Advocates call for urgent bipartisan support for emerging bioenergy industry

Bioenergy Australia, with funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), facilitate Australia's involvement in the International Energy Agency's work to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its 29 member countries and beyond.

Generated from the conversion of solid and liquid biomass products for use as electricity, heat, gas, liquid fuels and bio-based products, bioenergy delivers a range of benefits such as employment and economic development of rural/agricultural communities, energy security, utilisation of waste streams and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

In a statement released this week, Bioenergy Australia suggested that recent announcements from major mining groups such as Glencore and BHP, as well as significant moves from the banking and investment sector, show the strength of recent investor and environmental pressures on big business to divest from fossil fuels.

This climate of change, they claim, calls for strategic thinking and an urgent fast track on the development of a new industry that can replace and support jobs and economic development for regional Australia and a transition economy for Australia.

A recently released market analysis and forecast report by the International Energy Agency predicted modern bioenergy will have the biggest growth in the next five years, driving 40 percent of global energy consumption growth. With the global aviation sector setting a 50% reduction in emissions by 2050, it is predicted that over 300 million tonnes of Biojet fuel will be required per annum.

In late 2018, Bioenergy Australia released the Bioenergy State of the Nation Report (produced in collaboration with KPMG). The first report of its kind identified the opportunity for Australia is significant and multi-faceted, offering a $3.5-$5 billion investment opportunity, mostly in regional economies.

To read the Bioenergy State of the Nation Report, go here.