IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v161y2022ics1364032122003173.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Land use for bioenergy: Synergies and trade-offs between sustainable development goals

Author

Listed:
  • Vera, Ivan
  • Wicke, Birka
  • Lamers, Patrick
  • Cowie, Annette
  • Repo, Anna
  • Heukels, Bas
  • Zumpf, Colleen
  • Styles, David
  • Parish, Esther
  • Cherubini, Francesco
  • Berndes, Göran
  • Jager, Henriette
  • Schiesari, Luis
  • Junginger, Martin
  • Brandão, Miguel
  • Bentsen, Niclas Scott
  • Daioglou, Vassilis
  • Harris, Zoe
  • van der Hilst, Floor

Abstract

Bioenergy aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contribute to meeting global climate change mitigation targets. Nevertheless, several sustainability concerns are associated with bioenergy, especially related to the impacts of using land for dedicated energy crop production. Cultivating energy crops can result in synergies or trade-offs between GHG emission reductions and other sustainability effects depending on context-specific conditions. Using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework, the main synergies and trade-offs associated with land use for dedicated energy crop production were identified. Furthermore, the context-specific conditions (i.e., biomass feedstock, previous land use, climate, soil type and agricultural management) which affect those synergies and trade-offs were also identified. The most recent literature was reviewed and a pairwise comparison between GHG emission reduction (SDG 13) and other SDGs was carried out. A total of 427 observations were classified as either synergy (170), trade-off (176), or no effect (81). Most synergies with environmentally-related SDGs, such as water quality and biodiversity conservation, were observed when perennial crops were produced on arable land, pasture or marginal land in the ‘cool temperate moist’ climate zone and ‘high activity clay’ soils. Most trade-offs were related to food security and water availability. Previous land use and feedstock type are more impactful in determining synergies and trade-offs than climatic zone and soil type. This study highlights the importance of considering context-specific conditions in evaluating synergies and trade-offs and their relevance for developing appropriate policies and practices to meet worldwide demand for bioenergy in a sustainable manner.

Suggested Citation

  • Vera, Ivan & Wicke, Birka & Lamers, Patrick & Cowie, Annette & Repo, Anna & Heukels, Bas & Zumpf, Colleen & Styles, David & Parish, Esther & Cherubini, Francesco & Berndes, Göran & Jager, Henriette & , 2022. "Land use for bioenergy: Synergies and trade-offs between sustainable development goals," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:161:y:2022:i:c:s1364032122003173
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2022.112409
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032122003173
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112409?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. Jan Sandstad Næss & Otavio Cavalett & Francesco Cherubini, 2021. "The land–energy–water nexus of global bioenergy potentials from abandoned cropland," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 4(6), pages 525-536, June.
    2. Katherine Calvin & Marshall Wise & Page Kyle & Pralit Patel & Leon Clarke & Jae Edmonds, 2014. "Trade-offs of different land and bioenergy policies on the path to achieving climate targets," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 691-704, April.
    3. Floor van der Hilst, 2018. "Location, location, location," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(3), pages 164-165, March.
    4. Anna B. Harper & Tom Powell & Peter M. Cox & Joanna House & Chris Huntingford & Timothy M. Lenton & Stephen Sitch & Eleanor Burke & Sarah E. Chadburn & William J. Collins & Edward Comyn-Platt & Vassil, 2018. "Land-use emissions play a critical role in land-based mitigation for Paris climate targets," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Stephanie Roe & Charlotte Streck & Michael Obersteiner & Stefan Frank & Bronson Griscom & Laurent Drouet & Oliver Fricko & Mykola Gusti & Nancy Harris & Tomoko Hasegawa & Zeke Hausfather & Petr Havlík, 2019. "Contribution of the land sector to a 1.5 °C world," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 9(11), pages 817-828, November.
    6. Erb, Karl-Heinz & Haberl, Helmut & Plutzar, Christoph, 2012. "Dependency of global primary bioenergy crop potentials in 2050 on food systems, yields, biodiversity conservation and political stability," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 260-269.
    7. Xiaoming Feng & Bojie Fu & Shilong Piao & Shuai Wang & Philippe Ciais & Zhenzhong Zeng & Yihe Lü & Yuan Zeng & Yue Li & Xiaohui Jiang & Bingfang Wu, 2016. "Revegetation in China’s Loess Plateau is approaching sustainable water resource limits," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 6(11), pages 1019-1022, November.
    8. De Meyer, Annelies & Cattrysse, Dirk & Rasinmäki, Jussi & Van Orshoven, Jos, 2014. "Methods to optimise the design and management of biomass-for-bioenergy supply chains: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 657-670.
    9. Armando J. G. Pires & José Pedro Pontes, 2018. "Deindustrialization in the light of classical location theory," Working Papers REM 2018/25, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    10. ., 2018. "Comparing locational policies in Secondary Capital Cities," Chapters, in: Varieties of Capital Cities, chapter 8, pages 160-186, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Löw, Fabian & Prishchepov, Alexander V. & Waldner, François & Dubovyk, Olena & Akramkhanov, Akmal & Biradar, Chandrashekhar & Lamers, John P., 2018. "Mapping cropland abandonment in the Aral Sea Basin with MODIS time series," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(2), pages 1-24.
    12. Amarachi Kalu & Janja Vrzel & Sebastian Kolb & Juergen Karl & Philip Marzahn & Fabian Pfaffenberger & Ralf Ludwig, 2021. "Considering the Environmental Impacts of Bioenergy Technologies to Support German Energy Transition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-19, March.
    13. Maurício Roberto Cherubin & João Luís Nunes Carvalho & Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino Cerri & Luiz Augusto Horta Nogueira & Glaucia Mendes Souza & Heitor Cantarella, 2021. "Land Use and Management Effects on Sustainable Sugarcane-Derived Bioenergy," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-24, January.
    14. Jule Schulze & Karin Frank & Joerg A Priess & Markus A Meyer, 2016. "Assessing Regional-Scale Impacts of Short Rotation Coppices on Ecosystem Services by Modeling Land-Use Decisions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-21, April.
    15. Alcantara, Camilo & Kuemmerle, Tobias & Baumann, Matthias & Bragina, Eugenia V & Griffiths, Patrick & Hostert, Patrick & Knorn, Jan & Müller, Daniel & Prishchepov, Alexander V & Schierhorn, Florian & , 2013. "Mapping the extent of abandoned farmland in Central and Eastern Europe using MODIS time series satellite data," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 8(3), pages 1-9.
    16. Bernardo B. N. Strassburg & Alvaro Iribarrem & Hawthorne L. Beyer & Carlos Leandro Cordeiro & Renato Crouzeilles & Catarina C. Jakovac & André Braga Junqueira & Eduardo Lacerda & Agnieszka E. Latawiec, 2020. "Global priority areas for ecosystem restoration," Nature, Nature, vol. 586(7831), pages 724-729, October.
    17. Martina Lawless & Daire McCoy & Edgar L. W. Morgenroth & Conor M. O”Toole, 2018. "Corporate tax and location choice for multinational firms," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(26), pages 2920-2931, June.
    18. Vera Heck & Dieter Gerten & Wolfgang Lucht & Alexander Popp, 2018. "Author Correction: Biomass-based negative emissions difficult to reconcile with planetary boundaries," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(4), pages 345-345, April.
    19. Ballarin, A. & Vecchiato, D. & Tempesta, T. & Marangon, F. & Troiano, S., 2011. "Biomass energy production in agriculture: A weighted goal programming analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1123-1131, March.
    20. Leirpoll, Malene Eldegard & Næss, Jan Sandstad & Cavalett, Otavio & Dorber, Martin & Hu, Xiangping & Cherubini, Francesco, 2021. "Optimal combination of bioenergy and solar photovoltaic for renewable energy production on abandoned cropland," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 45-56.
    21. Vera Heck & Dieter Gerten & Wolfgang Lucht & Alexander Popp, 2018. "Biomass-based negative emissions difficult to reconcile with planetary boundaries," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(2), pages 151-155, February.
    22. Pulighe, Giuseppe & Bonati, Guido & Colangeli, Marco & Morese, Maria Michela & Traverso, Lorenzo & Lupia, Flavio & Khawaja, Cosette & Janssen, Rainer & Fava, Francesco, 2019. "Ongoing and emerging issues for sustainable bioenergy production on marginal lands in the Mediterranean regions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 58-70.
    23. Carl-Friedrich Schleussner & Joeri Rogelj & Michiel Schaeffer & Tabea Lissner & Rachel Licker & Erich M. Fischer & Reto Knutti & Anders Levermann & Katja Frieler & William Hare, 2016. "Science and policy characteristics of the Paris Agreement temperature goal," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 6(9), pages 827-835, September.
    24. Leibensperger, Carrie & Yang, Pan & Zhao, Qiankun & Wei, Shuran & Cai, Ximing, 2021. "The synergy between stakeholders for cellulosic biofuel development: Perspectives, opportunities, and barriers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    25. Francesco Fuso Nerini & Julia Tomei & Long Seng To & Iwona Bisaga & Priti Parikh & Mairi Black & Aiduan Borrion & Catalina Spataru & Vanesa Castán Broto & Gabrial Anandarajah & Ben Milligan & Yacob Mu, 2018. "Mapping synergies and trade-offs between energy and the Sustainable Development Goals," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(1), pages 10-15, January.
    26. William HL Stafford & Graham P Von Maltitz & Helen K Watson, 2018. "Reducing the costs of landscape restoration by using invasive alien plant biomass for bioenergy," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(1), January.
    27. A. Mosnier & P. Havlík & M. Obersteiner & K. Aoki & E. Schmid & S. Fritz & I. McCallum & S. Leduc, 2014. "Modeling Impact of Development Trajectories and a Global Agreement on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation on Congo Basin Forests by 2030," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 57(4), pages 505-525, April.
    28. Hanes, Rebecca J. & Gopalakrishnan, Varsha & Bakshi, Bhavik R., 2017. "Synergies and trade-offs in renewable energy landscapes: Balancing energy production with economics and ecosystem services," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 25-44.
    29. Ivan Vera & Birka Wicke & Floor van der Hilst, 2020. "Spatial Variation in Environmental Impacts of Sugarcane Expansion in Brazil," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-20, October.
    30. Moritz Von Cossel & Iris Lewandowski & Berien Elbersen & Igor Staritsky & Michiel Van Eupen & Yasir Iqbal & Stefan Mantel & Danilo Scordia & Giorgio Testa & Salvatore Luciano Cosentino & Oksana Maliar, 2019. "Marginal Agricultural Land Low-Input Systems for Biomass Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-25, August.
    31. van der Hilst, F. & Lesschen, J.P. & van Dam, J.M.C. & Riksen, M. & Verweij, P.A. & Sanders, J.P.M. & Faaij, A.P.C., 2012. "Spatial variation of environmental impacts of regional biomass chains," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 2053-2069.
    32. M. Jean Blair & Bruno Gagnon & Andrew Klain & Biljana Kulišić, 2021. "Contribution of Biomass Supply Chains for Bioenergy to Sustainable Development Goals," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-28, February.
    33. García, Carlos A. & Riegelhaupt, Enrique & Ghilardi, Adrián & Skutsch, Margaret & Islas, Jorge & Manzini, Fabio & Masera, Omar, 2015. "Sustainable bioenergy options for Mexico: GHG mitigation and costs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 545-552.
    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. André P. C. Faaij, 2022. "Repairing What Policy Is Missing Out on: A Constructive View on Prospects and Preconditions for Sustainable Biobased Economy Options to Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Change," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-25, August.
    2. Pulighe, Giuseppe & Pirelli, Tiziana, 2023. "Assessing the sustainability of bioenergy pathways through a land-water-energy nexus approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    3. Králík, T. & Knápek, J. & Vávrová, K. & Outrata, D. & Romportl, D. & Horák, M. & Jandera, J., 2023. "Ecosystem services and economic competitiveness of perennial energy crops in the modelling of biomass potential – A case study of the Czech Republic," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).

    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. Yan, Pu & Xiao, Chunwang & Xu, Li & Yu, Guirui & Li, Ang & Piao, Shilong & He, Nianpeng, 2020. "Biomass energy in China's terrestrial ecosystems: Insights into the nation's sustainable energy supply," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    2. Xin Zhao & Bryan K. Mignone & Marshall A. Wise & Haewon C. McJeon, 2024. "Trade-offs in land-based carbon removal measures under 1.5 °C and 2 °C futures," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Aljoša Slameršak & Giorgos Kallis & Daniel W. O’Neill, 2022. "Energy requirements and carbon emissions for a low-carbon energy transition," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Xu Deng & Fei Teng & Minpeng Chen & Zhangliu Du & Bin Wang & Renqiang Li & Pan Wang, 2024. "Exploring negative emission potential of biochar to achieve carbon neutrality goal in China," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    5. Zhao Li & Philippe Ciais & Jonathon S. Wright & Yong Wang & Shu Liu & Jingmeng Wang & Laurent Z. X. Li & Hui Lu & Xiaomeng Huang & Lei Zhu & Daniel S. Goll & Wei Li, 2023. "Increased precipitation over land due to climate feedback of large-scale bioenergy cultivation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    6. Selene Cobo & Ángel Galán-Martín & Victor Tulus & Mark A. J. Huijbregts & Gonzalo Guillén-Gosálbez, 2022. "Human and planetary health implications of negative emissions technologies," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    7. Mauricio Marrone & Martina K Linnenluecke, 2020. "Interdisciplinary Research Maps: A new technique for visualizing research topics," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-16, November.
    8. Kate Dooley & Ellycia Harrould‐Kolieb & Anita Talberg, 2021. "Carbon‐dioxide Removal and Biodiversity: A Threat Identification Framework," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S1), pages 34-44, April.
    9. Dumas, Patrice & Wirsenius, Stefan & Searchinger, Tim & Andrieu, Nadine & Vogt-Schilb, Adrien, 2022. "Options to achieve net-zero emissions from agriculture and land use changes in Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12385, Inter-American Development Bank.
    10. Andrea, Veronika, 2022. "Mediterranean forest policy beyond the Paris Climate Agreement," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    11. Negri, Valentina & Galán-Martín, Ángel & Pozo, Carlos & Fajardy, Mathilde & Reiner, David M. & Mac Dowell, Niall & Guillén-Gosálbez, Gonzalo, 2021. "Life cycle optimization of BECCS supply chains in the European Union," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    12. Qing Wang & Hanbing Xiong & Tingzhen Ming, 2022. "Methods of Large-Scale Capture and Removal of Atmospheric Greenhouse Gases," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-5, September.
    13. Galán-Martín, Ángel & Contreras, María del Mar & Romero, Inmaculada & Ruiz, Encarnación & Bueno-Rodríguez, Salvador & Eliche-Quesada, Dolores & Castro-Galiano, Eulogio, 2022. "The potential role of olive groves to deliver carbon dioxide removal in a carbon-neutral Europe: Opportunities and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    14. Matamala, Yolanda & Flores, Francisco & Arriet, Andrea & Khan, Zarrar & Feijoo, Felipe, 2023. "Probabilistic feasibility assessment of sequestration reliance for climate targets," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    15. Robert J. Brecha & Gaurav Ganti & Robin D. Lamboll & Zebedee Nicholls & Bill Hare & Jared Lewis & Malte Meinshausen & Michiel Schaeffer & Christopher J. Smith & Matthew J. Gidden, 2022. "Institutional decarbonization scenarios evaluated against the Paris Agreement 1.5 °C goal," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    16. Günther, Philipp & Ekardt, Felix, 2022. "Human Rights and Large-Scale Carbon Dioxide Removal: Potential Limits to BECCS and DACCS Deployment," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 11(12), pages 1-29.
    17. Jingmeng Wang & Wei Li & Philippe Ciais & Laurent Z. X. Li & Jinfeng Chang & Daniel Goll & Thomas Gasser & Xiaomeng Huang & Narayanappa Devaraju & Olivier Boucher, 2021. "Global cooling induced by biophysical effects of bioenergy crop cultivation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    18. Weng, Yuwei & Cai, Wenjia & Wang, Can, 2021. "Evaluating the use of BECCS and afforestation under China’s carbon-neutral target for 2060," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    19. Viccaro, Mauro & Caniani, Donatella & Masi, Salvatore & Romano, Severino & Cozzi, Mario, 2022. "Biofuels or not biofuels? The “Nexus Thinking” in land suitability analysis for energy crops," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 1050-1064.
    20. Jérôme Hilaire & Jan C. Minx & Max W. Callaghan & Jae Edmonds & Gunnar Luderer & Gregory F. Nemet & Joeri Rogelj & Maria Mar Zamora, 2019. "Negative emissions and international climate goals—learning from and about mitigation scenarios," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 157(2), pages 189-219, November.

    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:rensus:v:161:y:2022:i:c:s1364032122003173. 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/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    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.