Anwesha Ray
Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi
The very first and foremost thing that comes to our minds when we hear the word ‘bio’ is the connection with the living things or the life on earth. Bioenergy is that energy or the electricity or gas that is generated from the organic matter called biomass. This biomass includes natural resources such as timber to agriculture and food waste, even sewage.
Coming to the question of bioenergy as an agent of economic growth, one can easily see that biomass is an available resource for fuel and at the same time very less expensive. Now, energy is an important source for economic growth and development as many economic activities involve energy as a very basic input. The use of freely available natural resources would clearly help the economy.
Bioenergy has a significant potential to act as a catalyst for job creation and economic opportunities which will help the growth of the economy. It provides unique valuable renewables for different activities that involve high energy consumption, for example, aviation or the naval fleet. Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources. As the cost of fossil fuel is on the rise, demand for affordable bioenergy can be seen to be rising, and this will continue to rise. Bioenergy when compared with oil, is absolutely economically favorable in terms of price. Further bioenergy can easily be produced domestically. Hence, jobs can grow within the state itself and prevent the transfer of domestic currency in the form of purchases of imported energy.
Energy being the key source of economic growth and development, many production and consumption activities involve it as the basic input. Biomass energy is one of the main rural combustible energy used for more or less every activity. Biomass is a sustainable source of energy, it is highly preferred to other sources of energy. However, there is some traditional biomass energy consumption that has not met the energy requirement in the fast-growing economies. But increased pollution, limited resources for fossil fuels and the higher price has led to the popularity of bioenergy. The Chernobyl disaster caused by fossil energy steered the worldwide interest away from fossil fuel to bio mass-energy. Bioenergy has an important role not only in wealth creation but also as a significant factor in economic growth, development, and sustainability. In addition, it assists in increasing and developing biodiversity, soil fertility, and water embowing.
There is worldwide acceptance and support for the production and use of renewable energy resources, especially through major policy initiatives relating to climate change and bioenergy. The responsible policies are the United States Environmental Protection Agency Renewable Fuel Standard and the American Clean Energy and the Security Act, Brazil’s 2009 National Climate Change Policy, Canada’s 2006 Renewable Fuels Regulations, European Union’s Energy and Climate Change Package, etc. The motives or the rationale behind all these policies range from less reliance on imported fuels, reduction in energy prices, the ad also improvement in the rural economy, sustainable development, and mitigating climate change.
The economic and environmental consequences of bio-energy expansion are not fully understood by all, mainly because the bioenergy market is not fully developed and is still in flux. To better understand the emergence of the bioenergy market and to explore the direct and indirect consequences of the expansion of this alternative energy source of the economy, in the energy and commodity markets and also the environmental impact at a various level like country and global, we need to have a deeper analysis.
In India, energy-based challenges are multi-pronged. It has been manifested with growing demand for modern energy, fossil fuel-based energy system which is now facing a serious resource crunch, the need for the creation of accessibility to quality and sustainable source of energy for the large section of population which is deprived, local and global pollution regimes and the need of growth and development having recognized the potential, India has been implementing one of the important and largest renewable energy programs in the world. In India, bio mass energy has a diverse portfolio like efficient biomass stoves, biogas, biomass combustion, gasification. India has also implemented several innovative policies to promote and increase biomass energy demand and efficiency. But according to some preliminary studies it can be expressed or analyzed that the success rate is very low as compared to the potential available. This is a clear indication of the need for a more effective and serious reassessment of the biomass energy program. Also, the need for sustainable energy will be the guiding force in the process of reassessment.
The socio-economic impact may or may not be always positive, although it is one of the basic arguments for supporting its expansion. The modern-day biomass energy system is deemed as a solution to control climate change, increase energy independence, and stimulate the economy. The scientific and political debate on this has mainly focused on climate change and other environmental impacts of bioenergy, but socio-economic development in a holistic way is sustainable development. Io energy has both positive and negative aspects onto various environmental ad socio-economic issues. They could be property rights, labor conditions, social welfare, economic wealth, poverty reduction, and many more.
To conclude, it can be said that bioenergy has a different environmental, economic and social impact. Bioenergy products are cost-effective as compared to the other conventional modes of energy production. There can also be improved quality of natural resources available for all, for example, water. Bio mass energy also acts as a catalyst for the creation of new jobs. An excellent example of the social impact could be that people can resort to biogas fuel at a much cheaper cost due to the rising oil prices. A negative effect on the other hand could be the pollution of air due to combustion. According to WHO, one of the main causes of child mortality in underdeveloped nations is acute respiratory infections. And these types of respiratory infections can be caused due to poor ventilation systems indoors, which makes the air pollutants caused by the use of bioenergy cooking fuel accumulate indoors. Hence it has a very negative impact on air quality.
