ABSTRACT
As sustainability is one of the drivers behind the call for biobased products, it is crucial to make sure that biobased products indeed are sustainable. This refers to their full life cycle, including biomass production. This chapter demonstrates what impact a public debate on the (alleged) sustainability of biomass production might have. For biofuels, the debate held in the EU during a period of strong biofuel business expansion resulted in significant policy changes. Additional legislation was introduced in order to steer the development of a stable, well organized new business, which could safeguard that bioenergy production, would not go at the extent of major biodiversity hotspots or at high social or environmental costs.
