8-14: Barriers and Opportunities for international bioenergy trade – an inventory by IEA Bioenergy Task 40

This paper presents an up-to-date overview of what major market actors currently perceive as major opportunities and barriers for the current and future development of international bioenergy trade. The work will focus on three internationally-traded bioenergy commodities: 1) bioethanol 2) biodiesel 3) wood pellets. It is based on the results of an online questionnaire and in-depth interviews with mainly industry actors (e.g. producers, traders, consumers and industry associations) and to a lesser extent, the questionnaire will also be sent to policy makers, NGOs and other experts from academia and other institutions. Topics treated include a.o. sustainability certification schemes (and possible impact on trade), logistical barriers, tariff- and non-tariff barriers, and the lack of global classification and clear bioenergy trade statistics. Furthermore, also the role of the food vs. fuel debate and the possible impact of the current economic crisis will be evaluated. The work is a collaboration of IEA Bioenergy Task 40 and UNCTAD.