PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency

Serious indirect effects of some biofuels on global biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions

Newsitem | 31-05-2010
Photo of sugar cane field with rainforest in background, and rainbow in dark blue wet sky

Many biofuels that are presently sold on the European transport market need agricultural land for their production. Effects from indirect land-use change (ILUC) have a negative impact, not only on greenhouse gases as has been reported earlier, but also on global biodiversity. The overall emission reductions for biofuels based on energy crops can be low or even negative. These are some of the conclusions from a series of brief reports published by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) on the issue of indirect effects of bio-energy.

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