Employment

Bioenergy can significantly contribute to employment (direct, indirect and induced) at local, regional and national level. The exact numbers vary and depend on methodology used and input data constraints. Some examples like country case studies for Brazil showed the job potentials in tree plantation for charcoal/steel production and sugarcane cane/bioethanol industry. Studies done for the Netherlands, Ireland, Nicaragua, the European Union, and some Asian countries (see, for example, the European Commission study on employment impacts) demonstrate that bioenergy has the potential to generate considerable employment opportunities. The results of all these studies provided evidence in support of the notion that bioenergy provide ample employment opportunities.

The employment opportunities vary with the scale of the operation. A landowner who heats the family home and farm buildings with a wood-fired system will probably harvest the fuel supply from the family’s own woodlot using the family’s own labour. There are no wages involved, only “sweat equity”. The same landowner may also benefit from the sale of wood or from renting out equipment for production.

Formal-sector employment opportunities include both direct employment, comprising jobs involved in fuel or crop production, in the construction, operation and maintenance of conversion plants and in the transport of biomass; and indirect employment, comprising jobs generated within the economy as a result of expenditures related to biofuel cycles.

Among other renewables, bioenergy is the most labour-intensive technology and has the highest employment-creation potential. The level at which it can contribute depends on local demographic and economic conditions.