Sustainability of Biofuels Workshop. State of the Science and Future Directions, October 28-29, 2008

摘要

Legislative mandates and incentives, volatility in oil prices, and new research and technological advances are driving the expectation of major increases in the production of biofuels from cellulosic biomass. To assess the current state of the science underlying the sustainability of an emergent cellulosic biofuel sector and to identify further research needs, the U.S. Department of Agricultures Research, Education, and Economics mission area and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science cosponsored a workshop on October 2829, 2008. Although the term sustainability has been defined in many ways, common to these definitions is the theme of meeting the needs of present and future generations. Sustainable biofuel production is economically competitive, conserves the natural resource base, and ensures social well-being. This report summarizes critical research areas and knowledge gaps relevant to the environmental, economic, and social dimensions of biofuel sustainability. It also underscores the critical need for a common socioecological framework to develop a systems-level understanding for how these dimensions interact across different spatial scalesfrom the small plot or farm to regional to very large scales such as political, national, and global scales.