Integration of bioenergy to bioeconomy future of Nigeria; Perspectives and Insights

As the global energy landscape is on transformation, diversifying of energy carriers and transition towards sustainable bioeconomies is increasingly gaining scientific and political interests. Many governments are already faced with the complex challenge of developing clear strategies for their country's evolving economies. The development of bioeconomy strategies that stay within ecological limits is important for the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Major integration of bioenergy to bioeconomic objectives confronting society today are i) Conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services, ii) Cascading use of resources and iii) To contribute to the climate policy target which cuts across other SDGs like the multiplier effect on local economic development e.g. in the areas of poverty reduction, improved energy security etc. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), bioenergy is projected to have enormous contribution towards providing final energy demand as well as GHG savings by 2060. But, the dimension of this at the local context remain unclear. Like many developing world regions, most of Sub Saharan Africa do not yet have consistent bioeconomy policies.

Here, we show insights on the integration of bioenergy to bioeconomy future of Nigeria, using a Forest and Agricultural Sector Optimization Model for the Nigerian Niger Delta (NGA-FASOM). Our result showed that without cascading use of resources, contribution towards the climate target will not be feasible under the current policy action. Furthermore, our result showed that, combination of volume mandate and carbon tax do not translate to substantial change in aggregated social welfare. Following the results of this study, it would be ideal for the Government to establish a stringent scheme aimed at assuring producer compliance with a set of sustainability criteria within the bioenergy sector.

Keywords: Bioenergy, Bioeconomy, Bioeconomy policies, Climate target. SDGs