Understanding bioenergy conflicts: case of a jatropha project in Kenya's Tana Delta

Under the theme "Forests, competitiveness and sustainable landscapes", the Third Latin American IUFRO Congress was held in Costa Rica from 12-15 June 2013, gathering around 350 scientists. A poster entitled "Understanding bioenergy conflicts: case of a jatropha project inKenya's Tana Delta"  (Arevalo, J., Ochieng, R., Mola-Yudego, B. & Gritten, D.) was presented, prompting numerous comments and feedback from congress participants. Notwithstanding, Latin America has also experienced -similarly as sub-Saharan Africa- important bioenergy developments, many of which have been associated to deforestation and forest conflicts. A list of all congress contributions as well as the keynote presentations can be found at the congress website.

Global Forestry Challenges in Local Context

In May 17th-21st took place in Vancouver (Canada) the International Symposium on Forest Education. In the event, Javier Arévalo presented the outcomes of the course "Global Forestry Challenges in Local Context" which is part of the M.Sc. European Forestry Erasmus Mundus. The module was delivered by the School of Forest Sciences of the University of Eastern Finland (Joensuu campus) under the direction of Professor Paavo Pelkonen, and with the contributions in the organisation of Javier Arévalo, David Gritten and Blas Mola-Yudego, as well as several other researchers of the Faculty and the EDC.

The module aimed to develop the students’ understanding of the current challenges facing the forestry sector at local and global levels, as well as the fundamental relationships between global and local actions, in an innovative way, as they interacted directly with many experts on different topics.
Citation:

AREVALO J, GRITTEN D, MOLA-YUDEGO B, PELKONEN P. 2010. Global Forestry Challenges in Local Context. Poster at the International Symposium on Forest Education, Vancouver, Canada, 17-21 May.

IEA Task 43: Sustainability across the supply chain of land-based biomass

IEA Task 43: International Workshop "Sustainability across the supply chain of land-based biomass", Kamloops BC, Canada, 1-4 June.

Concerns over current and future energy security, economic and social sustainability, and environmental impact of traditional energy sources have led to a resurgence in worldwide interest in alternative, renewable forms of energy. Bioenergy is the most widespread and oldest source of converted energy, and research and development into its expansion in modern economies is rapidly expanding. Bioenergy not only provides  energy produced at local to regional scales, but many believe that it can offset greenhouse gas emissions, provide additional support for traditional and new fibre production and transport systems,  and provide markets for previously unvalued fibre in certain ecosystems. However, creating a viable bioenergy sector at appropriate scales requires that we address concerns over the sustainability of ecosystem services, including but not limited to productive capacity of fibre  producing systems, and the economic and social challenges related to the production,  transport, and conversion of biomass to energy.

RÖSER D, SIKANEN L, PRINZ R, MOLA-YUDEGO B, EMER B, NUUTINEN Y, GROOME S, NICOL A, ROBERTSON A, STRACHAN F, ERKKILÄ A, HILLEBRANT K, KORHONEN J. 2010. Partial debarking and covering to promote drying of roundwood for energy in Finland, Scotland and Italy. Abstract. International Workshop "Sustainability across the supply chain of land-based biomass", Kamloops BC, Canada, 1-4 June.[PDF]

RÖSER D, SIKANEN L, PRINZ R, MOLA-YUDEGO B, WINDISCH J. 2010. Technology transfer, know-how and markets of small scale wood fuel systems in the EU. Abstract. International Workshop "Sustainability across the supply chain of land-based biomass", Kamloops BC, Canada, 1-4 June.[PDF]

Bioenergy, forest policy and climate change

A few months ago, METLA held the Joensuu Forestry Networking Week (24.5.–29.5.2009). The event was organised jointly by the Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla), the European Forest Institute (EFI) and the University of Joensuu, Faculty of Forest Sciences in co-operation with the COST Action: Expected Climate Change and Options for European Silviculture (ECHOES). The main focus was on the relations between forest policy, forest management and climate change.

Just recently, METLA has published the resulting working paper with the contributions of all participants, and EDC was well represented. You can check the contents of the report at:

ELLISON D, KOIVISTO A, MUTANEN A, MOLA B, GRITTEN D, VERKERK H, ELLINGSON L, LEWIS S, AREVALO J. 2009. Role of Forest Policy In Fighting Climate Change – Forest Policy Work Group Report. In: Karjalainen T, Lindner M, Niskanen A, Lier M. 2009. Fighting Climate Change: Adapting Forest Policy and Forest Management in Europe. Working Papers of the Finnish Forest Research Institute. 135: 84 pp

More about pellets...

A good source of data concerning pellets can be found in the PelleTime project. The project is coordinated by the North Karelia University of Applied Sciences in Finland, and it is mainly addressed to provide tools to design sustainable pellet supply chains. It is mainly focused on the northern regions, and there is good information about Finland, Sweden, Iceland and Scotland.

The last symposium in Scotland analysed the role of short rotation forestry as a raw material for the pellet industry. The preliminary studies showed the current status of the wood supply in Scandinavia and the concerns about future availability of raw materials for pellets.

Bioenergy and forest education at the XIII World Forestry Congress

Will the development of bioenergy be good or bad for the forest sector? This question was made to the audience attending the Forest and Energy Forum during the XIII World Forestry Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, held from 19th to 23rd October 2009. The forum (click here for its detailed programme) gathered numerous world experts in the field and was, together with the thematic session 2.5 on Forests and Energy (click here for its detailed programme), the main venue for discussions on bioenergy.

Interestingly, the numbers of hands raised in response to the question was quite even between yes and no, with a slight majority –as appreciated by the chairman of the session- for the “no”, i.e. for those thinking that bioenergy development will be bad for forestry. Why so many “no” answers? Judging from the discussions that took place, there seemed to be the wide spread perception that plantations for energy will need a huge area and therefore will contribute to deforestation of natural forests.

The subject forestry education was also debated throughout the Congress, with a thematic session (6.4) on the last day (click here for a detailed programme). With the moderation of August Temu, there were presentations by Hosny El-Lakany, Florent Kaiser, Michael Rivoire, Nicolas Dolidon, Marta Bonilla, as well as a presentation by our group entitled “Exploring the motivation of international forestry degree students”. Also a follow-up meeting for further discussing forestry education was held, chaired by the International Partnership for Forestry Education (IPFE).

Biofuels and bioenergy: A changing climate

Last August, Vancouver held the IEA multi-taks conference on biofuels and bioenergy. There were many interesting topics, especially on very fashionable topics, such biorefinery, thermochemical and biochemical technologies, and of course, short rotation plantations.

We made our small contribution by presenting our latest results on yield expectations. The abstract can be found here.

Bioenergy 2009 - Sustainable Bioenergy Business conference

During September has taken place the Bioenergy conference 2009 in Jyväskylä (Finland). We presented the poster on "Partial Debarking and Covering to Promote Drying of Roundwood for Energy in Finland, Scotland and Italy" at the panel Topic 5 Fuel production, logistics and technologies.



RÖSER D, MOLA-YUDEGO B, PRINZ R, VÄÄTÄINEN K, SIKANEN L, EMER B, ERKKILÄ A. 2009. Partial Debarking and Covering to Promote Drying of Roundwood for Energy in Finland, Scotland and Italy. Poster presented at the Bioenergy 20009 conference. Jyväskylä (Finland) 31 Aug - 4 Sept, 2009.

Change in Governance as Collective Learning Process

The conference was held in Nancy (France), from 21st of June 2009 to 24th of June 2009. Organized by IDDRI, the Center for Philosophy of Law, the AgroParisTech-ENGREF, and the Regional Council of Lorraine, the International Symposium "Change in Governance as Collective Learning Process".

There we presented our preliminary findings in the analysis of frequency of forest conflicts, which we hope to improve and enlarge in the next months.



MOLA-YUDEGO B, GRITTEN D. 2009. Locating the frequency and concentration of forest conflicts: preliminary results based on a systematic compilation of empirical cases. Nancy, France, 21st-24th June, 2009.