Bioenergy – the renewable fuel
Bioenergy – the most flexible and extensive renewable source of energy integrated with other business manufacturing co-products
Bioenergy is the way of the future. It is the most used form of renewable energy globally – bigger than hydroelectricity or wind, providing heat, electricity and fuel for transport and has the potential to create a major industry for New Zealand.
Increasing our use of bioenergy and biofuels is good for the economy – particularly in rural New Zealand – providing economic growth through improved land use, new businesses and employment that will strengthen rural communities.
The Bioenergy Association promotes and coordinates the expansion of the New Zealand bioenergy and biofuels sector and helps its members’ bioenergy businesses grow and flourish.
More than 9 percent of New Zealand’s energy already comes from bioenergy. The vision for the future is:
Economic growth and employment built on New Zealand's capability and expertise in agriculture, forestry, wood processing and bioenergy production from waste - leading to new business opportunities which by 2050 could more than treble biomass energy supply up to 27% of the country's energy needs, with a consequential 15% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. (compared to 2017).
Bioenergy and biofuels have the potential to add revenue of $6 billion per year to the country’s economy.
Bioenergy makes use of the resideues and co-products of other business and manufacturing processes. It adds value by using biomass and organic waste residues which otherwise would be wasted.
Increasing our use of bioenergy and biofuels means a cleaner environment, a stronger economy and more employment. Investing in bioenergy is an investment in New Zealand’s future.
Our use of fossil fuels is unsustainable
Watch this short video to see why bioenergy is the answer to our fossil fuels crisis and reducing environmental damage, and why we need to hurry to make changes.
Adding value to your business and our communities
As our communities look to the opportunities for growing new employment, and developing new domestically produced products, the extraction of greater value from wood and waste is an opportunity that can be quickly expanded from its existing base. The current production of bioenergy and biofuels provides a strong foundation for developing other new bioproduct business opportunities.
The bioenergy and biofuels sector shows the value that can be obtained from the residues of primary product production such as export of logs and production of timber. Along with engineered wood products the bioenergy and biofuels sector is already a significant added value business.
We have an opportunity for developing an added value strategy based around greater use of wood and organic waste by:
- Business, government and communities adopting a 'wood first' policy for building and construction.
- Support for new product innovation around use of wood and waste. (The future lies in a bioeconomy, and our waste resources and plantation forests can be part of that exciting future. We want to embrace that with our science teams and government support to identify and manufacture new bioproducts.)
- Adopting zero organic waste to landfill policies by 2035. (This would encourage innovation on alternative uses of organic wastes.)
- Supporting establishment of a bio based primary industry with promotion of the international trade opportunities. (Existing wood exports provide a sound foundation for growing a wider biobased primary sector)
- Encourage local and regional bio processing of wood residues and municipal waste streams. (Bio processing initiatives would become the foundation for establishing viable regional circular economies.)
Adoption of these policies would address a number of Government’s objectives and aspirations for getting greater domestic processing of wood, address a major part of the waste problem and provide the feedstocks for expansion of the bioenergy, biofuels and bioproducts market.
