Title
Can biofuels be sustainable in an unsustainable agriculture?
Date Issued
01 December 2008
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
conference paper
Author(s)
Hellwinckel C.
University of Tennessee
Abstract
The expansion of biofuels has increased the utilization of grains, oilseed by-products, and sugar. Coincidentally, prices of agricultural commodities have substantially increased. Changes in land use driven by high prices are pressuring the expansion of agriculture into environmentally sensitive areas. Such expansion is leading some to question the sustainability of biofuels as a desirable source of energy. However, the increase utilization of agricultural commodities for biofuels can not completely explain the higher prices, indicating that there are other structural forces in agriculture, besides biofuels production, that need to be included in the debate. Land use, crop mix, crop production methods, and changes in food consumption patterns, must also be part of the biofuels debate. This presentation situates biofuels within the context of what is happening in agriculture and discusses avenues to enhance the sustainability of agriculture and biofuels.
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Agricultura
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-77955898254
Source
ACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
Resource of which it is part
ACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
ISSN of the container
00657727
ISBN of the container
978-084126994-1
Conference
236th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society, ACS 2008
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus