Evaluating Biofuel Opportunities from a Landscape Perspective

Overview

What would a landscape managed for biofuel production look like? This brief describes three systems for biofuel production and identifies opportunities and risks for biodiversity conservation, rural livelihoods and farm production.

Design principles and areas for policy development

How can we manage landscapes to produce greener biofuels that are better for the environment and the people? The brief discusses six landscape design principles and four areas for policy development.

Landscape Design Principles

• Biofuel crop species and locations should be selected such that it improves the spatial heterogeneity of the landscape.
• Biofuel crop areas should be located such that the connectivity between different habitat patches are maintained or restored.
• Biofuel crops should be grown in lands that are less suitable for other important uses like crop production or wildlife habitats. This will help restore these unused lands while maximizing overall production of the landscape.
• A landscape already maintains several productive activities, from crop production to ecosystem services. Biofuel production should be capitalized on interstitial niches not yet exploited by these activities. For example, plant wastes or surplus can be utilized as feedstock or marginal lands can be used to grow hardy biofuel feedstock.
• Biofuel crop species should be selected such that they are well adapted to the local conditions and can grow well in low-input production.
• Preference should be given to perennial and mixed species system to improve habitat complexity and minimize the risks to pest and disease faced by monocultures.

Areas for policy development

• Biofuels governance
• Pricing, incentives, and subsidies
• Guide technological development for biofuels
• Biofuels and rural development