Definitions

Biomass by-products originating from production, harvesting and processing in farm areas.

Agricultural by-products originating from livestock keeping. It includes, among others, solid excreta of animals. Using animal slurry to produce energy may help reducing waste and harmful emissions, while increasing energy access for rural communities. 

Bioenergy is all energy derived from biomass.

Fuels produced directly or indirectly from biomass.  Fuel is defined as an “energy carrier intended for energy conversion”. There are three types of biofuel: woodfuels, agrofuels and biofuels from municipal waste. 

Biofuels from municipal solid waste include fuels incinerated to produce heat and/or power, and biogas from the anaerobic fermentation of both solid and liquid municipal wastes.

When organic material (e.g. animal waste, agricultural residues) is digested by microorganisms in an environment with low or absent oxygen, it produces biogas. It is a mixture of gases, including methane, that can be used for power generation, transport, heating, cooling and cooking.

Material of biological origin excluding material embedded in geological formations and transformed to fossil. 

Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (World Food Summit, 1996 and State of Food Insecurity Report, 2001).
Food security comprises four components: availability, access, utilization and stability.

The Bioenergy and Food Security (BEFS) Approach helps countries designing bioenergy strategies that promotes food and energy security.

To be sustainable, bioenergy should meet strict social, environmental and econonomic standards along the entire value chain.

Sustainable bioenergy production should, where possible:

• Increase or at least stabilize the global and local availability of sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality.
• Increase and protect access by individuals, especially among the poor and vulnerable groups, to adequate food at all times, by strengthening their resilience to both sudden shocks and cyclical events.
• Improve or support the utilization of food, through proper cooking, adequate diet, clean water, sanitation and health care to reach a state of nutritional well-being where all physiological needs are met.

Learn more about FAO's work to support the production of sustainable bioenergy from agriculture.

All types of biofuels originating directly or indirectly from trees, bushes and shrubs (i.e. woody biomass) grown on forest and non-forest lands.

The practice of combining agriculture production and electricity generation on the same land. Solar panels are installed above or among crops, allowing farmers to grow food while generating renewable electricity, optimizing land use, improving resilience to climate change and providing opportunities for income generation. 

“Clean cooking” refers to the use of efficient cookstoves and clean energy sources, like electricity, biogas, pellets, or bioethanol, instead of burning wood or other polluting fuels. 

A type of supply chain with controlled temperature from the stage of production, through to the transportation, storage, distribution processes, and delivery of food products to the end-user. Using solar energy in cold chains helps keep products fresh in off-grid areas, reduces reliance on fossil fuels, and cuts down on food loss and waste by preventing spoilage. 

Cold chains help reducing food loss and waste, improving energy efficiency in agriculture

The use of solar-powered pumps to draw water for crops, replacing diesel or electric pumps with clean, renewable energy.