC Secretariat. https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/Google Scholar
Lal, R., Kimble, J., Levine, E. and Stewart, B. A. (eds.) (1995) Soil Management and Greenhouse Effect. London, CRC Lewis Publishers.Google Scholar
MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy). Annual Reports (2009–10, 2010–11, 2016–17, 2017–18). New Delhi, India.Google Scholar
Openshaw, K. (1983) An Inventory of Biomass in Kenya. Stockholm, Beijer Institute (Swedish Academy of Sciences).Google Scholar
Openshaw, K. (1997) Malawi: Biomass Energy Strategy Study. Washington, DC, and IRG, Washington, DC, World Bank.Google Scholar
Openshaw, K. (2000a) A review of Jatropha curcas: An oil plant of unfulfilled promise. Biomass and Bioenergy, 19, 115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Openshaw, K. (2000b) Government of Benin/WB and GEF. A baseline survey of organic carbon in woody biomass and soils on different land-use types in the project areas. Benin: PGFTR Project. World Bank, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Openshaw, K. (2004) Bangladesh: Biomass Energy Supply (draft report). UNDP/WB ESMAP. Washington, DC, World Bank.Google Scholar
Openshaw, K. (2010) Employment generation by biomass energy and its contribution to poverty alleviation in Malawi and other developing countries. Biomass and Bioenergy Journal, 34(3), 365378.Google Scholar
Ouerghi, A. (1993) Household Energy Demand: Consumption Patterns. Washington, DC, HESS. UNDP/WB.Google Scholar
Population Pyramid (2015) Population Pyramids of the World from 1950 to 2100. https://www.populationpyramid.net/Google Scholar
Ravindranath, N. H., Somashekar, H. I., Dasappa, S. and Jayasheela Reddy, C. N. (2004) Sustainable biomass power for rural India: Case study of biomass gasifier for village electrification. Current Science, 87(7), 932941.Google Scholar
Ren 21 (2010) Renewable global status report 2009. Ren 21 Secretariat, Paris, France.Google Scholar
Ren 21 (2018) Renewable global status report 2018. Ren 21 Secretariat, Paris, France.Google Scholar
RWEDP (Regional Wood Energy Development Programme) reports 1986–1997. Bangkok, Thailand, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.Google Scholar
RWEDP (Regional Wood Energy Development Programme) reports (1986) Wood energy systems for rural and other industries – Sri Lanka. GCP/RAS/111/Net. Field document 4.Google Scholar
RWEDP (Regional Wood Energy Development Programme) reports (1988) Wood based energy systems in rural industries and village applications – Nepal Field document 11.Google Scholar
RWEDP (Regional Wood Energy Development Programme) reports (1990a) Trees and fuelwood from non-forest lands: A methodology for assessment – India Field document 23.Google Scholar
RWEDP (Regional Wood Energy Development Programme) reports (1990b) Wood energy systems for rural industries and village application. Regional expert consultation. GCP/RAS/131/Net. April 1990.Google Scholar
RWEDP (Regional Wood Energy Development Programme) reports (1990c) Rural energy appraisal. Workshop report. GCP/RAS/131/Net. July 1990.Google Scholar
RWEDP (Regional Wood Energy Development Programme) reports (1990d) Social forestry in integrated rural development and planning – Sri Lanka. GCP/RAS/131/Net. Field document 24.Google Scholar
RWEDP (Regional Wood Energy Development Programme) reports (1991) Wood fuel flows. Rapid rural appraisal in four Asian countries. GCP/RAS/131/Net. Field document 26.Google Scholar
RWEDP (Regional Wood Energy Development Programme) reports (1993) Patterns of commercial woodfuel supply, distribution and use in the city and province of Cebu, Philippines. Field document 42.Google Scholar
RWEDP (Regional Wood Energy Development Programme) reports (1997a) Review of wood energy data in RWEDP member countries. Field Document 47.Google Scholar
RWEDP (Regional Wood Energy Development Programme) reports (1997b) Regional study on wood energy today and tomorrow in Asia. Field Document 50.Google Scholar
RWEDP (1991–2001) Wood Energy News. Three volumes per year. Bangkok, Thailand, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.Google Scholar
ScienceDirect (2019) Producer gas – An overview. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/producer-gasGoogle Scholar
Shetty, S. (2005) Essential crop/plant management for biofuels. Proceedings of the workshop ‘Alternative fuels and energy choices 2005’, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 7–8 December. Universal Network Intelligence Training PTE, Ltd., Singapore.Google Scholar
Soussan, J. (1991) Philippines Household Energy Strategy: Fuelwood Supply and Demand. UNDP/WB ESMAP. Washington, DC, World Bank.Google Scholar
UK Forestry Commission (1971) Forest management tables (metric). Forestry Commission Booklet No. 34. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London. https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/documents/6443/FCBK034.pdfGoogle Scholar
United Nations (2002) Energy Statistics Yearbook 2001. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. New York, United Nations.Google Scholar
United Nations (2005) Energy Statistics Yearbook 2004. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. New York, United Nations.Google Scholar
United Nations(2014) UN Country Classification. New York, United Nations.Google Scholar
World Bank (1992) World Development Report: Development and the environment.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Bank (2000) World Development Report 2004. Washington, DC, World Bank.Google Scholar
World Bank (2003a) World Development Report 2003. Washington, DC, World Bank.Google Scholar
World Bank (2003b) Kazakhstan: Drylands Management Pilot Project. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
World Bank (2004) World Development Report 2000. Washington, DC, World Bank.Google Scholar
World Bank (2015a) World Bank open data. GDP country figures. https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/Google Scholar
World Bank (2015b) World Bank. The pump price for diesel fuel in US$/litre. https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/pump-price-diesel-fuel-us-liter-0Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×