1. AU / UN ECA Bioenergy Programme
Mainstream African Bioenergy Policy Framework and Guidelines
Nairobi, September 2013
Martina Otto
Head of Policy Unit, Energy Branch
Coordinator Bioenergy

2. UNEP’s approach to bioenergy
Bioenergy is neither good nor bad per se;
to avoid unintended consequences in the short and long-term, bioenergy development requires solid planning and management,
both on the national policy and strategy and the project levels.
Scientific assessments:
Tools:
International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management: Assessing Biofuels report (2009)
The Bioenergy and Water Nexus, UNEP, IEA Bioenergy Task 43, Oeko Institut (2011)
Issue Paper series on emerging issues: Land use and land use change ; Bioenergy and Water; Invasive species; Stakeholder consultation; Group Certification; Facilitating Energy Access; REDD+
Assessments & Guidelines for Sustainable Liquid Biofuel Production in Developing Countries, funded by GEF, implemented with FAO and UNIDO, providing guidance on environmental, social and economic performance of biofuel projects.
Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP):
Methodological framework for GHG calculations
Sustainability criteria & indicators
Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB):
solid multi-stakeholder process
all major issues are covered
UN Energy Decision Support Tool for Sustainable Bioenergy (DST), developed by UNEP and FAO to provide stepwise guidance to decision makers in governments to develop sustainable bioenergy policies and strategies, and to assess investment proposals.
Finance:
Regional and national support:
CASCADe: enhancing African expertise to generate carbon credits in the forestry and bioenergy sectors by providing technical assistance, institutional support and training workshops.
Jatropha-based PoA: assessing the feasibility of a CDM Programme of Activities for rural energy generation from Jatropha oil in Mali.
African Rural Energy Enterprise Development promoting rural energy enterprises, includes a bioenergy component that allows to demonstrate additional environmental and social benefits resulting from ‘local production for local use’ projects.
performance of biofuel projects, using a settings approach.
Bioenergy Policy Support Facility, providing advisory services to governments developing and implementing bioenergy policies, strategies and measures, mobilizing local and international experts: targeted consultations; science-based information for decision making; advice on legal frameworks, planning and management tools; and guidance on processes to facilitate integrated decision-making.
Mapping of land suitable and available for bioenergy development:
Methodology refined (GIS and groundtruthing)
completed in Kenya, Uganda, Senegal

3. Outline Bioenergy Decision Support Tool Sustainability Standards
Global Bioenergy Partnership – 24 sustainability indicators

4. www.bioenergydecisiontool.org a web-based tool and living document
developed by FAO and UNEP
under the framework of UN Energy
to assist countries to manage risks and challenges,
in a process anchored in each country’s specific context
step-wise guidance for strategy formulation and investment decision-making processes; providing a decision framework for governments to develop their own responses
repository of technical resources and
links to existing tools, guidelines and resources
guidance on identification and inclusion of stakeholders in the bioenergy decision-making process and on adopting transparent processes for good governance

5. A National Strategy Decision Tree
Feedstocks and technologies
Illustrates a decision framework
Three key stages
Context Analysis – evaluation of policy objectives and exploration of the alternatives available to meet them,.
Bioenergy Options and Resource Baseline: feedstocks and technologies available
Implementation Framework: legal and policy frameworks for carrying out an dmonitoring bioenergy actions
Not a linear process – multiple feedback loops.
Legal and policy frameworks

6. WHO
Stakeholder engagement at the inception of policy and strategy development
Comprehensiveness vs. practicability
Process, if possible tied into an existing national development process
Example in the region: Mozambique
design policy; housed in the Ministry in charge
sounding board; feedback in a structured manner
Quality of engagement; Provision of necessary information; capacity building
Bioenergy cuts across many sectors and issues – thus coordination and integration of the strategy and related policies is critical.
Steps for stakeholder participation.
Which stakeholders should be involved
All those with a special interest should be involved.
Likely to be a broad group – reflecting the different sectors and issues, from AG and Forestry, ENERGY, ENV, Finance, Trade and Industry.
GOV. Private Sector. Civil Society.
In what manner should they participate.
Task Force. – design and implement the strategy. Housed in the ministry in charge of bioenergy.
Forum. – solicit feedback in a structured manner – sounding board for testing ideas and reconceiling them with the reality of expetise and experience that is available locally, nationally, regionally and internationally.
If possible tied into existing national development an dpoverty alleviation processes and structures.
Monitoring of stakeholder engagement:
-Provision of necessary information
-Capacity building for key partners
Facilitated consultation and negotiation
- Well defined monitoring procedure for feedback
Listen to needs from men and women

7. WHY
Different policy objectives can motivate bioenergy development; achieving these will influence the pathway taken in a given country/region, making the WHY the logical starting point for any strategy and policy development
From objectives to priorities
Gender
Different policy objectives are put forward to motivate bioenergy development:
Achieving these will influence the pathway that is taken in a given country or region.
Beginning with objectives and ending with priorities.
Judge added value of bioenergy development in relation to national/regional development strategies, including poverty reduction goals, rural development plans, natural resource management plans, sectoral policies.
Due to the cross-linkes to other sectors, the Why phase is critical.
Articulating objectives
Evaluation in light of other energy options.

8. Articulating Objectives – Assessing alternatives
Judge added value of bioenergy for national and regional development goals
Matching energy resource endowments with energy demands by end use
Although some alternatives may be more desirable within one objective, it is important to look across the objectives to identify multiple benefits
This process pre-empts to some degree the next steps – feedback loops
Example: Forests can be managed based on rural development needs, as carbon sinks or as sources of bioenergy. Look for ways to integrate them!
Examples of alternatives for meeting various policy objectives.
A simple screening should be conducted on the basis of key factors such as land and resource constraints, existing technical capacity, employment and livelihoods, and availability of infrastructure. Analysis needs to be based on an overall assessment of energy resource endowments and their matching with energy demands by end use.
Although some alternatives may be more desirable within one objective, it is important to look across the objectives to identify multiple benefits.
This process pre-empts to some degree the next stage – which will look at things in more depth – feedback loops!
Example: Forests can be managed based on rural development needs or as carbon sinks or as sources of bioenergy. Look for ways to integrate.

9. WHY cont’d
Consider external drivers to ensure that bioenergy market can develop over time and is robust.
Look at the strategy and policy through the lens of the villagers and localities that will produce and use bioenergy.
What role of bioenergy in the Climate Portfolio, in the Enegy Mix?
Evaluating external drivers. Over which often little control only.
To ensure that the bioenergy market can develop over time, and is robust.
Dependence on imported energy and related issues with respect to the trade balance and the energy portfolio are one set of external drivers.
Donor preferences.
Climate vulnerability!
Regional and International Linkages:
Climate and Biodiversity treaties.
Trade.
Incorporating National needs. Look at strategy through the lens of the villagers and localities that will produce and use bioenergy. Comparison with other off-grid options – local employment generation. Little initial investment. Integrated systems – food farming efficiency, cascading use.
Setting priorities What role of bioenergy in the Climate Portfolio? What energy mix? How will it be transformed over time? What new laws are needed? Existing laws need to be modified? Should there be bioenergy targets, if yes at what level? Bottom-up process to determine, based on end uses and resource availability.

10. WHICH – Prioritise Sectors and applications
Priorities set influence which demand sectors and fuels will be emphasised
Example: significant forest resources may lead to emphasis on the heat and power sector; the presence of significant wood product industries, forested areas, and areas suitable for wood plantations to be explored under ‘Where”
Example: efficient stove programme can free wood resources for other uses – from traditional to modern biomass use
Domestic vs export
Example: Mauritius
Buildings Sector
End use: cooking
Electric Power
LPG
Off Grid
Setting priorities for bioenergy in relation to the policy objectives has immediate implications for which demand sectors applications and fuels will be emphasised
For example, significant forest resources may lead to some emphasis on heat and power sector, since woody biomass has more uniform properties and lower cost of preparation and handling than ag sources. The presence of significant wood products industries, forested areas, and areas suitable for wood plantations can then be explored in detail when conducting the land use assessment.
End use perspective facilitates greater efficiency by matching exploitation of biomass to energy demand and improving flexibility in sector applications.
Changes in traditional biomass sector. For example, stove programme can help free fwood resources for other means – from biodiversity to modern bioenergy use.
Resource efficiency! Cogen. Heat and power over fuel.
Domestic use vs export.
PV Systems
Stand Alone Generators
Biomass Gasifier & Engine
Electricity
Grid
Coal-fired power plant
Cogen
Hydro
Kerosene
Imported
Woodfuel

11. WHERE Example: Mapping processes in Kenya, Uganda and Senegal
Careful assessment of the availability and suitability of land resources.

12. mapping and zoning Building blocks for a solid mapping methodology
Land Suitability
Agro-climatic:
Water Balance
Temperature
Edaphic:
Topography (altitude and slope)
Soils
Climate change outlook/ adaptation
Land availability
Environmental screening/ sensitivity areas PA
Ecosystem services
Wildlife
HCV
LCV/degraded land
Land cover
Social
Cultural / medicinal use areas
Current land use / Food/Fodder
Urban
Conflict
Archeological
Land tenure
Infrastructure / logistics
Building blocks for a solid mapping methodology
The level of detail (i.e. scale and accuracy) for each variable matters; and the optimal data is a decision between availability and cost.
Data collection may present a particular challenge for developing countries.
Data gaps have been identified, particularly regarding biodiversity. Information on PAs designated under the CBD and Wetlands under the Ramsar Convention is easily accessible.
A database or an assessment tool, such as IBAT, adapted to bioenergy planning would be useful.
Mapping and zoning are also included in the UNEP package – previous activities have been working with Kenya, Senegal and Uganda to conduct an environmental suitability and AEZ for biofuel production – overlaying AEZ with exclusion areas, biodiversity areas, and areas with competition to food production, etc.
Methodology workshop
FGV

13. HOW ownership structures is codified in commercial law and registers
business models and land tenure rights
each of the three major schemes – concessions, contract farming, smallholder – comes with its own benefits and challenges
Ownership of property, capital and resources is normally codified in commercial law and the registers.
Of special importance: business models and land tenure.
Concessions
Contract farming
Small-scale.
Each come with their own set of risks and opportunities. Solid assessment is needed to ensure proper integration of biioenergy into other secor strategies.

14. Implementation Actions in relation to sectors and policies
Requires exchange bw different ministries
Bioenergy Strategy sets out the objectives and key bioenergy options.
Implementaiton Strategy defines how these goals will be pursued.
Significant coordination between Minsitries.

15. Implementation
Specific Support Mechanisms will draw on various operational aspects of the strategy: technology/ market/fiscal and organisational
Specific support mechanisms will draw on various operational aspects of the strategy: technology, market/fiscal, regulatory and organisational.

16. Implementation
Key questions that should be addressed as legislation is developed, refined and implemented, to ensure Policy Integration
• Are legal arrangements adequate to support government policies and targets for bioenergy?
• Are there appropriate market regulations and incentives to boost production and consumption of bioenergy?
• Have legislative measures been taken to ensure that cultivation of energy crops to produce biofuels does not have adverse impacts on food security?
• Are social and environmental implications of competing land uses adequately addressed?
• How can bioenergy legislation strengthen the legal framework applicable to deforestation, biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions and introduction of alien species?
Framework may be most effecive way to present the strategy and give it some teeth, if a new area of development. It will have implications on ENV and EN policy.
Incorporate framework legislation into renewable energy or general energy policy.

17. Implementation Regulatory Options
Need to respect international conventions
• Rules for independent power production;
• Feed in Tariffs
Blending mandates for use of biofuels in the transport sector;
Sustainability requirements for bioenergy;
• Forest protection and rules for wood extraction in forests;
• NAMAs
Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform
Limits or stipulations to land ownership
Licensing procedures
Connected to overall energy/env policy and related to laws governing the ag and forestry sectors, but also trade, industrial and fiscal legislation.
Need to respect international conventions, such as CC, Biodiv.

18. Techno-economic background
Designing a strategy
Implementation and operation
Project screening
Land resources
People and processes
Deployment and good practices
Evaluating impacts
Attempt to teasing you into the tool:
inter-linked modules that in detail explain the key issues when designing a strategy and/or doing a project screening:
A Techno-economic background – an overview of bioenergy technology, end-uses, and key sectors
Designing a Strategy – knowing trade offs, how to identify key stakeholders and institutions
Implementation and Operation – legal and regulatory frameworks, integrating energy baselines, and monitoring & evaluation
Project screening – how to evaluate a project proposal
Land resources – an overview of land resource assessments, how to define an exclusion zone (i.e. high carbon content, high biodiversity, etc.), marginal and degraded lands definition
People and Processes – governance issues, how to engage stakeholders
Deployment and Good Practices – a repository of good practices such as sustainable agricultural/ forestry practices, integrated food energy systems, etc.
Evaluating Impacts – a collection of open ended questions that ask about bioenergy impacts with references

19. Standards Quality assurance – product specifications
Sustainability assurance - an estimated 67 sustainability certification schemes operational / being developed. Need for convergence and cooperation between schemes.
Scope - feedstock specific, biofuels, bioenergy, biomaterials, agriculture and forestry
Depth – EU RED compliant to comprehensive schemes following ISEAL guidance, and covering all three pillars of sustainability.
The higher the standard, usually the higher the cost of compliance, but the higher also the gains – standards are also a management tool that reduces environmental and social as well as reputational risk.
Standards alone do not solve all the issues – national policy and planning needs to go hand in hand to address cumulative effects. Access to export markets / Contribution to national development. Considered in relation to Mandates / Licensing.

20. Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels
Developed in a multi-stakeholder process
Serves as management tool
Enables market access
12 Principles, covering comprehensively the different environmental and socio-economic concerns; goes beyond EU RED
Legality
Planning, Monitoring and Continuous Improvement
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Human and Labor Rights
Rural and Social Development
Local Food Security
Conservation
Soil
Water
Air
Use of Technology, Inputs, and Management of Waste
Land Rights

21. Price and supply of a national food basket
Access to land, water and other natural resources
Labour conditions
Rural and social development
Access to energy
Human health and safety
Lifecycle GHG emissions
Productive capacity of land and ecosystems : soil quality, wood harvest levels
Air quality: non-GHG air pollutant emissions
Water availability, use efficiency and quality
Biological diversity in the landscape
Land-use change, including indirect effects
24 indicators
18 themes
Resource availability & use efficiencies in bioenergy production, conversion, distribution and end-use
Economic development
Economic viability & competitiveness of bioenergy
Access to technology and technological capabilities
Energy security
3 pillars
Environment
Social
Economic

22. GBEP indicator 8: Land use and land-use change related to bioenergy feedstock production
Total area of land for bioenergy feedstock production, and as compared to total national surface and agricultural and managed forest land area
sense of the size of the role of bioenergy in national LU
Percentages of bioenergy from yield increases, residues, wastes and degraded or contaminated land
relates to bioenergy production that does not have dLUC
Net annual rates of conversion between land-use types caused directly by bioenergy feedstock production, including the following (amongst others):
o arable land and permanent crops, permanent meadows and pastures, and managed forests;
o natural forests and grasslands, peatlands, and wetlands
relates to bioenergy feedstock production causing LUC, describing the patterns in LUC

23. Water use and efficiency
GBEP indicator 5:
Water use and efficiency
Water withdrawn from nationally-determined watershed(s) for the production and processing of bioenergy feedstocks, expressed:
as the percentage of total actual renewable water resources (TARWR) and
as the percentage of total annual water withdrawals (TAWW), disaggregated into renewable and non-renewable water sources
Volume of water withdrawn from nationally-determined watershed(s) used for the production and processing of bioenergy feedstocks per unit of bioenergy output, disaggregated into renewable and non-renewable water sources.
Water demand of bioenergy and how it compares to availability; efficiency in use; competing uses
Cumulative effects; threat to water bodies – scarcity
Best practices to promote efficiency
Integrated Water Management and Planning

24. Water Resource Management Water Policies
institutional and legal environment in which water is supplied and used.; e.g. water rights, collective action (e.g. water user associations that manage water allocation within irrigation systems as a group), privatization of utilities;
incentives to conserve water, including water pricing, water markets (e.g. tradable water use rights and water pollution trading), effluent charges);
water quotas, licenses and pollution controls (e.g. water standards);
investments in efficiency or conservation programmes, including rehabilitation and restoration of water infrastructure in all sectors.
Enabling conditions
Market-based incentives
Command and Control
Direct
inter-ventions

25. EU Water Framework Directive
Example 1
EU Water Framework Directive
WFD covers surface and groundwater, and uses a river basin approach. It mandates supporting river basin plans to be introduced in all Member States, deadlines for reaching “good ecological status” for all water, and sets emission limits and quality standards.
Implementation of the WFD strongly depends on the development of agriculture and land use, which is influenced by the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and bioenergy-related policies.
Rural Development Regulation provides financial support, e.g. agro-environmental and agro-forestry payments, and farm investment support.
Perennial herbaceous and short rotation woody plants can lead to improved water quality. Hence, the integration of such plants into the agricultural landscape has been proposed to help achieve the WFD objectives.

26. National Water Act, South Africa
Example 2
National Water Act, South Africa
In the NWA of South Africa, the impacts of land use and land use change on the hydrological cycle and their potential impact on water resources are recognised.
Through ‘stream flow reduction activity’, “any activity … [that] … is likely to reduce the availability of water in a watercourse to the Reserve, to meet international obligations, or to other water users significantly”, the potential water use and likely impact of biofuel feedstock production needs to be assessed before permission is granted for production, incl . water use license.
Production of biofuel crops under irrigation is allowed only under exceptional circumstances by the Department of Minerals and Energy. Farmers with existing water use licenses cannot be prevented from converting their output from food/fodder crop production to biofuel feedstock production, but license applications for biofuel processing plants will not be approved if the plants are to receive irrigated feedstock. An industrial water tariff is considered, effectively charging much more than the usual subsidized agricultural tariff.

27. Take aways
Multi-stakeholder engagement processes from strategy to policy development and monitoring.
Policy coherence, across sectoral policies relevant to bioenergy such as agriculture, environment, forestry, industry and trade.
Policy integration. Bioenergy should be part of low carbon development strategies, and embedded in overall Energy Policy.
Bioenergy mandates and targets to based on bottom-up resource and demand assessments, and flanked by solid sustainability standards. Best to start with modest targets that can be increased over time, to provide longer-term visibility for investors.
Monitoring and review of policies – ensure effectiveness towards achieving the objectives. GBEP sustainability criteria. Get engaged!
Have a look at the DST website. Help us to make the DST a useful tool for you, indicate gaps and good practices. I is a Living document.
SE4All – triple goals; reduction of traditional biomass use to access to modern energy services – sustainable modern bioenergy can help make this energy transition! SDGs / post 2015 development agenda