ABSTRACT
Bioenergy has been positioned as both a problem and an innovative solution for land use conicts arising at the nexus between food security and environmental conservation (Tilman et al., 2010; Murphy et al., 2011). In this chapter, we examine dierent valuations of land use and biomass that need to be considered when assessing bioenergy interventions. Drawing on research into controversies around bioenergy, we show that at stake in this debate are dierent ways of conceptualising the problem denition and innovation pathways. These arise from dierences in the way people value the use of land for food, fuel or fodder, as well as in dierences in the facts that are considered or excluded. Is land a global resource to be managed in accordance with universal targets and technological innovation for food production or nature conservation, or is it a place of lived experience where historical attachments, struggles and local needs ought to shape interventions? While much of the technical and policy literature on food security begins from the former position (a target-based approach), social researchers have highlighted the need to begin from the latter (a context-based approach).
