International assessment of bioenergy stakeholders research requirements of GIS based biomass analytics

Abstract

As the demand and production for renewable energies increases there is a growing need to research new technologies to increase the efficiency, productivity and profitability of production. This study aimed to investigate the priorities of bioenergy stakeholders on Geographic Information Systems based research in a variety of countries including a number throughout Europe, the United States and Australia. A voluntary questionnaire was distributed internationally to bioenergy stakeholders to discern perceived usefulness ratings for various analytics. Participants rated Economic analytics as the most useful followed by Environmental, Product quality and Social assessments. Therefore, future research within the bioenergy sector should be aimed at increasing the economic viability of bioenergy and decreasing its environmental impact. There was a difference between analytic preference and the thirteen countries surveyed and the stakeholder type however, this relationship was not significant.