Review on Social and Economic Sustainability Indicators of Bioenergy Systems

Key parameters about the sustainability of bioenergy systems have been studied for a number of years. Studies have highlighted the importance of assessing sustainability in the face of rapid expected growth, and the value of developing standardized assessments on environmental, social, and economic impacts of bioenergy production. Critically, it is also important that benefits be quantified; many studies have promoted biofuels or bioproducts as a means of developing socio-economic benefits at both the local and national scale, but suffer from vague statements of what these benefits actually will be.

This stock-taking report has been carried out by IEA Bioenergy with the contribution of different Tasks. A literature review of 148 recent publications (2016 and newer) examined indicators to measure social, economic, and environmental benefits associated with bioenergy production.  A virtual workshop, held 17 September 2024, engaged 40+ experts in assessing bioenergy sustainability. The goal of this report is threefold:

  1. to update the current state of knowledge regarding the benefits and trade-offs associated with bioenergy,
  2. to determine which indicators are most widely used to track various social, economic, and environmental impacts, and
  3. to relate indicators to specific indicators associated with Sustainable Development Goals.

The report considered all bioenergy systems, including small- and large-scale recovery of biomass for heating and cooking, the recovery of residues or purpose-grown crops/trees for energy generation (heat and electricity), and the processing of various biomass feedstocks into liquid fuels for application in ground, aviation, or marine transport. This report has been carried out in part as a response to concerns raised by members of the public, and emphasized in the media, over the sustainability of bioenergy systems as part of a transition towards a cleaner, more sustainable economy.

Main findings

  1. No single indicator captures the breadth of social or economic sustainability. It is important that individual projects be assessed using appropriate indicators in each case. Communities and local stakeholders are best situated to identify appropriate indicators and to provide guidance on how they are used in assessing projects.
  2. Often literature focuses on broader community impacts but neglects the need to find projects that actually make economic sense and deliver value. It is important that indicators include pragmatic measures such as the financial viability of a bioenergy project and the cost of CO2 mitigation/abatement.
  3. wide range of methodologies are observed in the literature, which means that assessments of bioenergy sustainability are often difficult to compare. IEA Bioenergy may be able to provide guidance on the methodologies being used, while not prescribing specific indicators. Guidance is needed to help determine appropriate system boundaries, and to determine the functional units being used in assessments.

Graphic summary of the review

Indicators identified through the literature and workshop are displayed on the chart below. Indicators are categorized by their relation to specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and grouped to social and economic measures. The size of the bar indicates increasing correlation between indicators and SDG datasets and/or increasing availability of data to track individual indicators. The larger the bar, the greater the correlation and/or access to studies; shorter bars indicate areas that are not well correlated to SDGs or are not well documented in the literature. In total, 10 indicators were assessed for social sustainability and 14 indicators for economic sustainability.

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