Abstract
Abstract: Expanding the use of biofuels is controversial because of concerns about competition with food. Here we describe how varying the biofuel demand could help address these concerns. Variable biofuel demand can be implemented through market or policy mechanisms that adjust biofuel production according to feedstock availability, expanding or contracting in response to supply surplus or limitations. Based on a survey, an expert workshop, and relevant literature, the effects of a variable biofuel demand approach are evaluated with respect to food security, agricultural productivity, detrimental land-use change, and feedstock competition with biobased chemicals and materials. Here we provide evidence that variable biofuel demand can enhance the synergistic development of agriculture, renewable biomass feedstocks and biofuels, but implementation faces several challenges. Recommendations are provided for governance options to tackle these challenges.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 15-31 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2021 |
Funding
Copyright Notice: This manuscript is coauthored by an employee of UT‐Battelle, LLC, under contract DE‐AC05‐00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). By accepting the article for publication, the publisher acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid‐up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. The DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe‐public‐access‐plan ). The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support by IEA Bioenergy Task 43 and funding from the Wageningen University & Research Knowledge Base program: Towards a Circular and Climate Positive Society (Project KB‐34‐012‐002): that is supported by finance from the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Security. K.L.K.’s research is supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE) under the Bioenergy Technologies Office, award number EE0007088, to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by the UT‐Battelle, LLC, for the DOE under contract DE‐AC05‐00OR22725. We especially thank the respondents of the survey and participants in the expert workshop, held on 3 December 2018 in The Hague, for sharing their opinions, and helping to move the discussion beyond the identification of problems, and toward solutions.
Keywords
- ILUC
- agricultural productivity
- biobased chemicals
- bioeconomy policy
- biofuels
- food security
- market competition