IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v57y2013icp355-362.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Beyond commonplace biofuels: Social aspects of ethanol

Author

Listed:
  • Ribeiro, Barbara Esteves

Abstract

Biofuels policies and projects may lead to environmental, economic and social impacts. A number of studies point out the need to deliver comprehensive sustainability assessments regarding biofuels, with some presenting analytical frameworks that claim to be exhaustive. However, what is often found in the literature is an overexploitation of environmental and economic concerns, by contrast to a limited appraisal of the social aspects of biofuels. Building on a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature, this paper discusses the social constraints and strengths of ethanol, with regard to the product's lifecycle stages and the actors involved. Its objective is to contribute to the development of social frameworks to be used in assessing the impact of ethanol. Main findings indicate that ethanol developments can increase the levels of social vulnerability, although there is little evidence in the literature regarding the positive and negative social impacts of 1st-generation ethanol and potential impacts of cellulosic ethanol. Further work is needed on the formulation of social criteria and indicators for a comprehensive sustainability assessment of this biofuel. Policy makers need to internalise the social dimension of ethanol in decision-making to prevent public opposition and irreversible social costs in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Ribeiro, Barbara Esteves, 2013. "Beyond commonplace biofuels: Social aspects of ethanol," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 355-362.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:57:y:2013:i:c:p:355-362
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.02.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030142151300089X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.02.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Phalan, Ben, 2009. "The social and environmental impacts of biofuels in Asia: An overview," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(Supplemen), pages 21-29, November.
    2. Malik, Urooj S. & Ahmed, Mahfuz & Sombilla, Mercedita A. & Cueno, Sarah L., 2009. "Biofuels production for smallholder producers in the Greater Mekong Sub-region," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(Supplemen), pages 58-68, November.
    3. Hussein Sosovele, 2010. "Policy Challenges Related to Biofuel Development in Tanzania," Africa Spectrum, Institute of African Affairs, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 45(1), pages 117-129.
    4. Bell, David R. & Silalertruksa, Thapat & Gheewala, Shabbir H. & Kamens, Richard, 2011. "The net cost of biofuels in Thailand--An economic analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 834-843, February.
    5. Sobrino, Fernando Hernández & Monroy, Carlos Rodríguez, 2009. "Critical analysis of the European Union directive which regulates the use of biofuels: An approach to the Spanish case," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(9), pages 2675-2681, December.
    6. Harvey, Mark & Pilgrim, Sarah, 2011. "The new competition for land: Food, energy, and climate change," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(S1), pages 40-51.
    7. David Pimentel & Alison Marklein & Megan A. Toth & Marissa Karpoff & Gillian S. Paul & Robert McCormack & Joanna Kyriazis & Tim Krueger, 2008. "Biofuel Impacts on World Food Supply: Use of Fossil Fuel, Land and Water Resources," Energies, MDPI, vol. 1(2), pages 1-38, September.
    8. Harvey, Mark & Pilgrim, Sarah, 2011. "The new competition for land: Food, energy, and climate change," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 40-51, January.
    9. Safaei Mohamadabadi, H. & Tichkowsky, G. & Kumar, A., 2009. "Development of a multi-criteria assessment model for ranking of renewable and non-renewable transportation fuel vehicles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 112-125.
    10. Janssen, Rainer & Rutz, Dominik Damian, 2011. "Sustainability of biofuels in Latin America: Risks and opportunities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 5717-5725, October.
    11. Marcos Fava Neves, 2010. "Clean energy policies for China: the case of ethanol," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 2(4), pages 472-483, November.
    12. Clovis Zapata & Paul Nieuwenhuis, 2009. "Driving on liquid sunshine – the Brazilian biofuel experience: a policy driven analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(8), pages 528-541, December.
    13. Savvanidou, Electra & Zervas, Efthimios & Tsagarakis, Konstantinos P., 2010. "Public acceptance of biofuels," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3482-3488, July.
    14. Sobrino, Fernando Hernández & Monroy, Carlos Rodríguez & Pérez, José Luís Hernández, 2010. "Critical analysis on hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels and biofuels for vehicles in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 772-780, February.
    15. Martinelli, Luiz A. & Garrett, Rachael & Ferraz, Silvio & Naylor, Rosamond, 2011. "Sugar and ethanol production as a rural development strategy in Brazil: Evidence from the state of São Paulo," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 104(5), pages 419-428, June.
    16. Timilsina, Govinda R. & Shrestha, Ashish, 2011. "How much hope should we have for biofuels?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 2055-2069.
    17. Harry de Gorter & David R. Just, 2010. "The Social Costs and Benefits of Biofuels: The Intersection of Environmental, Energy and Agricultural Policy," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 32(1), pages 4-32.
    18. J.B. (Hans) Opschoor, 2009. "Sustainability," Chapters, in: Jan Peil & Irene van Staveren (ed.), Handbook of Economics and Ethics, chapter 69, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. David Moher & Alessandro Liberati & Jennifer Tetzlaff & Douglas G Altman & The PRISMA Group, 2009. "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-6, July.
    20. Amigun, Bamikole & Musango, Josephine Kaviti & Stafford, William, 2011. "Biofuels and sustainability in Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 1360-1372, February.
    21. Naik, S.N. & Goud, Vaibhav V. & Rout, Prasant K. & Dalai, Ajay K., 2010. "Production of first and second generation biofuels: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 578-597, February.
    22. Di Lucia, Lorenzo, 2010. "External governance and the EU policy for sustainable biofuels, the case of Mozambique," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 7395-7403, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marek Helis & Maria Strzelczyk & Wojciech Golimowski & Aleksandra Steinhoff-Wrześniewska & Anna Paszkiewicz-Jasińska & Małgorzata Hawrot-Paw & Adam Koniuszy & Marek Hryniewicz, 2021. "Biomass Potential of the Marginal Land of the Polish Sudetes Mountain Range," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, November.
    2. Oliveira, Gustavo de L.T. & McKay, Ben & Plank, Christina, 2017. "How biofuel policies backfire: Misguided goals, inefficient mechanisms, and political-ecological blind spots," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 765-775.
    3. Shortall, O.K., 2013. "“Marginal land” for energy crops: Exploring definitions and embedded assumptions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 19-27.
    4. Andreia Marques Postal & Gabriela Benatti & Mar Palmeros Parada & Lotte Asveld & Patrícia Osseweijer & José Maria F. J. Da Silveira, 2020. "The Role of Participation in the Responsible Innovation Framework for Biofuels Projects: Can It Be Assessed?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-18, December.
    5. Ribeiro, Barbara E. & Quintanilla, Miguel A., 2015. "Transitions in biofuel technologies: An appraisal of the social impacts of cellulosic ethanol using the Delphi method," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 53-68.
    6. Gilio, Leandro & Azanha Ferraz Dias de Moraes, Márcia, 2016. "Sugarcane industry's socioeconomic impact in São Paulo, Brazil: A spatial dynamic panel approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 27-37.
    7. Gamborg, Christian & Anker, Helle Tegner & Sandøe, Peter, 2014. "Ethical and legal challenges in bioenergy governance: Coping with value disagreement and regulatory complexity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 326-333.
    8. Goetz, Ariane & Searchinger, Tim & Beringer, Tim & German, Laura & McKay, Ben & Oliveira, Gustavo de L.T. & Hunsberger, Carol, 2018. "Reply to commentary on the special issue Scaling up biofuels? A critical look at expectations, performance and governance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 658-665.
    9. Fedorova, Elena & Pongrácz, Eva, 2019. "Cumulative social effect assessment framework to evaluate the accumulation of social sustainability benefits of regional bioenergy value chains," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 1073-1088.
    10. Jambo, Siti Azmah & Abdulla, Rahmath & Mohd Azhar, Siti Hajar & Marbawi, Hartinie & Gansau, Jualang Azlan & Ravindra, Pogaku, 2016. "A review on third generation bioethanol feedstock," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 756-769.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Iriarte, Alfredo & Rieradevall, Joan & Gabarrell, Xavier, 2012. "Transition towards a more environmentally sustainable biodiesel in South America: The case of Chile," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 263-273.
    2. Demirbas, M. Fatih, 2011. "Biofuels from algae for sustainable development," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(10), pages 3473-3480.
    3. Ziolkowska, Jadwiga R., 2014. "Optimizing biofuels production in an uncertain decision environment: Conventional vs. advanced technologies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 366-376.
    4. Puri, Munish & Abraham, Reinu E. & Barrow, Colin J., 2012. "Biofuel production: Prospects, challenges and feedstock in Australia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(8), pages 6022-6031.
    5. Mercure, J.-F. & Paim, M.A. & Bocquillon, P. & Lindner, S. & Salas, P. & Martinelli, P. & Berchin, I.I. & de Andrade Guerra, J.B.S.O & Derani, C. & de Albuquerque Junior, C.L. & Ribeiro, J.M.P. & Knob, 2019. "System complexity and policy integration challenges: The Brazilian Energy- Water-Food Nexus," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 230-243.
    6. Acheampong, Michael & Ertem, Funda Cansu & Kappler, Benjamin & Neubauer, Peter, 2017. "In pursuit of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 7: Will biofuels be reliable?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 927-937.
    7. Ozgul Calicioglu & Alessandro Flammini & Stefania Bracco & Lorenzo Bellù & Ralph Sims, 2019. "The Future Challenges of Food and Agriculture: An Integrated Analysis of Trends and Solutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-21, January.
    8. Ciliberti, Carlo & Jordaan, Sarah M. & Smith, Stephen V. & Spatari, Sabrina, 2016. "A life cycle perspective on land use and project economics of electricity from wind and anaerobic digestion," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 52-63.
    9. Cao, Yan & Doustgani, Amir & Salehi, Abozar & Nemati, Mohammad & Ghasemi, Amir & Koohshekan, Omid, 2020. "The economic evaluation of establishing a plant for producing biodiesel from edible oil wastes in oil-rich countries: Case study Iran," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    10. Vladimir Heredia & Olivier Gonçalves & Luc Marchal & Jeremy Pruvost, 2021. "Producing Energy-Rich Microalgae Biomass for Liquid Biofuels: Influence of Strain Selection and Culture Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-15, February.
    11. Emmann, Carsten H. & Schaper, Christian & Theuvsen, Ludwig, 2011. "Der Markt für Bioenergie 2012," Journal of International Agricultural Trade and Development, Journal of International Agricultural Trade and Development, vol. 61.
    12. Zhang, Yong & Yu, Yifeng & Zou, Bai, 2011. "Analyzing public awareness and acceptance of alternative fuel vehicles in China: The case of EV," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7015-7024.
    13. Thaler, S. & Zessner, M. & Weigl, M. & Rechberger, H. & Schilling, K. & Kroiss, H., 2015. "Possible implications of dietary changes on nutrient fluxes, environment and land use in Austria," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 14-29.
    14. Charlotte Stead & Zia Wadud & Chris Nash & Hu Li, 2019. "Introduction of Biodiesel to Rail Transport: Lessons from the Road Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, February.
    15. Ribeiro, Barbara E. & Quintanilla, Miguel A., 2015. "Transitions in biofuel technologies: An appraisal of the social impacts of cellulosic ethanol using the Delphi method," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 53-68.
    16. Dessi, F. & Ariccio, S. & Albers, T. & Alves, S. & Ludovico, N. & Bonaiuto, M., 2022. "Sustainable technology acceptability: Mapping technological, contextual, and social-psychological determinants of EU stakeholders’ biofuel acceptance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    17. Tiffany L. Fess & James B. Kotcon & Vagner A. Benedito, 2011. "Crop Breeding for Low Input Agriculture: A Sustainable Response to Feed a Growing World Population," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 3(10), pages 1-31, October.
    18. Bose, Arnab & Ramji, Aditya & Singh, Jarnail & Dholakia, Dhairya, 2012. "A case study for sustainable development action using financial gradients," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(S1), pages 79-86.
    19. Till Hermanns & Katharina Helming & Katharina Schmidt & Hannes Jochen König & Heiko Faust, 2015. "Stakeholder Strategies for Sustainability Impact Assessment of Land Use Scenarios: Analytical Framework and Identifying Land Use Claims," Land, MDPI, vol. 4(3), pages 1-29, September.
    20. Luís Carmo-Calado & Manuel Jesús Hermoso-Orzáez & Roberta Mota-Panizio & Bruno Guilherme-Garcia & Paulo Brito, 2020. "Co-Combustion of Waste Tires and Plastic-Rubber Wastes with Biomass Technical and Environmental Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:57:y:2013:i:c:p:355-362. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.