Energy development in many industrialised countries shows a reverse trend, turning away from fossil fuels and nuclear power towards regenerative energy sources. International commitments towards clean development mechanisms, such as the Kyoto protocol, increasing fossil prices due to a dwindling supply, and the general aversion to nuclear energy in many developed countries, lead to a dynamic development of alternative energy sources in the past two decades. The European Union, which may serve here as an example for the industrialised nations, has defined the goal to increase renewable energy in their energy portfolio from the current value for the year 2011 of 13 % (Eurostat 2013) to 20 % in the year 2020 and is planning to move beyond that mark (European Commission 2010). About 70 % of the current European renewable energy production was from biomass in 2011 and about 70 % of that biomass was based on wood and wood residues (Eurostat 2013). In the last decade the amount of wood based biomass used for energy has increased by more than 50 % (Fig. 1.2). In the same time frame (2002-2011), net imports of biofuels have increased by a factor of ten, indicating that the import of solid and liquid biofuel is part of the strategy to transform the energy portfolio in the European Union. Due to restricted access to land and high production costs, industrialised

nations increasingly try to source their biofuels from tropical countries, preferably in the form of easily transportable fuels such as oils, fatty acid distillates, bioethanol or solid pellets, all of which can facilitate co-firing in power plants or be blended in fuel for motor vehicles.

However, to embark on commercial bioenergy projects for the mitigation of climate change might be a two-edged sword. Non sustainable practice, in particular with palm oil production, have raised concerns about the suitability of biofuel production for mitigating climate change since it may degrade existing natural resources and may further increase climate change due to deforestation and the deterioration of natural ecosystems, especially in tropical countries (Wicke et al. 2008; Butler et al. 2009). Many of these concerns are valid, particularly in the tropics, where conversion from one land-use to another is quite common, where it is often loosely regulated and controlled and land tenure is frequently unsolved. Conversely, if bioenergy is produced sustainably, it offers the potential to provide an energy resource, sequester carbon and at the same time alleviate poverty in many developing countries in the tropics. In this context it is important to see both aspects of current bioenergy use. The traditional low-tech fuelwood aspect for everyday cooking and heating that is prevalent in most developing countries, and the high-tech approach of many industrialised countries, which will also be realised mainly in the developing countries of the tropical and sub-tropical areas. Some tropical and sub-tropical countries have embarked on commercial bioenergy production, driven partly by local demands and by the increasing resource needs of the industrial countries of the Northern Hemisphere (Mathews et al. 2000; Wright 2006).