Governing and regulating regional biomass supply chains

Kevin Grecksch, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, published an article in Sustainability on More Sustainable Bioenergy by Making Use of Regional Alternative Biomass?. The article is also featured as cover story in the journals most recent issue. The paper explores the potential of alternative biomass, for instance grass cuts from landscape conservation, in regional bioenergy supply chains. Kevin contributed to the paper his expertise on the governance and regulation of natural resources as well participatory processes.

Bioenergy supply chains are regionally embedded and need to be seen in a place-based context with specific characteristics and constraints. Using a German case study, the potential of regionally embedded bioenergy chains in the past and the future is analysed and discussed in this paper. The analysis integrates socioecological data and applies sustainability criteria in a multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA). Objectives for future development according to the ambitions of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the EU RED II discussion are set and include the involvement of the farmer as a biogas plant operator and other regional stakeholders. To conclude, sustainable enablers are discussed to realize optimization potentials and emphasize the integration of regional stakeholders in making use of alternative biomass and in making regional bioenergy more sustainable

Photo credit: Alexandra Pehlken