Indicators to support environmental sustainability of bioenergy systems

Allen C. McBride; Virginia H. Dale; Latha M. Baskaran; Mark E. Downing; Laurence M. Eaton; Rebecca A. Efroymson; Charles T. Garten; Keith L. Kline; Henriette I. Jager; Patrick J. Mulholland; Esther S. Parish; Peter E. Schweizer; John M. Storey

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.01.010

Indicators to support environmental sustainability of bioenergy systems

Allen C. McBride, Virginia H. Dale, Latha M. Baskaran, Mark E. Downing, Laurence M. Eaton, Rebecca A. Efroymson, Charles T. Garten, Keith L. Kline, Henriette I. Jager, Patrick J. Mulholland, Esther S. Parish, Peter E. Schweizer, John M. Storey

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

180 Scopus citations

Abstract

Indicators are needed to assess environmental sustainability of bioenergy systems. Effective indicators will help in the quantification of benefits and costs of bioenergy options and resource uses. We identify 19 measurable indicators for soil quality, water quality and quantity, greenhouse gases, biodiversity, air quality, and productivity, building on existing knowledge and on national and international programs that are seeking ways to assess sustainable bioenergy. Together, this suite of indicators is hypothesized to reflect major environmental effects of diverse feedstocks, management practices, and post-production processes. The importance of each indicator is identified. Future research relating to this indicator suite is discussed, including field testing, target establishment, and application to particular bioenergy systems. Coupled with such efforts, we envision that this indicator suite can serve as a basis for the practical evaluation of environmental sustainability in a variety of bioenergy systems.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1277-1289
Number of pages	13
Journal	Ecological Indicators
Volume	11
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.01.010
State	Published - Sep 2011

Funding

Robin Graham, Gbadebo Oladosu, Andy Aden, and two anonymous referees provided helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper. Tristram West provided advice on greenhouse gas accounting. Jennifer Smith helped organize references. This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under the Office of the Biomass Program. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for DOE under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725.

Keywords

Bioenergy
Biofuel
Environment
Feedstock
Indicator
Sustainability

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10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.01.010

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McBride, A. C., Dale, V. H., Baskaran, L. M., Downing, M. E., Eaton, L. M., Efroymson, R. A., Garten, C. T., Kline, K. L., Jager, H. I., Mulholland, P. J., Parish, E. S., Schweizer, P. E., & Storey, J. M. (2011). Indicators to support environmental sustainability of bioenergy systems. Ecological Indicators, 11(5), 1277-1289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.01.010

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Indicators to support environmental sustainability of bioenergy systems

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