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Biofuels currently supply less than 1 per cent of transport fuel worldwide and approximately 3 per cent in developing Asia. Large-scale biofuels present a broad range of opportunities, but they also entail significant environmental, social, and economic risks. Given the complex challenges presented by biofuels production and use, the US Agency for International Development's Regional Development Mission for Asia (USAID RDMA) sponsored a report to analyse key trends and concerns in Asia. The report highlights sustainability options and outlines ways to promote sustainable biofuels in Asia that reduce net GHG emissions, avoid negative impacts on food security and biodiversity, and promote the social welfare of local communities. Here are several key findings: 1) Energy independence: the study finds that support for decentralized biofuels production on degraded or underutilized lands holds the potential to sustainably provide energy to roughly half a billion people living in poverty in rural areas; 2) Climate change and the Environment. Biofuels plantations must avoid converting forests and peat lands at all costs, planting instead on degraded or underutilized lands, using high-yielding feedstocks that require minimal inputs; 3) Food security: The use of non-food feedstocks grown on underutilized land for biofuels production and the rapid deployment of second- and third-generation biofuels are crucial to ensuring that food security is not threatened by continued biofuels development; 4) Social impacts and Livelihoods: Biofuels initiatives should strengthen the enforcement of labour rights, protection of land rights, participatory processes for indigenous peoples, and implementation of biofuels production certification systems.
Clean Energy Asia, 2009. Biofuels in Asia: An Analysis of Sustainability Options. USAID-Asia Policy Brief, http://www.cleanenergyasia.net/ (March 2009). |
