Incentives Needed

Incentives needed to make bioenergy competitive vary from case to case, depending on the type of final product, sources of feedstocks, technologies, and market conditions among other factors. Electricity generation will need incentives that are different from those required for biofuels and other bio-based products. 

Under current market conditions and technology, an incentive of US$10-30/MWh would be needed for electricity generated from logging residues in general (Gan and Smith 2006), and US$18/MWh would be required for electricity produced from forest fuel treatment thinning (Carlson 2003). Carbon dioxide emission reductions and taxation would also make electricity generation using forest biomass more competitive (see Electricity Production). Under this scenario, emissions would need to be taxed at least at $25/ton of carbon dioxide or reduced by 20-30% worldwide.

While the future looks promising for bioenergy and bio-based products, there are still challenges and barriers to overcome. Though the provision of incentives for forest biomass and bioenergy production is necessary and justifiable, enhanced marketing, community engagement, infrastructure development, collaboration, and education are a few other means to overcome these barriers(Mayfield and others 2005).