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|Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels
|IDB Biofuels Sustainability Scorecard
|Indirect Impacts of Biofuel Production
|International Mitigation Initiatives

Not all biofuels are created equal.

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Just as there are “good” and “bad” biofuels, the current practice of automatically classifying all biofuels as “green” or “renewable” (regardless of underlying feedstock and regardless of how and where they are produced) is counter-productive.

There are no “green” labels specifically tailored to biofuels.

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Depending on the type and source of biofuel und underlying feedstock, the benefits and environmental impacts vary significantly. Of equal importance are country specific agro-economic and climatic conditions.

As a consequence, biofuels are facing many sustainability challenges, impacting the overall energy, environmental and social balance of different biofuel products. This calls for a clear differentiation and ultimately for biofuels to receive independent certification.

Recognizing the challenges of sustainability, biodiversity and delicate eco-systems, it is important to differentiate between the various types of biofuels. As for sustainability compliance and the Green House Gas (GHG) reduction potential of biofuels, there are huge differences depending on the feedstock, cultivation method and other factors. Leaving aside the potential impact of land use change, the best options can reduce GHG emissions by between 70-100%. Advanced biofuels from jatropha hold considerable promise for eventually providing more sustainable types of biofuels, with GHG emission savings better than palm oil or sugarcane ethanol. JATRO provides a genuine life cycle assessment of jatropha-based biofuels.

While more and more government agencies, non-governmental organizations and scientific think tanks offer interpretation aid for the term “sustainability”, there is no defined and undisputed single formula in place. Nevertheless, determining factors tend to include at least some of the following ingredients:

• Land clearing and preparation
• Feedstock costs
• Processing costs
• Water consumption
• Application of fertilizers and pesticides
• Intercropping
• Biodiversity and wildlife habitat
• Harvesting method and technology
• Co-product value
• Energy balance and net-energy contribution
• Social implications
• Rural development
• Environmental implications
• Specific carbon credit footprint
• Carbon sequestration potential
• Impact on labor conditions
• Impact on land use
• Reforestation potential
• Impact on agricultural products and food crops
• Independence of biofuel support policies
• Efficiency in reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions
• Impact on commodity prices

Since not all biofuels and biofuel crops are created equal we need to distinguish between the various biofuel options, looking carefully at the different feedstocks, agricultural practices and production processes to ensure that only the most sustainable biofuels are promoted: the ones that offer economic viability and climate benefits while protecting biodiversity and food security.

Long term sustainability of the bioenergy sector can only be achieved with sound policies and planning that take into consideration a range of global trends, including population growth, yield improvements, changing diet patterns and climate change.

On 23 April 2009, the European Union adopted the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) which included a 10% target for the use of renewable energy in road transport fuels by 2020. It also established the environmental sustainability criteria that biofuels consumed in the EU have to comply with. This includes a minimum rate of direct GHG emission savings (35% in 2009 and rising over time to 50% in 2017) and restrictions on the types of land that may be converted to production of biofuels feedstock crops. The latter criterion covers direct land use changes only.

The revised Fuel Quality Directive (FQD), adopted at the same time as the RED, includes identical sustainability criteria and targets a reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from fuels consumed in the EU by 6% by 2020. Moreover, the Parliament and Council asked the Commission to examine the question of indirect land use change (ILUC), including possible measures to avoid this, and report back on this issue by the end of 2010.

Independent of all biofuel support policies and blending targets there is intense debate over whether biofuels are really capable of meeting expectations. In particular, the sustainability profile of biofuels is being questioned. The most frequently cited issues of concern include direct and indirect land use impacts, carbon stock decreases, water depletion and pollution, biodiversity loss, and air quality degradation. In addition to these environmental problems, critics point to potential economic and social conflicts deriving from energy/ food source competition. Obviously, not all biofuels are created equal and thus require a different and distinct assessment.

Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels

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A good example for a neutral and transparent certification system has been put together by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB). Its mission is to ensure that biofuels deliver on their promises of climate change mitigation, economic development & energy security without causing environmental and/or social damages, such as deforestation and food insecurity. The standards developed by the RSB cover the entire biofuel value chain and consist of a set of normative “Principles & Criteria for Sustainable Biofuels”. They provide guidelines on best practices in the production and processing of biofuel feedstock. Accordingly, biofuels shall contribute to climate change mitigation by significantly reducing lifecycle GHG emissions as compared to fossil fuels, whereby the whole process from “well to wheel” (or “cradle to grave”) shall be considered for the biofuel lifecycle GHG emission calculation and takes into account GHG emissions from land use change and by-products like residues and organic waste.

Key criteria include environmental and social impact assessment, incl. human and labor rights, rural and social development, food security, conservation of soil health, water consumption, fertilizer management and biodiversity.

A detailed and comprehensive certification system is meant to facilitate verification of compliance with the RSB standards and assists in the implementation of the standards for production, processing, conversion, trade and use of biofuels. Of course, each certification of an individual plantation site has to be adapted to biofuel crop specific and geography specific conditions.
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IDB Biofuels Sustainability Scorecard

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The Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Initiative (SECCI) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have created the IDB Biofuels Sustainability Scorecard based on the sustainability criteria of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB). The primary objective of the Scorecard is to encourage higher levels of sustainability in biofuels projects by providing a tool to think through the range of complex issues associated with biofuels. Since the scientific debate around these issues continues to evolve, the Scorecard can be seen as a work-in-progress.
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Indirect Impacts of Biofuel Production

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In order to assess the overall greenhouse gas (GHG) balance of biofuels, most attention was traditionally given to the direct impacts of biofuel production. However, stakeholders increasingly recognize that indirect impacts are an unintended consequence of biofuels’ expansion and market reach, and such effects must be included to properly account for biofuels impacts. The potential for negative indirect impacts is high and can lead to unintended consequences.

The two main negative indirect impacts are indirect land use change (ILUC) and competition with food. These indirect impacts have become one of the key challenges to large scale sustainable biofuel production from energy crops. ILUC occurs when the production of biomass feedstock displaces activities to other areas where they cause land use change and thus have potentially negative impacts on aspects such as carbon stocks and biodiversity. An example of this is when demand for palm oil for the biofuel market is supplied from existing plantations that used to supply to the food market.

Indirect impacts on the greenhouse gas balance of biofuels through land use changes are predicted to be between 30 and 103 gCO2eq/MJ biofuel. When these indirect impacts are taken into account, GHG savings by biofuels compared to fossil fuels are about 60% lower than when indirect impacts are not taken into account.
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International Mitigation Initiatives

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Increasingly, market regulations call for sustainability criteria for biofuels. Examples of biofuel policy and regulations include:

• the European Union Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED) for biofuels entering the European Union market;
• the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) for biofuels entering the California market;
• the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) for biofuels entering the U.S. market;
• and the United Kingdom Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO).
  Typically, biofuel must meet minimum lifecycle Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction thresholds mandated by such policy and regulations. Sometimes, the policy or regulation includes incentives for minimum GHG emission reductions. Examples of incentives for behavioral change include tax exemptions, qualifying for minimum volume quotas, and market incentives within so called cap – and – trade systems. For example, a biofuel entering the California market must meet the carbon intensity requirements that the Low Carbon Fuel Standard requires for regulated parties (i.e., a 10% reduction in fuel lifecycle GHG emissions between 2010 and 2020); a biofuel entering the European Union market must meet the minimum GHG reduction requirements to be counted towards the quota of 10% target for energy from renewable sources in transport. Only biofuels that meet certain sustainability criteria count towards this target. These sustainability criteria primarily cover GHG emissions from the entire fuel chain, and carbon stock and biodiversity effects from direct land use change.
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