Australia's National Association of Forrest Industries

What is Bioenergy?

Bioenergy is used extensively throughout the world, contributing to some 14% of the world’s total energy supplies.

Bioenergy is a renewable, greenhouse neutral energy derived from a diverse range of non-fossil organic resources,
including forest residues and thinnings, sawmill residues, demolition wastes and recycling wastes.

Types of Bioenergy

Bioenergy can be classified into the following broad groups:

Forestry by-products, or wood waste, which accounts for sawmill and harvest residues, demolition waste and
recycled timber and paper products

Methane gas, from landfills and sewage treatment plants

Wet wastes, from abattoirs, feedlots and food processing

Dry agricultural by-products, such as sugar cane waste, bagasse and crop stubble

Municipal mixed wastes, including household garbage and prunings with recyclables removed

Around the world, wood waste is used as a source of fuel for heating and cooking, and to provide energy in remote
communities.

Wood waste can be used to generate electricity in the following ways:

- by direct combustion in dedicated power stations;

- mixed with other sources of biomass to supply new and existing facilities

- by co-firing with coal in existing power plants

The potential for bioenergy in Australia

In Australia, the forest and timber industry has the capacity to produce 30% of the additional
9,500 GW of power required to meet the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) without harvesting one more
hectare of trees (Raison, 2001). This equates to an improved use of the seven million tonnes of forest harvesting and
timber processing residues currently available for renewable energy production (CSIRO 2002).

At present, Australia uses 2% of the existing wood waste for renewable electricity production. Maximising
the sustainable use of these resources could:

- deliver $800 million of direct investment in renewable energy facilities;

- supply renewable electricity to at least 400,000 houses;

- create 2,300 new regional jobs; and

- reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 2.2 million tonnes of CO₂ each year
(equivalent to taking more than 200,000 cars off the road);

- significantly reduce bushfire risk by reducing the amount of fuel left on the forest floor.