Bioenergy from the Forest Sector – Capacity Building Workshop

In collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), IRENA held a workshop on bioenergy statistics bringing together forestry and energy statisticians from 25 countries in Europe and North America. The workshop aimed at improving the availability and quality of bioenergy statistics in the UNECE region by exploring the opportunities for strengthening collaboration and harmonising data collection in this rapidly expanding area. Key topics covered at the workshop included: a review and comparison of bioenergy data collected by energy and forestry authorities in countries; bioenergy measurement procedures and conversion factors; definitions of bioenergy products and uses; and international questionnaires used to compile this information at the regional and global level. Experiences gained at the workshop should lead to improvements in the future in the bioenergy data collected by countries and compiled by IRENA and the UNECE.