Sustainable bioenergy deployment in East and South East Asia: notes on recent trends

The use and trade of solid biomass for modern bioenergy have grown rapidly in Asia. In September 2018, IEA Bioenergy organized a workshop in Tokyo to address these ongoing developments. The policies in Japan and South Korea have triggered a more import-oriented development, while bioenergy in Malaysia, Indonesia and China is closely linked to agriculture and rural policies. Four major points were raised and discussed: balancing local supplies and international trade, switching from fossil to renewable infrastructure, addressing sustainability concerns and tackling regulatory uncertainty. This workshop showed a clear need for more information exchange between countries through platforms like IEA Bioenergy.