Summaries of analyses in 2008 of biofuels policies by international and European technical agencies |
Nov 2008
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Since January 2008, international institutions, national technical agencies, and major international scientific organizations have released ten major reviews of biofuel policies. This brief summarizes their conclusions, which include:
- World land use competition means liquid biofuels are only capable of making a limited contribution to world energy supplies and greenhouse gas reductions.
- Direct and indirect land use change due to biofuels has a high potential to eliminate or greatly reduce their greenhouse gas benefits.
- Biofuels have contributed significantly to crop price increases and food insecurity in the last few years.
- Relying on biofuels grown on dedicated land is mainly likely to spur biofuel production and create rural jobs outside of Europe where production of feed stocks is cheaper.
- Biomass is more efficiently used for energy and greenhouse gas reductions in electricity production than biofuels.
- Large biofuel mandates should be reconsidered.
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