ABSTRACT

This chapter introduces modern biofuels classifications to clarify the different feedstocks and their associated impact factors. It discusses the impacts of biofuels to illustrate how modern production can conflict with existing international environmental law and human rights law. The chapter highlights the tensions between the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) objectives and other international law. Modern biofuel feed stocks have different economic, environmental and social impacts. 'Advanced' second-generation modern biofuels are being promoted and developed to be commercially viable in an effort to reduce threats to food security, especially in producer countries in the Global South. The right of an individual to access safe drinking water is recognised either implicitly or explicitly in several international instruments. Biofuel consumption rose in the European Union (EU) primarily due to the introduction of several directives to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) after signing the UN Kyoto Protocol in 1997.