Download the report here: Link
The Year 2022 was marked with significant turmoil in Europe and around the world due to the war in Ukraine. Despite the uncertainty in the energy markets, the World Bioenergy Association is pleased to report a positive year in terms of our revenues, membership base and the various activities undertaken throughout the year. The energy crisis shows the immediate need for a rapid transformation of the global energy system towards a clean, renewable, and sustainable future and where bioenergy technologies play a vital role overall. Here is a short recap of our activities in 2022:
Early 2022, we released our Annual Report which showed our significant growth overall. In terms of publications, our flagship publication, the Global Bioenergy Statistics 2022, showed the slow progress of renewables in the energy sector. At the same time, it highlighted the important role of bioenergy in all end use sectors including heat, electricity, and transport fuels. One key publication was the Biomethane Vision Document – a 5-point plan to scale up biomethane globally. It was a collaborative effort with industries, researchers, IGO’s etc. contributing with data and knowledge. Finally, with support from our members, we were active on traditional media by publishing sponsored content as well as interviews in various media outlets including Financial Times (FT), Politico and Euractiv.
The previous year was the year of events. We organized 4 webinars on topics related to advanced biomass cooking, pellets production in emerging economies, and biomass replacing coal in Asia. We intensified our advocacy efforts at EU level with a Brussels event on ‘Seeing the wood for the trees’. Moreover, our General Assembly tour in India included a ‘Indian Bioenergy and Climate Change Forum’ conference organized together with CII Marathwada and Ecosense Appliances. Delegates participating in the 1-week tour also had a chance to visit interesting sites including cookstove companies, pellet production, 1G/2G ethanol and biogas production sites. The year ended with our active engagement at the UNFCCC COP27 conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Our exhibit stand was well attended, while our side event with REN Alliance as well as a press conference were well received.
Finally, our engagement with the wider energy and climate community continued via our participation in various Working Groups of IRENA Coalition for Action, steering committee membership of REN21 and observer status with GBEP. The year also marked our takeover of the Pellets.Africa website which hosts the latest information on pellet production in the region. Our active working group on Advanced Biomass Cooking also addressed a very important issue in the global energy transformation.
We express our sincere gratitude to our long-standing members as well as the new members who joined us in 2022. All our activities are possible only with the support of the members and together, we continue to increase our voice as the global bioenergy community.