%0 Articles
%T Social climate of forest bioenergy development in China among forestry stakeholders
%A Mei, Qu
%D 2011
%J Dissertationes Forestales
%V 2011
%N 131
%R doi:10.14214/df.131
%U http://dissertationesforestales.fi/article/1914
%X With industrialization and urbanization, energy security has become an increasingly pressing global issue. This situation is arguably one of the most challenging problems facing China. In order to not only continue its economic development, but also adopt a bioeconomy, energy efficiency needs to be improved and the use of renewable energy, such as forest bioenergy, increased. In China forest bioenergy has been developed through policy incentives as well as through the development of related technology. However, public acceptance of forest bioenergy might be one of the key obstacles to its development. Therefore, understanding and, if needed, improving the public acceptance of forest bioenergy is vital.

Forestry stakeholders play key operating and managerial roles in the development of forest bioenergy. Their perspectives influence the progress of the production, the orientation of the market, and the use of bioenergy, particularly in the early stages of the development. The dissemination of reliable information and knowledge provides support for the acceptance of forest bioenergy in society.

The main objective of this research is to study forest bioenergy development in China and to identify how forest sector stakeholders influence the policy development and its implementation in the country. More specifically, this thesis has the following research tasks: to determine, through content analysis, how the government and the public use Internet platforms to discuss bioenergy; to assess the current situation of forest bioenergy development in China among academic experts via a Delphi survey; to examine different stakeholders’ (students and forestry professionals) knowledge and sources of information about bioenergy, especially forest bioenergy; to identify different stakeholders’ energy use related behaviour in everyday life, future energy preferences, and perceptions of, and attitudes towards forest bioenergy in China.

The main findings of the work are: 1) the growth in the number of news articles reflects the changes and outcomes of the government’s energy policies, 2) research and technical shortcomings, policy and regulation weaknesses, and low awareness and poor social acceptability are the main barriers recognized, 3) biofuels will be the most important transportation fuel in the future and the experts felt that it may replace oil in the next ten years, 4) the students and forestry professionals felt that the Internet and television are the most accepted media for disseminating information and knowledge, 5) the experts and professionals have similar perceptions concerning the development of forest bioenergy in China, and the students have somewhat difference perceptions compare with the experts and professionals. This research provides the first look at the perspectives of different stakeholders regarding the development of forest bioenergy in China. The findings indicate that there is wide support and great potential for forest bioenergy development in China.