Biomass and Other Renewable Energy Options to Meet Energy and Development Needs in Poor Nations

Acknowledgments 5

Abbreviations used in the text 7

UNDP United Nations Development Programme 7

Executive summary 8

Introduction: Renewable energy, global warming and sustainable development 12

1 Energy and the poor 15

1.1 Rural-urban energy linkages 17

1.1.1 Urbanization and increased pressure on the rural resource base 18

1.1.2 Urbanization and changing energy demands 19

1.1.3 The social costs of urbanization 19

1.2 The energy mix in urban and rural areas 19

1.3 The ‘energy ladder’ and household fuel switching 20

1.4 Energy services for the poor 21

1.4.1 Traditional energy supplies 21

1.4.2 Commercial energy supplies 22

1.4.3 Energy service companies (ESCOs) 23

1.4.4 Reaching the poorest with RESCOs 25

1.5 Energy and the poor: Conclusions 26

I 2 Biomass and bioenergy for household use: Resources and impacts 28

2.1 Sources of household biomass 28

2.2 Impacts of household biomass use in LDCs 28

2.2.1 Biomass and society: Gender, fuel and resource control 29

2.2.2 Environmental impacts of household biomass use 30

2.2.3 Health impacts of household biomass combustion 32

2.3 Household use of biomass: Conclusions 34

3 Biomass energy beyond the household: Scaling up 36

3.1 Small and medium commercial businesses and institutions 36

3.2 Potential to transform commercial and institutional biomass-based energy systems 38

3.2.1 Liquid fuels from biomass: The case of ethanol 39

3.2.2 Energy from woody biomass – an example from California 40

3.2.3 Supply of biomass for commercial and industrial use in LDCs 41

3.2.4 Jobs in the commercial biomass sector: 42

3.2.5 Environmental impacts of medium and large-scale biomass utilization 42

3.3 Scaling up: Conclusion 44

4 Biomass energy conversion technologies 45

4.1 Combustion 45

4.2 Gasification 46

4.3 Anaerobic digestion 47

4.4 Liquid biofuels 48

4.5 Bioenergy conversion technologies: Conclusions 49

5 Renewable energy technologies: Markets and costs 50

5.1 Recent progress in renewable energy system cost and performance 50

5.2 Lessons learned in developing countries 52

5.3 Levelling the playing field 53

5.3.1 Public and Private Sector Investment Issues 53

5.3.2 Market transformations 53

5.4 RET markets and costs: Conclusions 55

6 Biomass, bioenergy and climate change mitigation 57

6.1 The CDM – an explicit link between climate change mitigation and sustainable development 58

6.2 Energy projects in the CDM: The critical issues 60

6.2.1 Additionality and baselines 60

6.2.2 Leakage and permanence 61

6.3.3 Social and environmental impacts 61

6.3 Public participation in project development and implementation 64

6.4 Project management 65

6.5 Equity 65

6.6 Technology transfer and capacity building 66

Conclusion 68

Renewable energy sources, particularly biomass, provide a critical resource for not only clean energy, but also secure energy resources for both developing and developed nations. Biomass, in particular, is an abundant resource, and could provide a significant fraction of total global energy supplies. The expansion of biomass energy capacity represents a crucial opportunity to develop locally sustainable energy resources, and value and support efforts to conserve natural and cultural resources around the world. Renewable energy technologies, and particularly biomass energy, further provide a means to build partnerships between research institutions, the public sector and the private sector, that are of value to both industrialized and developing nations. Biomass energy, in particular, is a resource that can be developed as an indigenous industry in many developing nations; it will not lead to technical or economic dependence on imported technologies or knowledge systems. To build this energy independence and security, mechanisms such as the CDM have a critical role to play. Opportunities exist around the world to build biomass energy industries that also provide income and the means for local control over natural resources. This paper explores a number of technical, social, economic and environmental opportunities that the international community and individual nations and communities can adopt and adapt to build a clean energy future. 68

References 69

Prices for new and used lead-acid batteries in November 1998 91

The Land Use Activity Project Decision Matrix 99

101

Case Study 1: Modular Biopower for Community-scale Enterprise Development 102

Case Study 2: Scaling-up Biogas Technology in Nepal 105

Case Study 3: Commercial Production of Charcoal Briquettes from Waste 107

Case Study 4: Ethanol in Brazil 111

Case Study 5: Carbon from Urban Woodfuels in the West African Sahel 116

Case Study 6: Sustainable Fuelwood Use through Efficient Cookstoves in Rural Mexico 119