Bioenergy and Food Security

Biofuels and food security: risks and opportunities

This comprehensive overview of the main aspects of the interrelation between food and biofuels synthesizes previous research on the subject. It addresses the causality between biofuels production, global crop commodity prices and eventual implications for ...

Aug 2013
Combining bioenergy production and food security

This report analyses whether and how bioenergy can be produced within the context of food insecurity. With this study, the NL Agency aims to contribute to Dutch Development Cooperation policy on food security by showing ...

May 2013
RSB Version 1.0. Food security guidelines

The Energy Centre at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) is coordinating a multi-stakeholder effort, the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB), to develop international standards for sustainable biofuels production and processing and ...

Sep 2012
Social protection for food security

Fourth report of the Committee on World Food Security's (CFS) High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE), focusing on ways to lessen vulnerability through social and productive safety net programmes and ...

Jun 2012
Food security and climate change

Third report of the Committee on World Food Security's (CFS) High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE), focusing on the effects of climate change on food security11 and nutrition, with a ...

Jun 2012
EU biofuel use and agricultural commodity prices: a review of the evidence base

In 2012, the European Commission (EC) will produce a report reviewing the social impacts of EU biofuel policy. Under Article 17 (5) of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED)1, the EC is obliged to conduct this ...

Jun 2012
Impacts of bioenergy on food security

Modern bioenergy development, through its environmental and socio-economic impacts, may have positive or negative effects on the four dimensions of food security: availability; access; utilization, and stability. Both the nature and magnitude of the impacts ...

Mar 2012
“Energy-smart” food for people and climate

The global community is becoming increasingly concerned about the high dependence of the global food sector on fossil fuels. This anxiety is compounded by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) projections indicating ...

Nov 2011
Price volatility in food and agricultural markets: policy responses

Under the Food Security pillar of the Seoul Multi-year Action Plan on Development, the G20 “request that FAO, IFAD, IMF, OECD, UNCTAD, WFP, the World Bank and the WTO work with key stakeholders to develop ...

Jun 2011
Urgent actions needed to prevent recurring food crises

Recent trends in food prices—higher levels and higher volatility—mirror trends predicted by a number of experts. Given the complex web of factors influencing global food security, governments of developed and developing countries, as well as ...

Mar 2011
The Energy Report – 100% renewable energy by 2050

WWF has a vision of a world that is powered by 100 per cent renewable energy sources by the middle of this century. Unless we make this transition, the world is most likely to avoid ...

Feb 2011
Making integrated food-energy systems work for people and climate

Integrated Food Energy Systems (IFES) aim at addressing these issues by simultaneously producing food and energy as a way to address the energy component of sustainable crop intensification through an ecosystem approach, as defined in ...

Jan 2011
Biofuels production, trade and sustainable development

This document presents case studies from Pakistan, Costa Rica, South Africa and Ecuador that give a low- and middle-income country perspective on the potential for biofuel development. The focus is on the transport sector as ...

Nov 2010
Algal biorefinery-based industry: an approach to address fuel and food insecurity for a carbon-smart world

Food and fuel production are intricately interconnected. In a carbon-smart society, it is imperative to produce both food and fuel sustainably. Integration of the emerging biorefinery concept with other industries can bring many environmental deliverables ...

Sep 2010
Africa: up for grabs - The scale and impact of land grabbing for agrofuels

The African continent is increasingly being seen as a source of agricultural land and natural resources for the rest of the world.National governments and private companies are obtaining access to land across the continent to ...

Aug 2010
Climate change and food security in China – Executive summary

The increasing demand for food and bio-fuel and the decrease in both crop yield and storage around the globe due to natural disasters, has caused global food prices to shoot up. Climate change may further ...

Aug 2010
Second-generation biofuels - Economics and policies

Recent increases in production of crop-based (or first-generation) biofuels have engendered increasing concerns over potential conflicts with food supplies and land protection, as well as disputes over greenhouse gas reductions. This has heightened a sense ...

Aug 2010
Algae-based biofuels: applications and co-products

The possible competition for land makes it impossible to produce enough first generation biofuel to offset a large percentage of the total fuel consumption for transportation. As opposed to land-based biofuels produced from agricultural feedstocks, ...

Jul 2010
Placing the 2006/08 commodity price boom into perspective

The 2006-08 commodity boom was one of the longest and broadest of the post-WWII period. The boom - and especially the 2008 rally, when crude oil prices peaked at US$ 133/barrel (up 94 percent from ...

Jul 2010
Biofuels - Markets, targets and impacts

This paper reviews recent developments in biofuel markets and their economic, social and environmental impacts. Several countries have introduced mandates and targets for biofuel expansion. Production, international trade and investment have increased sharply in the ...

Jul 2010
Bioenergy and food security - The BEFS analysis for Tanzania

Serious concerns on the food security impacts, social feasibility and sustainability of bioenergy have arisen over time, especially with first generation bioenergy. In this context FAO set up the Bioenergy and Food Security (BEFS) project ...

Jul 2010
Mapping food and bioenergy in Africa

Bioenergy interest has gained much attention in the last years due to the positive issues that it can bring specially for developing countries but at the same time because of the many concerns on risks ...

May 2010
Energy use in the U.S. food system

Energy is an important input in growing, processing, packaging, distributing, storing, preparing, serving, and disposing of food. Analysis using the two most recent U.S. benchmark input-output accounts and a national energy data system shows that ...

Mar 2010
Jatropha: a smallholder bioenergy crop - The potential for pro-poor development

This publication reviews the information currently available on jatropha as a bioenergy crop, starting with the papers presented to the April 2008 IFAD/FAO International Consultation on Pro-Poor Jatropha Development held in Rome, Italy (IFAD 2008). ...

Feb 2010
Knowledge sharing for improved food security and better nutrition - Global forum on Food Security and Nutrition - FSN forum

The Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum) was created to strengthen FAO’s capacity in knowledge sharing. The Forum is an online community where members can share experiences, identify resources, provide peer coaching ...

Jan 2010
Meals per gallon - The impact of industrial biofuels on people and global hunger

According to the authors of this report, industrial biofuels would not offer a solution to the two main aims of EU biofuel policy – to combat climate change and increase fuel security. Rather, industrial biofuels ...

Jan 2010
Agrofuels, Brazil and conflicting land uses

Biomass energy only accounts for a small share of global energy use, 10 percent. Most of this is used as fire wood and charcoal. The part of the biomass that is set aside for liquid ...

Dec 2009
Navigating bioenergy - Contributing to informed decision making on bioenergy issues

Bioenergy has become one of the most dynamic and rapidly changing sectors of the global energy economy. Accelerated growth in the production and use of bioenergy in the past few years is attracting interest from ...

Nov 2009
International and domestic trade regulations to secure the food supply

In a time of global warming, of financial crisis, and of a crisis in food availability we need to ask how the food supply can be secured into the future. The present article considers the ...

Nov 2009
Putting food on plates

Looking back through the mists of the credit crunch to the world before Lehman Brothers went bust, it is a little too easy to forget that food prices were making the news. From the end ...

Nov 2009
Jatropha oil – The end of the biodiesel food vs fuel debate?

Jatropha has been hailed as the high-productivity crop to replace food crops such as soy or rape as sources of vegetable oil for biodiesel.This article reviews how jatropha oil production has developed recently and assesses ...

Jul 2009
The market and food security implications of the development of biofuel production

With the prospects of higher energy requirements in the longer term and the need for reducing GHG emission, biofuel production could be an important source of sustainable energy supply although it will only represent a ...

Apr 2009
Making sustainable biofuels work for smallholder farmers and rural households - Issues and perspectives

In developing countries, liquid biofuel production (LBP) - particularly if small in scale – offers potential opportunities for poverty reduction and rural development, through the creation of both income-generating opportunities for farmers and jobs for ...

Apr 2009
Biofuels and food security - Implications of an accelerated biofuels production - Summary of the OFID study prepared by IIASA

The year 2008 will perhaps be remembered as the defining moment when the world experienced the reality of the inter-linkages and interdependencies between food and energy. A number of factors including the adoption of mandatory ...

Mar 2009
Thailand biofuels’ impact on food crops

Biofuel consumption increased significantly in 2008 as petroleum prices reached a record high.The run-up in crude oil prices left gasohol and biodiesel as cheaper options for Thai consumers. Attractive prices for E10 (a mixture of ...

Mar 2009
EEA Signals 2009 - Key environmental issues facing Europe

Signals is published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) at the start of each year and provides snapshot stories on issues of interest both to the environmental policy debate and the wider public for the ...

Jan 2009
Bioenergy and biofuels: opportunities and constraints

It is still controversial whether biofuels, particularly first generation biofuels, deliver net GHG benefits. Policies concerning biofuel production will need to require that feedstock production practices do not create net additional emissions of GHGs directly, ...

Jan 2009
The feeding of the nine billion: global food security for the 21st century

Between mid-2007 and mid-2008, the issue of rising global food prices moved to the very forefront of the international political agenda. Tens of millions more people were pushed into hunger and poverty as a result; ...

Jan 2009
Country responses to the food security crisis: nature and preliminary implicatio

A number of factors have contributed to raising food prices. On the demand side, food consumption expanded rapidly in developing countries as a result of strong global economic growth in 2004-07. A dietary transition from ...

Dec 2008
Biofuels, food security and compensatory subsidies

CEPEA/ESALQ/USP (the Center for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics, Brazil) has recently evaluated the economic and financial viability of both ethanol and biodiesel production in Brazil using both Value Chain Analyses and Linear Programming Optimizations ...

Nov 2008
Food, farmers and fuel: balancing global grain and energy policies with sustainable land use

The public debate on agrofuels changed dramatically over the past year. What started out as an intriguing proposal on an apparently innovative alternative fuel source quickly turned into an important and contentious topic of international ...

Nov 2008
Sugarcane ethanol - Contributions to climate change mitigation and the environment

The aim of this publication is to set the stage for the discussion about both challenges and concerns of sugarcane ethanol by providing the scientific context, the basic concepts and the approach for understanding the ...

Nov 2008
Water implications of biofuel crops: understanding tradeoff¬s and identifying options

Biofuels are being touted as a solution to rising fuel prices, growing energy demands, and the need to curb emissions of greenhouse gases. Governments have good reasons for promoting biofuels. Yet, a headlong rush into ...

Nov 2008
Biofuels and the underlying causes of high food prices

There are several explanations to the sharp price increase. One of the first rules of economics is that prices are determined by supply and demand, but the classical ideal market assumption and the fall of ...

Oct 2008
Sustainable bioenergy development in UEMOA Member Countries

This report, led by the UN Foundation, in partnership with the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, the Energy and Security Group and the Global Bioenergy Partnership, identifies opportunities, assesses constraints, identifies trade-offs, and ...

Oct 2008
Statement by the director-general on the occasion of the launch of SOFA 2008

This document contains the statement made by the director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Jacques Diouf, on the occasion of the launch of SOFA 2008.

Oct 2008
The State of Food and Agriculture 2008 - Biofuels: prospects, risks and opportunities

The State of Food and Agriculture 2008 explores the implications of the recent rapid growth in production of biofuels based on agricultural commodities. The boom in liquid biofuels has been largely driven by policies in ...

Oct 2008
U.S. corn growers: producing food & fuel

Accelerated growth in corn use for ethanol has led critics to question corn growers’ ability to satisfy demand for both renewable fuels and traditional markets such as livestock and poultry feed, food processing and exports.Skeptics ...

Oct 2008
Seized! The 2008 land grab for food and financial security

Today’s food and financial crises have, in tandem, triggered a new global land grab. On the one hand, “food insecure” governments that rely on imports to feed their people are snatching up vast areas of ...

Oct 2008
The state of food and agriculture in Asia and the Pacific region

The growing importance of biofuels is a major challenge and an opportunity for the sector. Biofuels production has grown from 1 million hectares seven years ago to 25 million hectares today. If petroleum prices remain ...

Oct 2008
Our daily bread - Without public investment, the food crisis will only get worse

During the eighteen months after January 2007, cereal prices doubled, setting off a world food crisis. In the United States, rising food prices have been a pocketbook annoyance. Most Americans can opt to buy lower-priced ...

Sep 2008
The impact of rising food prices on the poor

This paper analyzes the household level impact of an increase in price of major tradable staple foods in a cross section of developing countries, using nationally representative household surveys. It finds that, in the short ...

Aug 2008
OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2008-2017 - Highlights

The report is published annually, as part of a continuing effort to promote informed discussion of emerging market and policy issues. This edition of the Agricultural Outlook offers an assessment of agricultural markets covering cereals, ...

Jul 2008
A note on rising food prices - Policy research working paper

This paper considers that the rapid rise in food prices between 2002 and 2008 was a burden on the poor in developing countries, who spend roughly half of their household incomes on food. It examines ...

Jul 2008
Bioenergy and global food situation until 2020/2050

A number of coincidental global driving forces are converging to bring issues of climate change, long-run environmental sustainability of economic growth, and global food security and wellbeing to the forefront of policy thought and political ...

Jul 2008
Comprehensive framework for action

On 29 April 2008, the Chief Executives Board (CEB) of the United Nations decided to establish a High-Level Task Force (HLTF) on the Global Food Crisis, under the leadership of the Secretary-General which brought together ...

Jul 2008
The boom beyond commodities – A new era shaping global food and agribusiness

The global food and agribusiness industry is set to undergo significant changes in the coming years. Increased demand for food and animal feed, as well as the growing use of crops of biofuels require greater ...

Jul 2008
Biomass, hot issue - Smart choices in difficult times

The use of biobased raw materials for energy and material has been brought into discredit in the past years. The use of bioenergy is repeatedly held responsible for the recent food crisis and for the ...

Jul 2008
The Gallagher review of the indirect effects of biofuels production

UK support for biofuels is based on the premise that biofuels deliver considerable net reductions in GHG emissions compared to fossil fuels. As a secondary benefit, it was hoped a growing biofuels market would create ...

Jul 2008
What’s driving food prices?

Written by Purdue University economists Wallace Tyner, Christopher Hurt and Philip Abbott, the study, What’s Driving Food Prices?, identifies three broad sets of forces driving food price increases.The first major section is an analysis of ...

Jul 2008
Food and fuel prices - Recent developments, macroeconomic impact, and policy responses

Prepared by the Fiscal Affairs, Policy Development and Review, and Research Departments, International Monetary Fund (IMF), this report provides a first broad assessment of the impact of the surge in food and fuel prices on ...

Jun 2008
Another inconvenient truth - How biofuel policies are deepening poverty and accelerating climate change

The proponents of biofuels argue that they have the solution, or at least a part of it. Ethanol and biodiesel will allow us to continue our love affair with the internal combustion engine, while simultaneously ...

Jun 2008
The role of biofuels and other factors in increasing farm and food prices - A review of recent developments with a focus on feed grain markets and market prospects

This paper reviews various studies that have examined the relationship between corn used in ethanol production and corn prices. They suggest increased corn demand for ethanol could account for 25 to 50 percent of the ...

Jun 2008
Food outlook - Global market analysis

Food Outlook is a biannual publication focusing on developments affecting global food and feed markets. The sub-title "Global Market Analysis" reflects this focus on developments in international markets, with comprehensive assessments and forecasts on a ...

Jun 2008
The right to food and the impact of liquid biofuels

This study was conducted in the context of the project “Creating capacity and instruments to implement the right to adequate food” financed by the Government of Germany.The world is now facing a deep crisis caused ...

Jun 2008
Food vs.fuel

Eager to promote non-petroleum energy sources to reduce dependence on oil imports and slow global warming due to fossil fuel emissions, the United States, Brazil, and the European Union are promoting biofuels made from food ...

Jun 2008
Food security and climate change: the answer is biodiversity

Climate change will profoundly affect agriculture and food security worldwide and will particularly impact smallholder farmers in poor countries. Based on a short review of recent scientific literature, this document argues that the most effective ...

Jun 2008
Why are current world food prices so high?

The progressive rise of food prices over the past two years is of global concern, affecting all persons, and especially the poorest. Having a clear perspective on the several causes of this price increase is ...

Jun 2008
Rising food prices: cause for concern

The current spike in food prices needs prompt reaction through various forms of social protection to avert poverty and hunger. Prices are soon likely to fall somewhat, but not to their previous levels. Higher prices ...

Jun 2008
Biofuel impacts on climate change, the environment and food - Report to the Renewable Fuels Agency

The belief that biofuels can mitigate climate change has driven governments around the world to promote the production of ethanol and biodiesel through policies that guarantee markets and offer incentives to producers and consumers. The ...

May 2008
High food prices: the what, who, and how of proposed policy actions

The sharp increase in food prices over the past couple of years has raised serious concerns about the food and nutrition situation of people around the world, especially the poor in developing countries; about inflation; ...

May 2008
Land and vulnerable people in a world of change

Millennium Development Goal One, to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, cannot be reached unless the ability of women and men to maintain access to land and natural resources can be secured. Current global trends, however, ...

May 2008
Manifesto on climate change and the future of food security

This manifesto is an agro-ecological response to challenge posed by climate change for ensuring the future of food security by mitigation, adaptation and equity.The present food system is also extremely vulnerable to climate change, which ...

May 2008
Biofuels research in the CGIAR - A perspective from the Science Council

Government policies, motivated by concerns about energy security, high oil prices, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and various vested interests, are driving the latest expansion in the global biofuels industry. This is most evident in Brazil, ...

May 2008
Fuelling exclusion? The biofuels boom and poor people’s access to land

This study aims to open up discussion of the way in which biofuels are likely to impact on access to land. Many observers and activists have raised concerns that the spread of biofuels may result ...

May 2008
Global agricultural supply and demand: factors contributing to the recent increase in food commodity prices

World market prices for major food commodities such as grains and vegetable oils have risen sharply to historic highs of more than 60 percent above levels just 2 years ago.Many factors have contributed to the ...

May 2008
Mozambique biofuels assessment

This study provides a comprehensive assessment of the potential for biofuels production in Mozambique and assesses the potential competitiveness of biofuels production in comparison to the cost of imported petroleum-based transportation fuels in the domestic ...

May 2008
Soaring food prices - Response to the crisis

Soaring food prices have hit the poor hard. Along with record-high energy prices, these have seriously eroded the purchasing power of over-a-billion poor in Asia, increasing their food deprivation. These are threatening to undermine the ...

May 2008
The impact of biofuels on commodity prices

The purpose of this note is to review the existing research on the impact of biofuels on commodity and food prices.Over the last few years the rise in energy prices, the political tensions in some ...

Apr 2008
Soaring food prices: the need for international action

International prices of basic food commodities have increased rapidly over the last three years.Five reasons explain the increase in food prices. First, world cereal production fell by 3.6 percent in 2005 and 6.9 percent in ...

Apr 2008
Have recent increases in international cereal prices been transmitted to domestic economies? The experience in seven large Asian countries

A key question is the extent to which changes in world market prices have been transmitted to domestic economies in recent years, especially for cereals. The extent of transmission is important for at least two ...

Apr 2008
World Economic Outlook – Housing and business cycle

In addition to problems within the financial sector, there are two main short-run vulnerabilities for the global economy, both of which the continuing deep correction in the U.S. housing market and the unresolved financial sector ...

Apr 2008
Rising food prices: a global crisis

Soaring food prices pose problems for three groups. First, the poor whose ability to buy food is undermined. Second, governments of low-income countries facing higher import bills, soaring costs for safety net programmes and political ...

Apr 2008
Rising food prices - Drivers and implications for development

This briefing paper focuses on what this important change means for international development.It starts by assessing the drivers of rising prices, noting that while in the short term the pressure is on the demand side, ...

Apr 2008
The sustainability of ethanol production from sugarcane

The rapid expansion of ethanol production from sugarcane in Brazil has raised a number of questions regarding its negative consequences and sustainability. Positive impacts are the elimination of lead compounds from gasoline and the reduction ...

Apr 2008
Second FAO technical consultation on bioenergy and food security - Summary proceedings

An important constraint to bioenergy development will be water availability and use. At the present time the real cost of water, in particular that of maintaining and preserving the water resources upstream, is not being ...

Apr 2008
Ethanol and food prices – Preliminary assessment

Food prices in the U.S. rose dramatically in 2007 and early 2008. Given the integration of the world markets for foodstuffs, prices increased around the world as well, leading to riots in a number of ...

Apr 2008
Food prices and inflation in developing Asia: is poverty reduction coming to an end?

For decades, food prices had been declining in real terms, allowing millions of people around the globe to escape from the trap of poverty. This long-term trend took place despite rapid income and population growth, ...

Apr 2008
Opportunities and challenges of biofuel production for food security and the environment in Latin America and the Caribbean

As an agency dedicated to the generation, analysis and dissemination of knowledge and in response to the Kyoto Protocol, the Johannesburg Declaration of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and the Millennium Development Goals ...

Apr 2008
Biofuel expansion: challenges, risks and opportunities for rural poor people

On 2 January 2008, the cost of crude oil crossed US$100 a barrel for the first time, raising global concerns. Continuing near-record oil prices, fears of unaffordable and rapidly depleting sources of fossil fuel and ...

Feb 2008
Where will biofuels and biomass feedstocks come from?

When it comes to biofuels we have a few choices and options – we can do it poorly, with short-run approaches with no potential to scale, poor trajectory, and adverse environmental impact, or we can ...

Feb 2008
Carbon and sustainability reporting within the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation - Technical guidance

The Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) requires suppliers wishing to claim Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates (RTFCs) to provide a carbon and sustainability (C&S) report. This technical guidance describes how these reports are to be provided.Reporting is ...

Jan 2008
The world food situation

The world food situation is currently being rapidly redefined by new driving forces. Income growth, climate change, high energy prices, globalization, and urbanization are transforming food consumption, production, and markets. The influence of the private ...

Dec 2007
The state of food and agriculture 2007

Agricultural ecosystems are by far the largest managed ecosystems in the world. Of the total land area of about 13 billion hectares, crops and pasture occupy almost 5 billion hectares. Forests and woodlands add another ...

Dec 2007
The ripple effect - Biofuels, food security, and the environment

The integration of the agricultural and energy sectors caused by rapid growth in the biofuels market signals a new era in food policy and sustainable development. For the first time in decades, agricultural commodity markets ...

Nov 2007
The biofuels controversy

The coming of age of biofuels is happening against the background of growing awareness of the urgent need for changing the present unsustainable pattern of energy use, characterized by a profligate (mis)use of abundant and ...

Nov 2007
Biofuels: strategic choices for commodity dependent developing countries

The biofuels industry got underway on a large scale in the early 1970s, within the PROALCOOL Programme in Brazil. But it is only in the last five years that biofuels have started to be taken ...

Nov 2007
A review of the current state of bioenergy development in G8 +5 Countries

This report is part of the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP)’s ongoing efforts to monitor the status of bioenergy development in member countries and create a basis for future discussion of sustainability criteria and possible guidelines ...

Nov 2007
Biomass, food & sustainability: is there a dilemma?

In January 2007, thousands of demonstrators marched through Mexico City in protest at a rise in the price of the maize flour used for tortillas. Many believed the higher price was caused by American demand ...

Oct 2007
Biofuels: is the cure worse than the disease?

This document was prepared at the initiative of the Chair of the Round Table on Sustainable Development at the OECDBiofuels have been championed as an energy source that can increase security of supply, reduce vehicle ...

Sep 2007
Considering trade policies for liquid biofuels

Bioenergy is playing an increasingly important role as an alternative and renewable source of energy. Bioenergy includes solid biomass, biogas, and liquid biofuels. Combustion of biomass residues for heat and power generation is commercially viable ...

Sep 2007
Biodiversity, rights and livelihood – Agrofuels special issue

In this article, a closer look is taken at the way corporations are using the stampede into agrofuels to extend their takeover of world farming. An unparalleled process of mergers, takeovers and alliances is tightening ...

Jul 2007
Agrofuels in Africa: the impacts on land, food and forests - Case Studies from Benin, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia

Africa is at a crossroads of trying to reconcile the conservation of its vast cultural and natural heritage with the many and increasing needs of a growing population. Powerful external forces continue to divert the ...

Jul 2007
Is the expansion of biofuels at odds with the food security of developing countries?

The development of biofuel production and its use may have profound impacts on both food production and distribution in the world market and developing countries: changing patterns of food demand and supply; increasing energy supply ...

Jul 2007
The rush to ethanol: not all biofuels are created equal - Analysis and recommendations for U.S. biofuels policy

Corn-based ethanol has emerged as a leading contender to reduce dependence on fossil fuel–based gasoline. At first glance, corn-based ethanol seems simple, even patriotic: take the sugar from corn that U.S. farmers grow, and ferment ...

Jul 2007
Biofuels, agriculture and poverty reduction

This paper addresses the role of biofuels in development and poverty reduction. For example, it has been argued that:energy crops are beginning a green revolution in Brazil;a bioproduct-based agro-revolution can offer a new development paradigm;biofuels ...

Jun 2007
Oil palm and other commercial tree plantations, monocropping: impacts on indigenous peoples’ land tenure and resource management systems and livelihoods

This paper draws on important reports by various United Nations (UN) organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as from visits of members of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to countries where large-scale ...

May 2007
REEEP looks at complexity of producing biofuels in South Africa

The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), one of the leading non-profit organizations promoting clean energy in the developing world, is studying the potential and problems associated with biofuels in South Africa. Simon Wilson ...

May 2007
Liquid biofuels in transport: conclusions and recommendations of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) to the Global Environment Facility (GEF)

As a result of renewed and growing interest in biofuels as a renewable energy source to substitute petroleum-derived products in the transport sector, the GEF received a number of project proposals to support biofuels in ...

May 2007
Biofuel production and the threat to South Africa's food security

Biofuels production is increasing inexorably all over the world, driven by the rise in oil prices and the threat of climate change. This in turn is pushing up the price of food, especially of those ...

Apr 2007
Sustainable bioenergy: a framework for decision makers

This paper on sustainable bioenergy was drafted collectively by UN-Energy members , which include all of the United Nations agencies, programmes, and organizations working in the area of energy, reflecting their insights and expertise.The paper ...

Apr 2007
Impact of an increased biomass use on agricultural markets, prices and food security: a longer-term perspective

This paper examines the impact of rising demand for bioenergy on agricultural markets and prices. It reviews quantitative assessments of bioenergy potential and concludes that demand for bioenergy is significant enough to create a change ...

Apr 2007
First FAO technical consultation on bioenergy and food security

The summary proceedings of the first FAO technical consultation on bioenergy and food security documents for the first time a meeting between experts in bioenergy, food security and the environment, to discuss the complex linkages ...

Apr 2007
Biofuels, agriculture and poverty reduction

Despite these concerns, alarm over greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, rising oil prices and new biofuels targets in the North mean that development stakeholders are interested in the role of the agricultural sector in biofuels production.This ...

Mar 2007
Biomass, livelihoods and international trade - Challenges and opportunities for the EU and Southern Africa

This report is an outcome of a workshop held on 29-30 April 2005, in London, entitled, “Biomass, Sustainable Livelihoods, and International Trade: Challenges and Opportunities for the EU and southern Africa.” The workshop focused on ...

Feb 2007
Linkages between energy and water management for agriculture in developing countries

This paper summarizes and draws conclusions from papers and discussions of the International conference at ICRISAT Campus (Hyderabad, India, 29-30 January 2007) organized by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Food and Agriculture Organization ...

Jan 2007
Bioenergy: facts and figures

This document issued by the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) Secretariat illustrates “the basics” of bioenergy.GBEP is committed to promoting bioenergy for sustainable development. Bioenergy is a sustainable energy source only if its entire production chain ...

Jan 2007
Some insights in the effect of growing bioenergy demand on global food security and natural resources

Growing crops for biofuels is often criticized because of its direct competition for land for food production. The recent price increases on world food markets are partly a result of this competition. For instance, cereals ...

Jan 2007
Agricultural outlook 2007-2016

The Agricultural Outlook is a collaborative effort of the OECD in Paris and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome. Its main purpose is to produce an updated annual ten-year ...

Jan 2007
Good practice guidelines

Modern biomass, and the resulting useful forms of bioenergy produced from it, are anticipated by many advocates to provide a significant contribution to the global primary energy supply of many IEA member countries during the ...

Jan 2007
Opportunities and risks arising from the use of bioenergy for food security in Latin America

This document, which was prepared by the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) and the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, seeks to discuss some important aspects of the debate on the ...

Jan 2007
Biomass – A sleeping giant?

Biomass is currently attracting a great deal of interest – although the debate also has its controversial aspects. Biomass is considered to be a very promising option for several reasons: to secure raw material supplies ...

Jan 2007
Biofuels: promises and constraints

Concerns about energy supply, national security, climate change, and economic development crowd the public policy agendas of most countries around the world and dominate international dialogues. Political instability in many oil exporting countries threatens the ...

Dec 2006
Food security for the Muslim world

This document illustrates the oils and fats scenario in the Muslim world total production in 2006 was 44.09 million tonnes, of which the bulk was in Malaysia (18.14 million tonnes) and Indonesia (18.37 million tonnes). ...

Dec 2006
Biofuels and the global food balance

Rising world fuel prices, the growing demand for energy, and concerns about global warming are the key factors driving the increasing interest in renewable energy sources, and in biofuels in particular. But some policymakers and ...

Dec 2006
Bioenergy and the poor

Biomass is a primary source of energy for close to 2.4 billion people in developing countries. Easily available to many of the world’s poor, biomass provides vital and affordable energy for cooking and space heating. ...

Dec 2006
Bioenergy and agriculture: promises and challenges

This document contains an overview of main promises and challenges of bioenergy that in recent years has drawn attention as a sustainable energy source that may help cope with rising energy prices, address environmental concerns ...

Dec 2006
Biomass for food or fuel: Is there a dilemma?

After centuries of daily struggle for food, it takes our breath away that today a farmer is able to single-handedly cultivate hundreds of hectares to produce sufficient food to feed thousands of families at the ...

Sep 2006
Biofuels production, trade and sustainable development: emerging issues

This paper seeks to provide a preliminary identification of the main sustainable development issues involved in the debate around production and trade in biofuels.The paper is organised as follows.Chapter 2 provides a brief description of ...

Sep 2006
Criteria for sustainable biomass production – Final Report

The project group “Sustainable Production of Biomass” has been commissioned by the Interdepartmental Programme Management Energy Transition to formulate sustainability criteria for the production and processing of biomass for energy, fuels and chemistry. In this ...

Jul 2006
The emerging biofuels market: regulatory, trade and development implications

The era of "easy" energy is over. Governments, intergovernmental organizations, corporations, NGOs and even individuals are asking themselves a number of questions that are crucial for the sustainable development prospects of all countries. How do ...

Jan 2006
Potential challenges and risks of bioenergy production for developing countries

Following pioneer Brazil, the world is seeing a dazzling growth in bioenergy production derived from plants and other biomass. China has an ambitious programme of its own and several African countries have set their sights ...

Jan 2006
Towards better practice in smallholder palm oil production

Smallholder oil palm production has the potential to secure mutually beneficial outcomes for large and small producers and processors, enhance social and environmental sustainability at the landscape scale, ease land disputes between smallholders and large ...

Jan 2006
The promises and challenges of biofuels for the poor in developing countries

In the past several years the changing world energy situation has generated intensive discussion about biofuels, much of it a promising source of environment-friendly energy that would also be a boon to the world’s farmers. ...

Jan 2006
Towards a Southern African NGO position on biofuels (brochure)

Southern Africa is a region of great poverty interspersed with pockets of wealth. The South African economy is one of those pockets but contained within the nation are millions of people living without access to ...

Jan 2006
Potential for biofuels for transport in developing countries

This report is by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP), a joint programme of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank, to help developing countries assess the potential of biofuels in ...

Oct 2005
« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 ... 14 All
home