Policy analysis to identify the barriers to the promotion of bioenergy technologies in Sri Lanka

This paper presents an analysis of policies to identify the barriers to the promotion and widespread use of bioenergy technologies (BETs) in Sri Lanka. The importance of biomass as a sustainable source of energy is recognised. The present status of BETs and the achievements are discussed. The institutional framework of the energy sector, the national energy planning and policies and, in particular, the national policy documents related to energy and environment are presented. In spite of large-scale usage and importance, the biomass industry operates on its own without any specific encouragement from the government. The importance of wood as a sustainable energy source and the problems associated with it are largely undervalued by planners and policy-makers. There are many barriers that have given rise to a host of problems in the development and promotion of BETs in the country. Barriers to the promotion and widespread use of BETs are identified under different categories, including financial, technical, institutional, policy and information. Finally, measures for the promotion of BETs are proposed.