China's Bioenergy Future Through the Lens of Yunnan Province

Few issues are as cross-cutting as biomass-based energy (“bioenergy”). Bioenergy involves rural livelihoods and development; indoor air quality and human health; conservation and commercial forestry; agricultural productivity; climate change mitigation and adaptation; and energy and timber security. As the world’s largest consumer of bioenergy, China is in a long transitional phase between “traditional” and modern bioenergy use. Reducing the impacts of traditional bioenergy use, while setting the organizational, market, and technological grounds for modern bioenergy, is an important national policy priority. Globally, the direction of China’s bioenergy future could have significant implications for efforts to mitigate climate change.
This paper examines China’s bioenergy future through the lens of Yunnan Province, a province in the country’s southwest region. The paper provides an overview of the status of bioenergy in China and Yunnan Province, highlights past successes, examines current challenges, and offers recommendations on future strategies to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of bioenergy-related policy and programmatic interventions.