Global Bioenergy Power Tracker Methodology

This article is part of the Global Bioenergy Power Tracker, a Global Energy Monitor project.

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Architecture

Global Energy Monitor’s Global Bioenergy Power Tracker uses a two-level system for organizing information, consisting of both a database and wiki pages with further information. The database tracks individual bioenergy power station units and includes information such as project owner, status, fuel type, and location. A wiki page for each power station is created within the Global Energy Monitor wiki. The database and wiki pages are updated annually.

Inclusion Criteria

The Global Bioenergy Power Tracker tracks utility-scale bioenergy power station units with capacities of 30 megawatts (MW) or more globally. The tracker includes every bioenergy unit at the 30 MW capacity threshold for operating, announced, pre-construction and in-construction power station units. In some cases, units may combust multiple fuel sources in addition to bioenergy. The tracker’s definition of bioenergy draws from the chapter “Bioenergy” in the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation (2011).

Status Categories

• Announced: Proposed projects that have been described in corporate or government plans but have not yet taken concrete steps such as applying for permits.
• Pre-construction: Projects are actively moving forward in seeking governmental approvals, land rights, or financing.
• Construction: Site preparation or equipment installation are underway.
• Operating: The project has been formally commissioned; the commercial operation date has been achieved.
• Shelved: Suspension has been announced, or no progress has been observed for at least two years.
• Cancelled: A cancellation announcement has been made, or no progress has been observed for at least four years.
• Retired: The project has been decommissioned.
• Mothballed: The project is disused, but not dismantled.

Research Process

The Global Bioenergy Power Tracker data set draws on various public data sources, including:

• Government data on individual bioenergy power facilities (such as the U.S. EIA 860 Electric Generator Inventory), country energy and resource plans, and government websites tracking bioenergy power facility permits and applications;
• Reports by state-owned and private power companies;
• News and media reports;
• Local non-governmental organizations tracking power stations or permits.
• Non-governmental organizations tracking bioenergy power facilities or permits (such as Trend Asia, Mighty Earth, and the Environment Paper Network).

A partial list of data sources can be found here.

Global Energy Monitor researchers perform data validation by comparing our dataset against proprietary and public data such as S&P Global’s World Energy Power Plant database and the World Resource Institute’s Global Power Plant Database, as well as various company and government sources.

Wiki Pages

For each bioenergy power station, a wiki page is created on Global Energy Monitor’s wiki. Under standard wiki convention, all information is linked to a publicly-accessible published reference, such as a news article, company or government report, or a regulatory permit. In order to ensure data integrity in the open-access wiki environment, Global Energy Monitor researchers review all edits of project wiki pages.

Mapping

To allow easy public access to the results, Global Energy Monitor worked with GreenInfo Network to develop a map-based and table-based interface using the Leaflet Open-Source JavaScript library. In the case of exact coordinates, locations are either specifically identified on a mapping service such as Google Maps, Open Street Maps, etc., or gathered from company or government documentation. If the location of a power station or proposal is not known, Global Energy Monitor identifies the most accurate location possible based on available information.

Global Bioenergy Power Tracker Release Notes

November 2023

• This update covers all regions of the globe, as per United Nations’ region and subregion definitions.
• Some units below the 30 MW global threshold are provided for some countries when the data were readily available.
• Whereas the January 2023 release only included units located at power stations that do not burn or co-fire with non-bioenergy sources, this release includes units that cofire bioenergy fuel sources alongside other types of fuel, as well as units that burn bioenergy fuel sources at power stations with other units that burn other types of fuel.
• Whereas the January 2023 release only included a “Start year” column, the November 2023 release now includes a “Unit conversion year” column as well as a “Unit start year” column. The November 2023 release “Unit start year” column replaces the January 2023 release’s “Start year” column.
• The November 2023 release includes a “Date last researched” column. This is a new addition to the tracker.
• The November 2023 release includes some case changes to the column headers in the downloadable dataset.

January 2023

Global Energy Monitor releases the first version of the Global Bioenergy Power Tracker.