The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
Biofuels are an essential renewable energy resource, with 40% (90 exajoules) of renewable energy resources projected to come from biofuel sources by 2050. In order to meet these projected energetic demands, biofuel production must be increased from the current annual biofuel yield of 50 exajoules. Sustainable intensification of pastureland, or …
In sub-Saharan Africa, biofuels have been touted as more sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels, wood and charcoal – but do they help alleviate poverty and improve well-being for farmers and end-users? This brief summarises insights from a three-country study in which an ecosystem services approach was to assess the trade-offs …
The increasing awareness of the many damaging aspects of climate change has prompted research into ways of reducing and reversing the anthropogenic increase in carbon concentrations in the atmosphere. Most emission scenarios stabilizing climate at low levels, such as the 1.5 °C target as outlined by the Paris Agreement, require …
This briefing paper reviews evidence on the environmental risks of growing lignocellulosic energy crops for biofuel production. The sustainability of energy crops such as Miscanthus, switchgrass, and short rotation poplar is a growing concern as the European Union (EU) considers ambitious targets for advanced biofuels.
The introduction of the first generation of biofuels made from food crops has been controversial largely due to concerns over competition for land with food crops, thus raising global crop prices and generating induced land-use change (ILUC). For many food-based fuels, ILUC emissions could undermine the climate benefits of biofuels …
Most climate change mitigation scenarios that are consistent with the 1.5–2 °C target rely on a large-scale contribution from biomass, including advanced (second-generation) biofuels. However, land-based biofuel production has been associated with substantial land-use change emissions. Previous studies show a wide range of emission factors, often hiding the influence of …
This report considers the potential availability of land and crops for biofuel expansion in Southern Africa. It is based on a regional-level review of data and is designed to highlight regional-level opportunities and constraints. It does not attempt to concentrate on specific national-level issues (which are covered in more detail …
Increasing demand for sustainable energy has led to research and development on the cultivation of diverse plant species for biomass production. To support the research and development required to domesticate and cultivate crops for bioenergy, we developed the Biofuel Ecophysiological Traits and Yields database (BETYdb). BETYdb is a centralized open-access …
Several modelling studies have highlighted the risk that biofuel production on agricultural land can displace existing food and animal feed production. This could indirectly lead to the conversion of forests and other natural land into new cropland to compensate for the displaced production. This indirect land use change effect is …
Sorghum vegetative tissues are becoming increasingly important for biofuel production. The composition of sorghum stem tissues is influenced by genotype, environment and photoperiod sensitivity, and varies widely between varieties and also between different stem tissues (outer rind vs inner pith). Original Source
Dedicated biomass crops are required for future bioenergy production. However, the effects of large-scale land use change (LUC) from traditional annual crops, such as corn-soybean rotations to the perennial grasses (PGs) switchgrass and miscanthus on soil microbial community functioning is largely unknown. Specifically, ecologically significant denitrifying communities, which regulate N2O …
Substantial potential exists to expand both food and fuel supply in a sustainable fashion. Sustainable biofuel pathways examined in this report include: boosting yields of food crops and associated residues on existing farmland; freeing up existing farmland for biofuel crops through further yield improvements; reducing losses and waste in the …
Describes case studies of energy cropping in Europe in the context of advanced biofuel and bioproducts sustainability. European biofuel policy has been dominated by discussions about the indirect effects of biofuel consumption, and in particular indirect land use change and impacts on food prices and security. One widely considered option …
Further progress in understanding and mitigating N2O emissions from soil lies within transdisciplinary research that reaches across spatial scales and takes an ambitious look into the future. Original Source
Water use by plant communities across years of varying water availability indicates how terrestrial water balances will respond to climate change and variability as well as to land cover change. Perennial biofuel crops, likely grown mainly on marginal lands of limited water availability, provide an example of a potentially extensive …
Biofuels are acquiring importance due to their potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The two most important biofuels – viz., bioethanol and bio-diesel, are largely considered supplementary to the transport fuels. India has extensive programs and aims to blend 20 percent of transport fuels with biofuels by 2017. This paper …
In Brazil, which is the world’s biggest sugarcane producer, the federal government realized this scenario offered a great opportunity for transforming the country into the world’s biggest ethanol producer and exporter. However several facts relating to global and national aspects reversed the tendency towards increase of domestic consumption and ethanol …
A detailed but accessible overview of the concept of indirect land use change and the way that ILUC emissions are estimated. Identifies factors that determine the size of ILUC effects when biofuel demand increases and shows how they are handled in the most important models used in the U.S. and …
Models or prototypes of biofuels developed six years ago by the Karnataka State Biofuel Development Board (KSBDB) are being adopted by certain African nations under a programme by the United Nations through the World Agroforestry Council (WAC). The models are aimed at empowering farmers. State government, however, is lending minimal …
This study examines factors that determine the adoption and continued production of Jatropha in plantations in North East India. The study is based on a sample of 144 current-farmers, 137 previous-farmers, and 145 non-growers of Jatropha in the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The findings suggest that farmer characteristics …
