Public perception of biofuels in different societies (original) (raw)

Biofuels and Sustainable Development

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2008

The goals and concerns surrounding the debate over government policies related to the greater use and production of biofuels were addressed in an executive session convened by the John F.

An Institutional Analysis of Biofuel Policies and their Social Implications in Developing Countries

2011

The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) was established in 1963 as an autonomous space within the UN system for the conduct of policy-relevant, cutting-edge research on social development that is pertinent to the work of the United Nations Secretariat; regional commissions and specialized agencies; and national institutions. Our mission is to generate knowledge and articulate policy alternatives on contemporary development issues, thereby contributing to the broader goals of the UN system of reducing poverty and inequality, advancing well-being and rights, and creating more democratic and just societies.

Reaching consensus on sustainable biofuels

Understanding the many drivers for sustainable trade, consumption and production of biofuels can help to develop a landscape that, among other things, provides food, fodder, fibre, and energy, says Ralph Sims. Biofuels are emerging in a world increasingly concerned by the converging global problems of rising energy demands, accelerating climate change, high priced fossil fuels, soil degradation, water scarcity, and loss of biodiversity. When produced responsibly, increased global biofuels trade, transport use and production can be cost-effective, equitable and sustainable. Many nations have the ability to produce their own biofuels derived both from agricultural and forest biomass and from urban wastes, subject to adequate capacity building, technology transfer and access to finance. Trade in biofuels surplus to local requirements can thus open up new markets and stimulate the investment needed to promote the full potential of many impoverished countries. Such a development also res...

Biofuels and Food Security: Biting off more than we can chew

This paper examines the demonization of biofuels in relation to food security and assess whether or not the negativity towards biofuels is justified. We first examine the concept of food security which has been a concern long before the emergence of biofuels. We show that creating food security is more than producing a 'sufficient' volume of food instead that it depends on complex, context dependent, social, economic, political and ecological factors in which growing biofuels. Indeed biofuels is only one of the influencing factors. We would suggest that too much focus on growing biofuels as the identified problem detracts from the underlying causes of food insecurity and hunger.