Important issues and current status of bioenergy crop policy for advanced biofuels

Abstract

Biofuels produced from low-carbon, dedicated energy crops can make an important contribution to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. However, there are many challenges that could prevent this from occurring. The potential for production of feedstocks for advanced biofuels to create more environmental damage than benefit is one of those challenges. Fortunately, there are a number of initiatives to address environmental impacts involving environmental groups and industry participants, along with academics and governmental agencies (e.g., Council for Sustainable Biomass Production; Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels). A second major challenge is that there is no advanced biofuels industry today, and the biofuel supply chain requires many participants working closely together. Thus, governments have an essential role to support both critical R&D as well as industry participants, to reduce their risk from early investment in this industry. Fortunately, many governments, as exemplified by analysis of Federal and state policies in the United States, have introduced mechanisms to ensure that this industry is successfully established (such as those mandates and incentives in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 in the United States). © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.