SFSGEC - Learning from the failures of biofuels governance

Authors

  • Carol Hunsberger University of Western Ontario

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v2i2.102

Keywords:

biofuel, governance, ethanol, biodiesel

Abstract

While many policies designed to increase the use of biofuels were promoted at least in part as a climate change solution, biofuels made from agricultural crops are increasingly seen as part of the problem when considering global environmental change. Research on the greenhouse gas emissions associated with biofuel-related land use change (Hertel et al., 2010) and fertilizer use (Melillo et al., 2009) challenges the idea that biofuels are automatically low-carbon fuels. Major crops that can be used to make biofuel—sugarcane, maize, oil palm, and soy—are usually grown in monoculture plantations whose ecological impacts are well documented, and recent evidence continues to solidify what is known about the impacts of biofuel crop expansion on water (Dominguez-Faus, Powers, Burken, & Alvarez, 2009; Larsen et al., 2014) and biodiversity.

Author Biography

Carol Hunsberger, University of Western Ontario

Assistant Professor, Department of Geography
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Published

2015-09-08

How to Cite

Hunsberger, C. (2015). SFSGEC - Learning from the failures of biofuels governance. Canadian Food Studies La Revue Canadienne Des études Sur l’alimentation, 2(2), 304–312. https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v2i2.102

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2015): Special Issue: Mapping the Global Food Landscape

Section

Research Article

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