Files
Abstract
Biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel are increasingly promoted as green alternatives to
petroleum-derived transport fuels. Scaling up feedstock production to produce enough biofuel
to displace a significant portion of current petroleum demand will put pressure on land and
water resources both domestically and internationally, however, and could potentially be
accompanied by unacceptable changes in landscape-level land use patterns and provisioning
of ecosystem services. Ensuring that feedstock production is sustainable and that biofuels
provide the social and environmental benefits that are often attributed to them will require a
carefully designed portfolio of agricultural, forestry, energy, and trade policies related to
biofuels and feedstock production. Despite the difficulties associated with development and
application of such policies, they should be in place before further policy incentive is provided
for expansion of biofuel industries.