Chapter 2
The Contested Sustainability of Biofuels
in a North-South Context
Abstract Biofuels have provided the earliest large-scale experience of bioeconomy
deployment on the globe. Biofuel controversies, therefore, represent early bioeconomy contestations. Besides providing a state-of-the-art overview of biofuel technologies and production pathways, this chapter reviews various ecological and social
issues related to bioeconomy promotion. It shows that, despite replacing fossil fuels
or other fossil-based products, the sector’s environmental sustainability is far from
straightforward. From ecological issues (e.g., climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, freshwater consumption) to socio-economic ones, such as the food
vs. fuel debate, the chapter reviews the potentials for rural development promotion
through the bioeconomy and examines it also in terms of North-South equity. It characterizes strategies that help bridge the North-South gap and contrasts them with bioeconomy approaches that fail to address that gap—or which widen it (neocolonialist
approaches). While advancing the concept of equalizing development to qualify
strategies that help close that global gap, this overview expounds on the breadth of
sustainability issues linked to biofuels and the bioeconomy. That is an essential step
towards a critical understanding of what is at stake and of the multiple contestations
in this policy area.
Keywords Bioeconomy · Equity · North-South · Environment · Equalizing
development · Agriculture
2.1 Early Bioeconomy Contestations
The bioeconomy might dominantly present a good face in most settings, yet in practice this has not always been the case. The widespread promotion of biomass-based
energy since the early 2000s has shown that, in reality, the bioeconomy is highly
contested. Its real sustainability has received much scrutiny, particularly seen in liquid
biofuels—the most prominent form of bioeconomy to date. Although biofuels have
been promoted mainly under a climate change mitigation discourse (see Chap. 1),
the issues and controversies they have raised go far beyond the climate debate.
Besides other environmental issues, biofuel promotion has also raised critical socioeconomic debates, including North-South equity and how such novel sectors may
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. G. Bastos Lima, The Politics of Bioeconomy and Sustainability,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66838-9_2
23
The Contested Sustainability of Biofuels
in a North-South Context
Abstract Biofuels have provided the earliest large-scale experience of bioeconomy
deployment on the globe. Biofuel controversies, therefore, represent early bioeconomy contestations. Besides providing a state-of-the-art overview of biofuel technologies and production pathways, this chapter reviews various ecological and social
issues related to bioeconomy promotion. It shows that, despite replacing fossil fuels
or other fossil-based products, the sector’s environmental sustainability is far from
straightforward. From ecological issues (e.g., climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, freshwater consumption) to socio-economic ones, such as the food
vs. fuel debate, the chapter reviews the potentials for rural development promotion
through the bioeconomy and examines it also in terms of North-South equity. It characterizes strategies that help bridge the North-South gap and contrasts them with bioeconomy approaches that fail to address that gap—or which widen it (neocolonialist
approaches). While advancing the concept of equalizing development to qualify
strategies that help close that global gap, this overview expounds on the breadth of
sustainability issues linked to biofuels and the bioeconomy. That is an essential step
towards a critical understanding of what is at stake and of the multiple contestations
in this policy area.
Keywords Bioeconomy · Equity · North-South · Environment · Equalizing
development · Agriculture
2.1 Early Bioeconomy Contestations
The bioeconomy might dominantly present a good face in most settings, yet in practice this has not always been the case. The widespread promotion of biomass-based
energy since the early 2000s has shown that, in reality, the bioeconomy is highly
contested. Its real sustainability has received much scrutiny, particularly seen in liquid
biofuels—the most prominent form of bioeconomy to date. Although biofuels have
been promoted mainly under a climate change mitigation discourse (see Chap. 1),
the issues and controversies they have raised go far beyond the climate debate.
Besides other environmental issues, biofuel promotion has also raised critical socioeconomic debates, including North-South equity and how such novel sectors may
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. G. Bastos Lima, The Politics of Bioeconomy and Sustainability,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66838-9_2
23