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Research article2021Peer reviewedOpen access

The Contributions of Biomass Supply for Bioenergy in the Post-COVID-19 Recovery

Kulisic, Biljana; Gagnon, Bruno; Schweinle, Joerg; Van Holsbeeck, Sam; Brown, Mark; Simurina, Jurica; Dimitriou, Ioannis; McDonald, Heather

Abstract

This research investigates how biomass supply chains (BSChs) for bioenergy within the broader bioeconomy could contribute to the post-COVID-19 recovery in three dimensions: boosting economic growth, creating jobs, and building more resilient and cleaner energy systems in four future scenarios, in the short term (by 2023) and long term (by 2030). A SWOT analysis on BSChs was used for generating a questionnaire for foresight by a two-round Delphi study. To interpret the results properly, a short survey and literature review is executed to record BSChs behavior during the pandemic. In total, 23 (55% response rate) and 28 (46% response rate) biomass experts from three continents participated in the Delphi and the short survey, respectively. The strongest impact from investment in BSChs would be on economic growth, followed by a contribution to the resilient and cleaner energy systems and job creation. The effects would be more visible in the long- than in the short-term period. Investments with the most impact on recovery are those that improve biomass material efficiency and circularity. Refurbishment of current policies to enhance the supply of biomass as a renewable resource to the future economy is a must.

Keywords

biomass supply chains; pandemic; Delphi; bioenergy; bioeconomy; recovery; investments

Published in

Energies
2021, Volume: 14, number: 24, article number: 8415Publisher: MDPI

    Sustainable Development Goals

    SDG7 Affordable and clean energy
    SDG8 Decent work and economic growth

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Energy Systems

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/en14248415

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/115376