Cutting through the biofuel confusion : A conceptual framework to check the feasibility, viability and desirability of biofuels
Ripa, Maddalena (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Cadillo Benalcazar, Juan José (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Giampietro, Mario (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)

Date:	2021
Abstract:	Biofuels represent a complex issue in the sustainability discourse as they require the simultaneous consideration of different dimensions and scales of analysis. This situation explains the co-existence of contrasting 'scientific evidence' about their performance. This paper presents a novel conceptual framework that integrates four key aspects of the performance of biofuels: (1) the social factors determining the desirability of biofuel use on the demand side - why do we want to produce biofuels?; (2) the internal technical and economic constraints affecting the viability of their mode of production on the supply side - how can we produce biofuels?; (3) the external biophysical constraints limiting the feasibility of their production - what are the material limits imposed by the availability of natural resources?; (4) the level of openness of the biofuel system referring to the imports used to overcome local limits - the level of externalization of the requirement of natural resources and technical production factors reducing energy security. The proposed framework generates a biophysical characterization of the supply function of a biofuel system (which inputs are needed to generate the supply) contextualized against a biophysical characterization of the societal demand (what inputs the society is ready to invest in the energy system in order to obtain the supply).
Grants:	European Commission 689669 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-230 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación CEX2019-000940-M
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Biofuels ; Conceptual framework ; Energy system ; Grammar ; Relational analysis ; Taxonomy
Published in:	Energy Strategy Reviews, Vol. 35 (May 2021) , art. 100642, ISSN 2211-467X

DOI: 10.1016/j.esr.2021.100642

13 p, 4.0 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles