Balancing Promise and Reality: Bioenergy’s Role in ASEAN’s Energy Security and Decarbonisation

ASEAN is entering a decisive phase in its energy transition. Regional energy demand is projected to rise substantially in the coming decades, while continued reliance on imported fossil fuels exposes economies to price volatility and supply disruptions. At the same time, climate risks are intensifying, underscoring the urgent need to accelerate decarbonisation without compromising economic growth. Bioenergy – derived from agricultural and forestry residues, organic waste, and energy crops – sits uniquely at the intersection of these dual imperatives.

As the region’s most abundant renewable energy resource, bioenergy can support energy security, create rural livelihoods, enhance residue management, and deliver substantial emissions reductions when sustainably developed. Yet expectations must be balanced with realistic assessments of land and water availability, logistics, technology readiness, and sustainability governance. Overestimating the resource base or underestimating supply chain constraints risks undermining credibility, investment, and long-term policy goals.

To ensure bioenergy contributes meaningfully to ASEAN’s energy transition, policymakers should prioritise waste and residue feedstocks, strengthen sustainability certification, invest in logistics infrastructure, foster technological innovation advance regional cooperation, and intraregional trade. Bioenergy will not replace fossil fuels outright, but as part of a diversified energy mix, it can help reduce reliance on fossil fuels, curtail waste burning, and support a just and inclusive transition – if governed with discipline and pragmatism.