The DOI matches its Crossref record; 101 of the 101 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The Ecological Impact of Biofuels
Abstract
The ecological impact of biofuels is mediated through their effects on land, air, and water. In 2008, about 33.3 million ha were used to produce food-based biofuels and their coproducts. Biofuel production from food crops is expected to increase 170% by 2020. Economic model estimates for land-use change (LUC) associated with food-based biofuels are 67–365 ha 10−6 l−1, leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions for decades compared to business as usual. Biodiversity is reduced by about 60% in U.S. corn and soybean fields and by about 85% in Southeast Asian oil palm plantations compared to unconverted habitat. Consequently, the largest ecological impact of biofuel production may well come from market-mediated LUC. Mitigating this impact requires targeting biofuel production to degraded and abandoned cropland and rangeland; increasing crop yields and livestock production efficiency; use of wastes, residues, and wildlife-friendly crops; and compensatory offsite mitigation for residual direct and indirect impacts.
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“Transitioning lands in other uses to biofuel feedstock production will affect the carbon stocks of these lands (Melillo et al. , 2009; Fargione et al. , 2010).”
From Influence of spatially dependent, modeled soil carbon emission factors on life‐cycle greenhouse gas emissions of corn and cellulosic ethanol (2016) · cites this paper as Fargione et al., 2010
In the citing paper
“Land and climate are two major resources required for additional biomass production [44,61,62].”
From Biomass and biofuels in China: Toward bioenergy resource potentials and their impacts on the environment (2018) · cites this paper as [44]
In the citing paper
“Most studies agreed that, without land use change impacts, biofuels release much less GHG emissions than their fossil fuel counterparts on a per unit energy basis [6,7,44].”
From Biomass and biofuels in China: Toward bioenergy resource potentials and their impacts on the environment (2018) · cites this paper as [44]
In the citing paper
“Further, land use or land management change may affect the overall estimation, particularly in China [10,44,69].”
From Biomass and biofuels in China: Toward bioenergy resource potentials and their impacts on the environment (2018) · cites this paper as [44]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Fargione, J. E., Plevin, R. J., & Hill, J. D.
- Affiliations
- The Nature Conservancy (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Venue
- Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 2010-12-01
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 351-377
- ISSN
- 1543-592X (ISSN-L)
- 1545-2069
- OpenAlex
- W2059032638
- Cited by
- 260
- References
- 101
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 32 · 2013: 35 · 2012: 26
- FWCI
- 3.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Bioenergy crop production and management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › General Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Bioeconomy and Sustainability Development
- Keywords
- biofuels, land use change, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, oil palm plantations, rangeland, crop yield, compensatory mitigation, ecological impacts
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