Bioenergy Projects and Sustainable Development: Which Project Types Offer the Greatest Benefits?

This research paper by the Stockholm Environment Institute evaluates the sustainable development (SD) potential of 12 different bioenergy project types by analyzing the project design documents of 76 Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in India, Brazil, and Sub-Saharan Africa. The study finds that the potential for SD benefits varies significantly by project type, with on-farm residue projects claiming the most benefits and industrial forestry residue projects claiming the fewest.

• Bioenergy projects vary significantly in their claimed sustainable development (SD) benefits, with an average of 5 benefits per project, ranging from 1.5 to 9.5.
• Projects utilizing on-farm (non-industrial) residues, such as mustard crops, claim the highest number of SD benefits, often including direct and indirect employment, technology transfer, and environmental improvements.
• Forestry projects using industrial residues, specifically black liquor and sawmill waste, claim the fewest SD benefits, performing similarly to industrial gas or fossil fuel switch projects.
• Bagasse power projects exhibit the widest variation in claimed SD benefits (from 3 to 8.5) and are more likely than other bioenergy types to claim social benefits, such as education, training, and a focus on the poor, particularly in Brazil.
• The most frequently claimed SD benefits across all sampled bioenergy projects are renewable energy production (100%), stakeholder identification (99%), waste reduction (82%), employment generation (60%), and indirect income from local sourcing (57%).
• Regional analysis indicates that projects in India and Africa claim significantly more SD benefits than those in Brazil, though this is likely due to a higher proportion of on-farm residue projects in India and Africa compared to industrial residue projects in Brazil.

APA

Lee, C., & Lazarus, M. (2011). Bioenergy Projects and Sustainable Development: Which Project Types Offer the Greatest Benefits? Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/SEI-WP-2011-04-Bioenergy-Sustainable-Dev.pdf

Chicago

Lee, Carrie, and Michael Lazarus. Bioenergy Projects and Sustainable Development: Which Project Types Offer the Greatest Benefits? Stockholm Environment Institute, 2011. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/SEI-WP-2011-04-Bioenergy-Sustainable-Dev.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lee |first1=Carrie |last2=Lazarus |first2=Michael |title=Bioenergy Projects and Sustainable Development: Which Project Types Offer the Greatest Benefits? |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=November 2011 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/SEI-WP-2011-04-Bioenergy-Sustainable-Dev.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lee2011bioenergy, author = {Lee, Carrie and Lazarus, Michael}, title = {{Bioenergy Projects and Sustainable Development: Which Project Types Offer the Greatest Benefits?}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2011}, month = nov, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate-mitigation-adaptation/SEI-WP-2011-04-Bioenergy-Sustainable-Dev.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }