FAO Food Price Index

Figure 27: Loss of biodiversity with continued agricultural expansion, pollution, climate change and infrastructure development. (Source: GLOBIO; Alkemade et al., 2009).

Energy access is a primer for any type economic development. Nowhere is energy access a greater challenge than in areas and regions where the population lives in poverty. As illustrated, bioenergy can deliver considerable positive social impacts to these communities. Small-scale bioenergy applications, such as generators fuelled by biofuels, can power many technologies which increase productivity and output, including water pumps to irrigate cro...

Studies indicate that global bioenergy use is approximately 10 percent of the global energy mix, with a growth rate of 1.3 percent per year. Future projections for the supply of bioenergy are shown in the figure. The analysis is based on four scenarios for environmental targets, based on technical potentials that differ depending on agricultural efficiency, production systems, technology and water supplies. The scenarios span a wide range of gl...

Over the past few years a small energy revolution has taken place in the village of Bot Trang in northwest Cambodia. Bot Trang is not on Cambodia’s national grid: in the old days Mr. Tham Bun Hak, a local farmer, would supply 80 households in the village with electricity from his diesel fired generator – but now it’s all run on jatropha. With the assistance of local NGOs and public partnerships, Mr. Tham developed a jatropha project that has made...

Gains and losses in forest area vary globally, and the impact divers greatly between the various crops used for biofuels. Forest-cover is enhanced through aorestation or by natural expansion, and reduced either by deforestation or natural disasters which may prevent forest from naturally regenerating itself. Forest degeneration is often caused by overexploitation of forest areas by humans, pests, disease or recurrent forest fires. Generally,...

Biofuels have been criticised for causing food insecurity, but many other factors often play a far more significant role than biofuels. But rapid, largescale growth in biofuel production without sufficient safeguards does pose a risk for food security. This risk needs to be seen in the context of population growth, changing diets, slowing crop-yield improvements,and climate-change impacts on agriculture. While much has been said about the risk...

This figure outlines possible scenarios for the impact of biofuels on agricultural prices and food security. Although there are several factors that affect agricultural prices, including seasonal variation, market speculation,and extreme weather patterns, some biofuel development scenarios indicate a relationship between agricultural prices and biofuel production. Here, the scenario projects that the largest price increase will be for cerea...

The graphic compares different liquid biofuels and alternative drive systems such as an electric vehicle running on electricity produced from wind power.

Poor land tenure security due to lack of appropriate rules and processes, and biofuels production encroaching on land used by pastoralists or for cultural purposes affect local livelihoods and access to land, particularly for poor rural people in developing countries. This figure indicates various measures which should be taken to mitigate this risk.

Recently Uganda has outlined its national strategy for bioenergy to contribute to increasing the renewable energy mix from 4 to 16 percent by 2017. Several biofuel crops have been identified, including sugarcane, maize, oil palm and jatropha. A suitability assessment of these crops illustrates that the potential output from certain biofuel feedstocks is high. Several projects are underway to help the country meet their target. To red...

Recently Uganda has outlined its national strategy for bioenergy to contribute to increasing the renewable energy mix from 4 to 16 percent by 2017. Several biofuel crops have been identified, including sugarcane, maize, oil palm and jatropha. A suitability assessment of these crops illustrates that the potential output from certain biofuel feedstocks is high. Several projects are underway to help the country meet their target. To red...

This figure indicates land requirements for biofuels production in response to current biofuels mandates. Depending on projected biofuels demand and available arable land, additional land requirements may exceed a nation’s own resources, and hence have a spill-over effect on other countries and regions. For example, studies indicate that most European countries will not have sufficient available land resources to produce the feedstocks requ...

Land-use planning is one strategy to manage competition for land and, at the same time, reduce environmental and social impacts. Assessment of land suitability and availability can identify both high-risk areas where land conversion should be avoided, and areas where bioenergy production is appropriate. Restoring formerly degraded land and using underused and/or abandoned land can boost output without increasing pressure to convert la...

The negative consequences of iLUC have been hotly debated. Recent debate has focused increasingly on a pragmatic approach to reducing the need for land, thereby reducing risks from direct and indirect changes in land use. These approaches include: • Using degraded and/or underused land where the risks of increased GHGs and the loss of biodiversity would be substantially lower. However, the process for identifying such land areas needs ...

When assessing the sustainability of biofuels within the context of conservation, comparison questions are important. What else can the land be used for? One option might be conservation, whereas another might be for a different production system. Which production system is the most suitable and efficient for the land being used? Here, the land-use and end-use efficiency correlation is an interesting aspect when seeking to determine the o...

Converting land for biofuel production can cause biodiversity impacts in the short-term, but such conversion also aects the future resilience of natural ecosystems. In an extreme case, complete deforestation reduces the ability of forestland to regenerate and absorb carbon in the future.

The impacts of land conversion on biodiversity may be significant. The degree of impact relates to many factors, including where and how the bioenergy product is cultivated. This figure represent the short-term impacts of land conversion.

Biofuels pose several environmental and social risks. Therefore, to be truly a part of the green economy, biofuels need to comply with a set of safeguards along the entire production chain. Any bioenergy development strategy must integrate such safeguards at all levels, from policy to investments and the project itself. As impacts can be significant, they need to be assessed from a number of angles, including: • Direct and indirect lan...