With the Australian Bioenergy Roadmap: Setting the direction for biomass in stationary energy to 2020 and beyond, Australia’s bioenergy industry hopes to encourage the increasing use of a renewable technology that could unlock billions of dollars worth of investment and significantly reduce Australia’s carbon footprint.

The Roadmap outlines a path to provide Australia with 11,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of bioenergy electricity by 2020.

A renewable key to a secure energy future In the past, Australia’s large supply of coal has kept electricity costs low and as a result there was little commercial incentive to seriously consider alternatives such as bioenergy.

However, the effects of climate change and the planned introduction of the Federal Government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme has seen a growing need for alternative energy sources. Government and businesses are increasingly interested in investing and exploring these alternatives, and bioenergy is one key solution.

Representatives and stakeholders from Australia’s bioenergy industry have worked together with the Clean Energy Council to create the Australian Bioenergy Roadmap. The Roadmap provides guidance to industry, government and key stakeholders towards establishing a sustainable bioenergy sector.

With the average Australian household currently using an estimated 7.1 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity per year, the Roadmap has set a target of 11,000 GWh of electricity from bioenergy by 2020 – enough energy to power up to 1.5 million homes. It also outlines a strategy for the industry to achieve: • A growing, sustainable Australian bioenergy industry • Increased community awareness of bioenergy • A consistent national policy to support the industry's development • Long term investor certainty.

The resource assessment carried out as part of the development of the Roadmap indicated that a similar increase to stationary thermal energy from biomass resources could be achievable, but further study is required to set targets.

“It’s great to see this sector achieve cohesion on a series of strategies and objectives for bioenergy,” said Clean Energy Council General Manager of Industry Development Sarah Jones.

The government has predicted that the nation’s electricity demands will be approximately 300 terawatt hours (TWh) by 2020, of which bioenergy can supply about four per cent. This target is well below the 14 per cent benchmark already achieved in leading OECD countries and the biomass resource assessment has found it to be achievable.

The Roadmap also indicates that bioenergy has the potential to supply a significant amount of this demand, supplying 73 TWh of electricity generation per year in 2050.

Creating a sustainable industry A key finding of the Roadmap is that the long term viability of Australia’s bioenergy industry depends on access to sustainable biomass resources. This is because generating stationary energy from biomass relies on low-value by-products derived from the high-value commodities.

The resource assessment carried out revealed that Australia has many sustainable bioenergy resources that are currently underutilised, and that there is sufficient biomass to supply a significant proportion of Australia’s future stationary energy generation.

Some organisations and business sectors, such as the sugarcane, sewage gas and landfill gas sectors, have already invested in proven biomass conversion technologies. These sectors, the Roadmap finds, have developed a significant history of commercially viable projects that will pave the way for a rapid take up of new projects when policy settings are in place.

Biomass in the form of firewood or wood pellets is used for space heating and there have been significant advances in this technology in Australia and overseas markets in recent years.

The Roadmap also identifies several reasons that Australia’s bioenergy industry remains relatively segmented and is yet to gain full investor confidence. Among these reasons are limited awareness and understanding of biomass resources; the absence of consistent national policies to support industry development; and concern over market barriers for distributed energy development.

A strategic approach to bioenergy With the industry’s path mapped out, the fundamental objective now is to achieve the target of 11,000 GWh by 2020. Achieving this target will help establish a viable bioenergy industry at a scale that is sustainable for the long term.

The Roadmap also outlines a series of general and sector-specific goals and strategies for the development of bioenergy for stationary energy generation. These include strategies to achieve: • The development of effective industry support and cohesive networking capacity to ensure industry unity and collaboration • A wider public profile for bioenergy as a renewable energy source • Equitable public policy measures to support industry growth • Market mechanisms such as renewable energy targets and feedin tariffs to level the playing field between fossil fuels, bioenergy and other renewables • Methods to ensure viable long-term biomass resources ensuring investor certainty • The removal of market barriers to encourage greater up take of smaller distributed generators.

To take advantage of the opportunities outlined in the Roadmap, Australian bioenergy industry representatives have agreed that it is necessary to adopt successful overseas experiences with bioenergy and apply them locally.

Meanwhile, the Council has urged that the alliance formed through the development of the Roadmap be maintained as an ongoing forum that should be strengthened to facilitate strong advocacy and promotion of bioenergy and the renewable energy it has to offer.