UNEP-Bioenergy Decision Support Tool

This online tool provides stepwise guidance to government policymakers as they develop sustainable bioenergy policies and strategies. The tool may also assist decision makers in assessing investment proposals. The interactive website discusses issues of relevance, puts them into the contexts of broader resource efficiency and development, and offers links to processes and tools that have been used in the area of bioenergy or related sectors. This tool is accompanied by the report, A Decision Support Tool for Sustainable Bioenergy: An Overview.

This tool is included in the Development Impacts Assessment (DIA) Toolkit from the LEDS Global Partnership.

Approach

The DST is a step-by-step guide for policymakers to make informed decisions about policy, strategy and government investment, particularly at the national level. The information can be accessed through an ad-hoc website and an online ebook, or downloaded for offline reading or printing.

When to Use This Tool

This tool is most useful for development impacts assessments focused on:

Social

Economic

Environmental

Learn more about the topics for assessing the impacts of low-emission development strategies (LEDS).

Key Outputs

Steps to create sustainable bioenergy policy and strategies, including checklists and summary tables at the end of some chapters.

How to Use This Tool

Training Available
None, step-wise walkthrough on site

Level of Expertise
Moderate

Key Inputs

The guide does not accept input.

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"The Bioenergy Decision Support Tool (DST) aims to assist policymakers and programme developers in capitalising on the opportunities, meeting the challenges and mitigating the risks that can arise from a significant up-scaling of bioenergy production and use. The DST is divided into a number of decision support modules, with each module including links to other modules where appropriate, as well as links to external sources and references. This module explains the basic decision framework, describes the purpose of the DST and the various decision modules and presents a guide for users."