A new book showcases opportunities in the tropics for bioenergy production that restores land, secures food and improves livelihoods, focusing on Indonesia.

The International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change see ‘biological energy’ or ‘bioenergy’ — that is, energy derived from plants and other organic material — as a central part of achieving Net Zero Growth and the fulfilment of the Paris Agreement.

Indonesia, with 279 million people and growing at an average 1% a year, is the world’s fourth largest country by population. Indonesia’s energy demand is, consequently, also growing and the Government aims to provide energy to the entire population spread across many thousands of islands through its National Energy Policy (Kebijakan Energi Nasional). Bioenergy is an important part of this policy.

Many people are concerned, however, that growing bioenergy plants will eat up land that could be used for producing food, a concern that is particularly relevant at the time of writing given the rapidly developing global food crisis.

To address these issues, a new book sets out ways to optimize the production of bioenergy on degraded land in the tropics, focusing on the case of Indonesia, ensuring that food security is not compromised and restoration of the vast areas of degraded land is financially viable.

‘Indonesia has an estimated 14 million hectares of degraded land that provide little benefit for people, owing to its reduced provision of goods and services, or for the climate owing to its diminished capacity to absorb carbon,’ said Robert Nasi, managing director of the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), publisher of the book.
Land restoration and bioenergy are leading solutions for climate change and sustainable development. But restoration is often perceived as “going back to the past” and bioenergy development is not devoid of controversies over its impacts on land use and communities. This book shows how, under the right conditions, the two objectives of land restoration and bioenergy production are not antagonistic, but synergetic. It provides evidence and lessons from six years of pioneering initiatives in Indonesia to combine these objectives in a people-centred focus. It will be very useful for a range of stakeholders in the land and energy sectors to expand a modern and ecological agenda.

Contents

Chapter 1: An introduction to bioenergy and landscape restoration
Chapter 2: Review of bioenergy initiatives in Indonesia for multiple benefits and sustainable development
Chapter 3: Mapping degraded lands in Indonesia for bioenergy production potential
Chapter 4: Landowner perceptions towards bioenergy production on degraded lands in Indonesia
Chapter 5: Potential energy yields of bioenergy crops in the tropics
Chapter 6: Potential benefits of integrated bioenergy and food production systems on degraded land in Wonogiri, Indonesia
Chapter 7: Suitability of bioenergy tree species on degraded peatlands in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
Chapter 8: Comparison of soil microfauna diversity between a burnt and unburnt peatland in Indonesia
Chapter 9: Growth performance of Calophyllum inophyllum in bioenergy trial plots in Bukit Soeharto Forest, East Kalimantan
Chapter 10: Bamboo: Potential for bioenergy and landscape restoration in Indonesia
Chapter 11: Pongamia as a potential biofuel crop: Oil content of Pongamia pinnata from the best provenance in Java, Indonesia
Chapter 12: Calophyllum inophyllum: A viable prospect for green energy and landscape restoration?
Chapter 13: Pongamia: A possible option for degraded land restoration and bioenergy production in Indonesia
Chapter 14: Ensuring monetary, human capital and natural capital returns in biomass production: Lessons from the Mentawai biomass gasification power plant project