Resolution of the European GSB Convention

Europe has the ability to provide substantial shares of its future energy demands from sustainable bioenergy. It has a unique set of opportunities including demographic trends (declining population and stable consumption), geographic conditions and institutional and political capacity to aggressively develop bioenergy solutions.

Europe's energy portfolio today is neither secure nor sustainable. It is dependent on fossil fuel imports that are subject to political and economic disruption and result in global environmental change. Bioenergy produced in sustainable ways is a necessary component of the set of solutions needed to address the forces of climate change, energy security and rural development. Among renewable alternatives, bioenergy has unique contributions to make in transport (e.g., aviation, heavy duty, long distance), electricity (base load), heat (district, crop drying / processing), and carbon management. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that to achieve the International Panel on Climate Change 2050 climate change targets, bioenergy must provide at least 20% of society's energy demand. Europe must pick up this challenge.

Europe could achieve very substantial shares of its energy using land that is either currently "available" or that needs to be made available through sustainable productivity improvements in conventional agricultural and forestry systems in eastern and western Europe. Several projections have highlighted that 40 million hectares of agricultural land can be mobilised in a sustainable way in Europe for biobased applications. This could deliver up to a third of the future energy needs in Europe. A fraction of this land could satisfy the IEA's projected European bioenergy requirements.

Such a dramatic transformation in land use will deliver large scale employment and investment benefits in often rural and deprived areas of Europe. With careful siting, it will deliver significant benefits to biodiversity, water cycle, soil stability and quality, as well as enhancing carbon stocks and food crop production.

To achieve these benefits, agriculture and bioenergy policy must be integrated for the sustainable and synergistic production of food, fibre, chemicals and bioenergy. The biomass produced could be directed to multiple divergent or parallel uses in response to changing needs.

Examples of the integrative benefits of bioenergy include the simultaneous production of bioenergy and food through double cropping, the exploitation of wastes and residues, recovery of protein and nutrients for animal feed and fertilisers, the use of perennial crops to enhance ecosystem services and redesigning landscapes to enhance resilience and productivity.

There are powerful and urgent reasons why such an approach needs to be taken and grounds for optimism that multiple benefits will accrue if done well. This is the challenge to Europe's policy makers and politicians, who need to set the robust sustainability frameworks needed to deliver sustainable bioenergy systems, but also the incentives and long term signals necessary to make it happen. Transparent and credible analyses are needed to foster understanding and consensus as well as to elaborate the multiple and sustainable paths to a bioenergy-intensive future.

First draft agreed at the European GSB Convention on Friday 26 February 2010.

Resolution of the African GSB Convention

As the world considers paths to a sustainable future and the role of bioenergy in this context, Africa brings important assets and wants to be an active partner but needs to ensure that bioenergy development is implemented in a way that contributes to critical human needs. A sustainable globe requires a sustainable Africa.

The geographical potential of Africa to produce plant biomass is at least as large as any other continent and far exceeds the requirements for food and basic needs for the African population. This situation gives rise to an opportunity to use agriculture and forestry to produce, in addition to food, bioenergy (transport or domestic fuels or electricity) using clean and efficient biomass conversion technologies. Such bioenergy production could offer very large benefits. These include sustainable sources of energy to serve the needs of rural and urban communities, foster development of the industrial sector, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, agricultural infrastructure development, land restoration and ecologically healthy landscapes.

Africa faces pressing human challenges associated with an interconnected set of issues involving poverty, food security, economic development, gender issues, health and energy security. Energy security is often interpreted at an international level, but when women and girls spend most of their days gathering firewood it has a much more local dimension. Bioenergy has clear potential to be developed in ways that contribute positively to meeting these challenges, including enhancing food security. However, bioenergy could also be developed in ways that exacerbate these challenges. A vision for bioenergy in Africa that is responsive to African challenges is both an urgent need and an opportunity.

Actions need to be taken to ensure that Africa benefits along the full value chain of bioenergy supply and utilisation. These include, among many worthy actions, development of:

1. More analysis, understanding, and consensus on the potential of bioenergy to realize a sustainable Africa.
2. An accessible information platform using the latest IT and mapping technology to provide information about the potential and specific aspects of bioenergy.
3. African scalable demonstration projects using the latest state-of-the-art technologies and African raw materials for learning perspectives, e.g., training to strengthen local manpower.
4. Needed human capacity and career opportunities, including creating an African intellectual base, reducing brain drain and engaging existing African traditional knowledge systems.
5. The institutional resources to foster coordination across Africa for stakeholder interaction, and suitable strategies, policies and initiatives.
6. Pilot projects to show best practices in energy efficiency and resource protection in transport, electricity supply, cooking and other household needs.
7. International, regional and local policies on trade, aid, land tenure, and development need to be aligned now to develop integrated value chains of agriculture and forestry for food and bioenergy in Africa.

Bioenergy is one of the most cost effective solutions for a global sustainable low carbon energy future. This future demands sustainable agriculture and forestry in Africa to supply food and bioenergy in support of Africa and the world.

First draft agreed at the African GSB Convention on Friday 19 March 2010.

Resolution of the Latin American GSB Convention

Latin America produces bioenergy in ways that meet sustainability criteria much better than most if not all presently available alternatives. The region has potential to expand bioenergy generation without compromising food production, the environment and biodiversity. The realization of this potential will require determination and diligence in knowledge creation, its application, and regulation. Latin America stands ready to work with the global community to understand and further improve bioenergy systems and to expand the application of such systems in ways that address pressing human needs.

Latin America has proved potential to fulfill an important role in providing biofuel for local as well as world demand. Biofuel production started as an energy security matter and progressed into a sustainable and profitable industry. Latin America regards the issue as an opportunity for economic and social development based on three pillars: people, planet and profit. Local feedstock diversity exists and presently sugarcane is perceived as a major feedstock for sustainable ethanol production. Land resources are available without compromising food security and ecosystems.

Latin America has implemented a biorefinery model with increasingly integrated feedstock crop systems, co-products and large reduction of greenhouse gases emission. There are at least two successful cases where bioenergy has proved sustainable and enabled development. These are the biodiesel production in Argentina and sugarcane ethanol in Brazil. The Brazilian case is remarkable and relevant to the GSB Project objectives: 16% of the total primary energy supply in the country comes from sugarcane and sugarcane ethanol substitutes more than 30% of the gasoline, making sugarcane the second most important energy source in the country, following oil and ahead of hydroelectricity and traditional biomass. Legislation is in place, and increasingly effective, that establishes an environmentally sound agro-ecological zoning.

Latin America has land, favorable climate, diverse feedstock options and technology that has been deployed regionally and could be expanded continentally in a sustainable manner. The biofuel industry is regarded as an opportunity for rural development and job creation. The development of new technologies may be a driver to raise public awareness on sustainability issues promoting new life styles and a dialogue between science, government and society.

Government support is needed to normalize common policies, such as certification for sustainability and blends. Economical conversions technologies need to be developed that are responsive to a variety of feedstocks, scales, and other local circumstances. An agenda for research and human resource development is needed in the face of a changing social and technological reality, more specifically new technologies to improve each link in the supply chain and flexible production of complimentary co-products and broader sustainability. Reduction of commercial barriers and development of international certification standards would foster emergence of an open market, with benefits for the region and the world.

Resolution of the Asian GSB Convention

The Asia-Oceania region has diverse climatic, geographical, biological, cultural traditions and politico-economic attributes. The member nations have significant agricultural and urban economies with rapidly growing energy-based requirements in transport and industries. Biomass energy has the potential to address these needs in a significant and sustainable fashion.

The region being rich in natural and biology based resources has potential to capitalize from the diversity of the feedstocks for sustainable bioenergy. This can have multi-dimensional positive influences on the economic and social status of the member nations. Some of the national governments have been proactive and have bioenergy related ministries that have policies that promote sustainable development of bioenergy. Energy security, job creation, and climate change due to increasing carbon emissions are the prime drivers for the development of sustainable bioenergy industries.

Access to affordable clean energy is a basic right.

Integration of the bioenergy sector with the existing agriculture sectors should promote rural prosperity through job creation and skilled labour leading to poverty alleviation and mitigation of rural depopulation. Development of the region's bioenergy industries will build capacity by conservation of biological diversity, retention of traditional knowledge, and sharing of wealth by the local and indigenous stakeholders.

The knowhow to improve the earth and its yield is available but not globally shared. The sharing of technology and developing new and innovative knowhow for bio-based products beyond bioenergy must be initiated to accommodate different needs and challenges.
Available Potential Resources

Asia and Oceania is rich in land and water, biological, human and technological resources. The region possesses large variation in the land mass ranging from fertile to non-arable lands; there is also wide variation in the availability and suitability of energy crops. Water efficient energy crop plantations should be encouraged for drought prone and saline areas to maximize land use. Tremendous diversity of the crop species along with varying agricultural and land management practices present diverse biomass production possibilities. The region has variation in population density, but has overall high density and available workforce in rural areas. Importantly, the region has high education standards and capabilities, including in rural areas, and demonstrated capacity to develop, adapt and implement novel technologies that will aid in rapid advancement of the bioenergy sector.
Actions

Several important actions are needed to realize the vision of a sustainable bioenergy future for Asia-Oceania. These include:

• The diversity of the region requires development of biomass inventories and assessments adapted to both national and regional scales.
• Plans for biomass production must protect and enhance biological diversity and ecosystem services through appropriate agroecological zoning, certification, and other mechanisms.
• Biomass production and conversion technologies must be developed and adapted to the varied circumstances of the region. These technologies must be assessed carefully for realistic commercial success. New mechanisms must be developed that promote research and development through both inter- and intra- continental collaborations
• Knowledge development and public awareness are key to successful implementation, and must build on both traditional knowledge and advanced academic programs for all levels of society. Commercial implementation will require innovative ways to create knowledge, including intellectual property portfolio building and sharing. Women have important roles to play in this process, ranging from traditional roles in agriculture and land management to advanced technology development and business leadership. Indigenous stakeholders should also be given due credit and share the benefits from their resource and knowledge contributions.
• Harmonized policy frameworks are critical to encourage a bio-based economy through trade, regulation, overcoming non-trade barriers and climate negotiation. The development of bioenergy industries must also include infrastructure development to support new models of agricultural development, energy production and use. Strong and continuous support from both national governments and external agencies will be required to achieve the vision of a sustainable bioenergy future for Asia and Oceania.

Resolution of the North American GSB Convention

Access to energy services is critical to the quality of human life. Our existing energy portfolio is both unsustainable and threatened in many ways. Large scale bioenergy, along with other renewable energy sources, is imperative to support a sustainable future in North America. Our diverse and abundant resources are more than adequate, but they require more holistic management and innovative technologies. With immediate and ongoing action, it is reasonable for North America to set a goal of producing 25% of our energy services from these bioenergy resources by 2050, and even greater contributions in the future. To meet these goals, strategies must be put in place now so that we can begin accruing the necessary benefits at once and prepare effectively for the future. North America's diversity in geography, resource distribution, cultural history and political structures enables all regions to contribute to a sustainable energy future. Sustainability, comprised of social, economic and environmental sustainability, means managing and using resources to meet current and future needs without compromising the ability of future landscapes to support all three aspects. Sustainable bioenergy development, abiding by these principles, can contribute to the longevity and resilience of natural resources, and the productivity of future generations in North America and globally.

Almost all energy in North America is currently generated from finite fossil resources. To move to a more sustainable future, use of non-renewable resources must be strategic and limited to activities without other options. Fortunately, energy may be generated by a suite of alternatives, including conversion of biomass, and drivers in both Canada and the US have increasingly advanced the development of bioenergy, primarily for transportation fuels, but on a smaller scale for heat and power. Bioenergy has the potential to provide low carbon energy in sustainable agricultural and forest landscapes, along with social and economic benefits; the magnitude of the opportunity is substantial. The continent enjoys abundant forest and agricultural resources, ample access to corollary resources such as water, fertilizer feedstocks and mineral resources, as well as a highly educated and skilled work force, and good trade relationships between Canada and the US. A mature research base and infrastructure will facilitate the necessary innovation. The continent is generally well positioned for large scale bioenergy production, but even smaller scale bioenergy use could enhance energy security and environmental integrity.

Developing and deploying large scale sustainable bioenergy as part of a viable renewable energy mix requires addressing challenges in four key areas: resources, policy, technology, and implementation.

Resources. The continent is vast, with a huge variability in the distribution of resources. Integration of regionally appropriate strategies must be used to support the continental goal.

• Account for regional variability in physical, cultural and political landscapes and approaches in achieving bioenergy sustainability.
• Immediately improve the performance and resource efficiency of current bioenergy systems.
• Optimize resource use and land management to increase bioenergy production while still meeting growing food, feed, and fibre needs and protecting the ability to provide valuable ecosystem services.

Policy. The policy matrix is complex, involving various levels of authority across multiple disciplines. Ultimately, federal policies should incentivize the desired outcomes, while supporting and facilitating regional strategies. Increasing collaboration among the policy, science, and industrial communities will promote creation of evidence-based policy and regulation that support effective new structures and technologies. Current policies understandably favor the status quo, but must be reoriented to support emerging sustainable bioenergy systems as well as traditional sectors. Similarly, traditionally segregated sectors must be increasingly integrated in order to address future challenges using shared physical and human resources.

• In the short term, modify existing or develop new policies and legislation to appropriately use current bioenergy capacity, including harmonization of regulation and removal of barriers across federal, state/provincial and regional governments.
• Align trade policy among countries through market, process and organizational innovation.
• Include multi-level government, scientist, industry and public participation in federal policy development.
• Create a robust environment for private and public investment by providing accurate analysis metrics and developing risk-buffering strategies.
• Incentivize complementary bioenergy integration with other landscape and ecosystem services.

Technology. Enabling truly sustainable large-scale bioenergy requires major technological innovations supported by research institutions, government, industry and other stakeholders.

• Utilize existing technologies to enhance sustainability of all current and emerging bioenergy systems.
• Continue to advance development of bioenergy production, harvesting, densification, logistics, conversion and use technologies.
• Improve communications surrounding science and technology policy among industrial, science, and policy communities.
• Strongly incentivize sustainable bioenergy systems by rewarding early adopters of advanced technologies.

Implementation Strategy. Sustainability is both a process and a goal, and is responsive to the unique characteristics of individual regions and circumstances. Currently, assessments of the sustainability and the desirability of bioenergy are widely divergent. Research and communication can bridge this gap and pave the way for sustainable implementation of bioenergy on a large scale.

• Generate and provide validated quantitative data to better guide policy development and business case development.
• Expand education and outreach to:
• Increase public awareness and understanding
• Engage full range of stakeholders
• Revitalize and enhance agriculture and forestry extension
• Train sufficient highly qualified personnel for all aspects of development, deployment, and assessment
• Create holistic demonstrations to test the integration of social and physical systems.
• Measure, monitor, and verify to demonstrate that bioenergy implementations are sustainable.

North America has benefited greatly from its endowment of fossil energy resources. We have both the capacity and the obligation to participate vigorously in the global transition toward a prosperous and sustainable future involving large scale bioenergy.

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