224
Overall, this chapter concludes that large-scale increases in production are probably not realistic without large-scale diversion of land from other uses such as food
production and without further pressure on the environment and other resources
necessary for production, particularly water. To put it in more concrete terms, the
current level of production of biofuels is generally modest, generally accounting for
less than 5% of transport fuel in Asian biofuel-producing countries. Already at this
level, the sustainability of biofuels has been questioned, although in some areas
outside the region, such as the USA and Brazil, the share of transport fuel accounted
for by biofuels is higher. While it could be conceivable to expand current levels to
some extent, it seems clear that it is very difficult to expect biofuels to replace a
large share of transport fuel such as 50% or even 30% or 20%.
Encouragement of smaller-scale production tailored to local conditions as a way
to promote rural development and poverty reduction or as a way to address waste
management issues may be more realistic. However, without large economies
of scale of production, it will be difficult to reduce costs. In addition, there are various other challenges to the promotion of small-scale biofuels such as capacity of
farmers; availability and cost of land, water, labor, and other inputs; and availability
of markets for final outputs. If the main goal is to increase rural employment rather
than energy security or GHG emissions reduction, then there may be other ways to
accomplish this rather than through biofuels.
Sustainability standards and certification systems are one possible way to encourage the development of biofuels in a positive direction. However, while they may
enable sustainable incremental production, they cannot create new land for biofuels;
moreover, if they are to be effective, they should restrain the availability of new land
by preventing excessive land use change from forests or food crops. The main
efforts to implement sustainability standards have been taking place in Europe,
where they will be required as part of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), and
they will apply to biofuel imports (Spiegel 2011). At the time of writing, there was
no comparable initiative in East Asia, although a global voluntary initiative, the
Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB), has been developed with the participation of stakeholders from Asia and elsewhere, which could serve as the basis for an
initiative in the region, and producers in the region could adopt the standards voluntarily. The RSB standard is still in the early stages of implementation, so it remains
to be seen how effective it will be.
The rest of this chapter is organized as follows. First, the global feedstock
requirements for biofuel production are examined. Second, the potential to expand
biofuel production in East Asia is considered. Third, the limitations of secondgeneration biofuels are discussed. The fourth section explores the potential for trade
to expand biofuel use in the Asian region. The fifth section considers the potential
of sustainability standards, and the sixth section concludes.
M. Elder and S. Hayashi
Overall, this chapter concludes that large-scale increases in production are probably not realistic without large-scale diversion of land from other uses such as food
production and without further pressure on the environment and other resources
necessary for production, particularly water. To put it in more concrete terms, the
current level of production of biofuels is generally modest, generally accounting for
less than 5% of transport fuel in Asian biofuel-producing countries. Already at this
level, the sustainability of biofuels has been questioned, although in some areas
outside the region, such as the USA and Brazil, the share of transport fuel accounted
for by biofuels is higher. While it could be conceivable to expand current levels to
some extent, it seems clear that it is very difficult to expect biofuels to replace a
large share of transport fuel such as 50% or even 30% or 20%.
Encouragement of smaller-scale production tailored to local conditions as a way
to promote rural development and poverty reduction or as a way to address waste
management issues may be more realistic. However, without large economies
of scale of production, it will be difficult to reduce costs. In addition, there are various other challenges to the promotion of small-scale biofuels such as capacity of
farmers; availability and cost of land, water, labor, and other inputs; and availability
of markets for final outputs. If the main goal is to increase rural employment rather
than energy security or GHG emissions reduction, then there may be other ways to
accomplish this rather than through biofuels.
Sustainability standards and certification systems are one possible way to encourage the development of biofuels in a positive direction. However, while they may
enable sustainable incremental production, they cannot create new land for biofuels;
moreover, if they are to be effective, they should restrain the availability of new land
by preventing excessive land use change from forests or food crops. The main
efforts to implement sustainability standards have been taking place in Europe,
where they will be required as part of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), and
they will apply to biofuel imports (Spiegel 2011). At the time of writing, there was
no comparable initiative in East Asia, although a global voluntary initiative, the
Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB), has been developed with the participation of stakeholders from Asia and elsewhere, which could serve as the basis for an
initiative in the region, and producers in the region could adopt the standards voluntarily. The RSB standard is still in the early stages of implementation, so it remains
to be seen how effective it will be.
The rest of this chapter is organized as follows. First, the global feedstock
requirements for biofuel production are examined. Second, the potential to expand
biofuel production in East Asia is considered. Third, the limitations of secondgeneration biofuels are discussed. The fourth section explores the potential for trade
to expand biofuel use in the Asian region. The fifth section considers the potential
of sustainability standards, and the sixth section concludes.
M. Elder and S. Hayashi