Biofuels and the Sustainability Challenge: A Global Assessment of Sustainability Issues, Trends And Policies for Biofuels and Related Feedstocks

This report addresses the central issue of biofuel sustainability using a global assessment of major commodities and feedstocks currently employed for bioethanol and biodiesel production. The approach taken was guided by two overriding considerations: (1) the need to understand the basic dimensions of sustainability for biofuels (economic, environmental and social), their linkages and how they relate to the central challenges they address, namely land-use change, food security and climate change, and (2) the need to critically evaluate the extent to which the recent trends in biofuel certification schemes reflect true under the guise of sustainability.