Carving Out Policy Space for Sustainability in Biofuel Production

Liz Marshall

Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 2007, vol. 36, issue 2

Abstract: Biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel are increasingly promoted as green alternatives to petroleum-derived transport fuels. Scaling up feedstock production to produce enough biofuel to displace a significant portion of current petroleum demand will put pressure on land and water resources both domestically and internationally, however, and could potentially be accompanied by unacceptable changes in landscape-level land use patterns and provisioning of ecosystem services. Ensuring that feedstock production is sustainable and that biofuels provide the social and environmental benefits that are often attributed to them will require a carefully designed portfolio of agricultural, forestry, energy, and trade policies related to biofuels and feedstock production. Despite the difficulties associated with development and application of such policies, they should be in place before further policy incentive is provided for expansion of biofuel industries.

Keywords: biofuels; sustainability; land use; greenhouse gas accounting; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
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