Electrificacion y bioeconomia: tres lados de la historia

The document examines the relationship between the bioeconomy—defined as sectors based on biomass production and processing—and the rapid growth of variable renewable energy (VRE) and electrification. It argues that while electrification competes with biofuels in some areas, such as road transport, it offers complementary and synergistic opportunities in others. For instance, biomass provides dispatchable power to balance VRE, and low-cost solar energy can enable critical infrastructure for agricultural bioeconomies in low-income countries. The text emphasizes that the bioeconomy should be designed to support and benefit from electrification to achieve deep decarbonization.

• The falling costs of solar and wind energy have reached a point where they are cost-competitive with fossil fuels in many markets, even without subsidies.
• In low-income countries, decentralized solar solutions are projected to be the most cost-effective way to provide electricity to approximately half of the people who need access by 2030.
• Electrification of vehicle drivetrains poses a competitive threat to the demand for liquid biofuels in road transport, although internal combustion engines will maintain demand for liquid fuels for some time.
• Bioenergy provides a complementary role to variable renewable energy (VRE) because it is dispatchable, unlike weather-dependent solar and wind power.
• Biofuels remain essential for the aviation sector and maritime transport, as batteries are only suitable for niche segments and electric aviation is only feasible for short routes in the medium to long term.
• Biomass can support the decarbonization of heavy industries, such as steel and cement, either by replacing fossil fuels in processing or by serving as a carbon source for iron processing into steel.
• Low-cost solar energy can resolve infrastructure bottlenecks in low-income countries by powering essential bioeconomy value chain components like irrigation and refrigeration.
• Electrification can create synergies by reducing the carbon footprint of biofuel production through the use of low-carbon electricity for hydrogen production via electrolysis instead of steam reforming of natural gas.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2019). Electrificacion y bioeconomia: tres lados de la historia. https://www.sei.org/publications/electrificacion-y-bioeconomia-tres-lados-de-la-historia/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Electrificacion y bioeconomia: tres lados de la historia. 2019. https://www.sei.org/publications/electrificacion-y-bioeconomia-tres-lados-de-la-historia/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Electrificacion y bioeconomia: tres lados de la historia |date=4 December 2019 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/electrificacion-y-bioeconomia-tres-lados-de-la-historia/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2019electrificacion, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Electrificacion y bioeconomia: tres lados de la historia}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2019}, month = dec, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/electrificacion-y-bioeconomia-tres-lados-de-la-historia/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }