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Developing sustainable trade in bioenergy

The International Energy Agency (IEA) published a report, titled “Developing Sustainable Trade in Bioenergy: Summary and Conclusions from the IEA Bioenergy ExCo65 Workshop,” which lays out perspectives on bioenergy trade, with a focus on Asia. The paper offers an overview of the global bioenergy trade and market developments specifically in Asia, before going into detail about: trade in solid bioenergy, trade in liquid biofuels, and trade and sustainability. It concludes with the main findings of the workshop. Among the findings: of total bioenergy produced, 8% of ethanol, 25% of biodiesel and 13% of pellet production is now traded; trade is still extremely volatile due to the inconsistency of political support schemes, although it is slowly becoming more stable; major trade barriers include tariffs and other support schemes, sustainability criteria, logistics, and phytosanitary measures; and that although potential for vast production of sustainable, low greenhouse gas (GHG) emission biofuels exists, much research is needed to achieve this goal.

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