Bioenergy production and sustainable development: science base for policymaking remains limited.
The possibility of using bioenergy as a climate change mitigation measure has sparked a discussion of whether and how bioenergy production contributes to sustainable development. We undertook a systematic review of the scientific literature to illuminate this relationship and found a limited scientific basis for policymaking. Our results indicate that knowledge on the sustainable development impacts of bioenergy production is concentrated in a few well-studied countries, focuses on environmental and economic impacts, and mostly relates to dedicated agricultural biomass plantations. The scope and methodological approaches in studies differ widely and only a small share of the studies sufficiently reports on context and/or baseline conditions, which makes it difficult to get a general understanding of the attribution of impacts. Nevertheless, we identified regional patterns of positive or negative impacts for all categories - environmental, economic, institutional, social and technological. In general, economic and technological impacts were more frequently reported as positive, while social and environmental impacts were more frequently reported as negative (with the exception of impacts on direct substitution of GHG emission from fossil fuel). More focused and transparent research is needed to validate these patterns and develop a strong science underpinning for establishing policies and governance agreements that prevent/mitigate negative and promote positive impacts from bioenergy production.
Department of Environmental Systems Science USYS Td Lab ETH Zürich Universitätstrasse 228092 Zurich Switzerland; Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation Maulbeerstr. 10CH-3001 Bern Switzerland.
Carmenza
C
Robledo-Abad
Foundation for Global Sustainability (ffgs) Reitergasse 118004 Zürich Switzerland; Lifecycle Consulting Althaus Bruechstr. 1328706 Meilen Switzerland.
Hans-Jörg
HJ
Althaus
Department of Energy and Environment Chalmers University of Technology SE 41296 Gothenburg Sweden.
Göran
G
Berndes
DTU Management Engineering Technical University of Denmark 4000 Roskilde Denmark.
Simon
S
Bolwig
Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, and Department of Economics & Economic History Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona 08193 Barcelona Spain.
Esteve
E
Corbera
Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change & Technical University Berlin 10829 Berlin Germany.
Felix
F
Creutzig
Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems ETH Zürich Universitätstrasse 22, 8092 Zurich Switzerland.
John
J
Garcia-Ulloa
Institute for Environmental Decisions ETH Zürich Climate Policy Group Universitätstrasse 22 8092 Zurich Switzerland.
Anna
A
Geddes
DTU Management Engineering Technical University of Denmark 4000 Roskilde Denmark.
Jay S
JS
Gregg
Institute of Social Ecology Vienna (SEC) Alpen-Adria Universitaet (AAU) Schottenfeldgasse 29 1070 Vienna Austria.
Helmut
H
Haberl
Institute for Environmental Decisions ETH Zürich Climate Policy Group Universitätstrasse 228092 Zurich Switzerland; International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis Schlossplatz 1 Laxenburg Austria.
Susanne
S
Hanger
School of Veterinary and Life Sciences Murdoch University South Street Murdoch WA 6150 Australia.
Richard J
0000-0003-0268-2917
RJ
Harper
Department of Geography University of Western Ontario London ON N6A 5C2 Canada.
Carol
C
Hunsberger
Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Linnégatan 87D 115 23 Stockholm Postbox 24218 104 51 Stockholm Sweden.
Rasmus K
RK
Larsen
Institute of Social Ecology Vienna (SEC) Alpen-Adria Universitaet (AAU) Schottenfeldgasse 29 1070 Vienna Austria.
Christian
C
Lauk
Institute of Social Ecology Vienna (SEC) Alpen-Adria Universitaet (AAU) Schottenfeldgasse 29 1070 Vienna Austria.
Stefan
S
Leitner
Institute for Environmental Decisions ETH Zürich Climate Policy Group Universitätstrasse 22 8092 Zurich Switzerland.
Johan
J
Lilliestam
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) PO Box 60120314412 Potsdam Germany; Humboldt-University zu Berlin Unter den Linden 610099 Berlin Germany.
Hermann
H
Lotze-Campen
Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape University of Leuven (KU Leuven) Celestijnenlaan 200E box 2411 BE- 3001 Leuven Belgium.
Bart
B
Muys
Department of Energy and Environment Chalmers University of Technology SE 41296 Gothenburg Sweden.
Maria
M
Nordborg
Centre for Environment and Sustainability - GMV University of Gothenburg Aschebergsgatan 44 Göteborg Sweden.
Maria
M
Ölund
Climate-Babel.
Boris
B
Orlowsky
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) PO Box 601203 14412 Potsdam Germany.
Alexander
A
Popp
Energy Planning Program COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Centro de Tecnologia Sala C-211, C.P. 68565, Cidade Universitária Ilha do Fundão 21941-972 Rio de Janeiro RJ Brazil.
Joana
J
Portugal-Pereira
Informatics and Sustainability Research Group Swiss Federal Institute for Material Testing and Research Empa, Ueberlandstrasse 129 8600 Duebendorf Switzerland.
Jürgen
J
Reinhard
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) PO Box 601203 14412 Potsdam Germany.
Lena
L
Scheiffle
Institute of Biological & Environmental Sciences ClimateXChange and Scottish Food Security Alliance-Crops University of Aberdeen 23 St Machar Drive Aberdeen AB24 3UU UK.
Pete
P
Smith
agriculture; bioenergy; food security; forestry; mitigation; sustainable development