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The GHG balance of biofuels taking into account land use change

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  • Lange, Mareike

Abstract

The contribution of biofuels to the saving of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has recently been questioned because of emissions resulting from land use change (LUC) for bioenergy feedstock production. We investigate how the inclusion of the carbon effect of LUC into the carbon accounting framework, as scheduled by the European Commission, impacts on land use choices for an expanding biofuel feedstock production. We first illustrate the change in the carbon balances of various biofuels, using methodology and data from the IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. It becomes apparent that the conversion of natural land, apart from grassy savannahs, impedes meeting the EU's 35% minimum emissions reduction target for biofuels. We show that the current accounting method mainly promotes biofuel feedstock production on former cropland, thus increasing the competition between food and fuel production on the currently available cropland area. We further discuss whether it is profitable to use degraded land for commercial bioenergy production as requested by the European Commission to avoid undesirable LUC and conclude that the current regulation provides little incentive to use such land. The exclusive consideration of LUC for bioenergy production minimizes direct LUC at the expense of increasing indirect LUC.

Suggested Citation

  • Lange, Mareike, 2011. "The GHG balance of biofuels taking into account land use change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 2373-2385, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:39:y:2011:i:5:p:2373-2385
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    7. Delzeit, Ruth & Lange, Mareike, 2011. "Biofuel policies and indirect land use change," Kiel Policy Brief 37, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    8. Söder, Mareike, 2014. "EU biofuel policies in practice: A carbon map for the Brazilian Cerrado," Kiel Working Papers 1966, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    9. Lange, Mareike & Suarez, César Freddy, 2013. "EU biofuel policies in practise: A carbon map for the Llanos orientales in Colombia," Kiel Working Papers 1864, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    10. Mirzabaev, Alisher & Guta, Dawit & Goedecke, Jann & Gaur, Varun & Börner, Jan & Virchow, Detlef & Denich, Manfred & von Braun, Joachim, 2014. "Bioenergy, Food Security and Poverty Reduction: Mitigating tradeoffs and promoting synergies along the Water- Energy-Food Security Nexus," Working Papers 180421, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
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    12. Bazilian, Morgan & Rogner, Holger & Howells, Mark & Hermann, Sebastian & Arent, Douglas & Gielen, Dolf & Steduto, Pasquale & Mueller, Alexander & Komor, Paul & Tol, Richard S.J. & Yumkella, Kandeh K., 2011. "Considering the energy, water and food nexus: Towards an integrated modelling approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7896-7906.
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    14. Delzeit, Ruth & Klepper, Gernot & Söder, Mareike, 2017. "Indirect land use change (iLUC) revisited: An evaluation of current policy proposals," Kiel Working Papers 2075, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    15. Boucher, Philip, 2012. "The role of controversy, regulation and engineering in UK biofuel development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 148-154.
    16. Lange, Mareike, 2013. "EU biofuel policies in practise: A carbon map for Kalimantan and Sumatra," Kiel Working Papers 1863, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    17. Duarte, Alexandra & Sarache, William & Costa, Yasel, 2016. "Biofuel supply chain design from Coffee Cut Stem under environmental analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 321-331.
    18. Purkus, Alexandra & Gawel, Erik & Thrän, Daniela, 2012. "Bioenergy governance between market and government failures: A new institutional economics perspective," UFZ Discussion Papers 13/2012, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    19. Andreas Meyer-Aurich & Yulia Lochmann & Hilde Klauss & Annette Prochnow, 2016. "Comparative Advantage of Maize- and Grass-Silage Based Feedstock for Biogas Production with Respect to Greenhouse Gas Mitigation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-14, June.
    20. Delzeit, Ruth & Klepper, Gernot & Söder, Mareike, 2016. "An evaluation of approaches for quantifying emissions from indirect land use change," Kiel Working Papers 2035, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    21. Geraldes Castanheira, Érica & Grisoli, Renata & Freire, Fausto & Pecora, Vanessa & Coelho, Suani Teixeira, 2014. "Environmental sustainability of biodiesel in Brazil," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 680-691.
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