ABSTRACT
Biofuel production currently uses around 2-3% of arable land globally (Wilkinson et al., 2013). However, several assessments have shown how biofuels can contribute to large-scale land use change (Fargione et al., 2008). Competition occurs through direct land use change which decreases the production of food on arable lands by replacing existing crops (e.g. food or feedstock) with energy crops. Competition can also occur through indirect land use change where biofuel crops change market conditions, either resulting in crops and livestock areas being less profitable, or diverting existing production from food to energy. They may also have other unexpected negative effects: for example, some biofuel production systems emit more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than fossil fuels (Bailis and Baka, 2011). All these direct and indirect effects interact through complex feedback loops connecting agriculture, food and energy systems (Fig. 1). Such complexity is represented in Table 1 which provides a suggested (but not exhaustive) list of sustainability criteria required for responsible biofuel production.
