Stockholm Environment Institute research looks at ecosystem services provided by biofuels

February 22, 2018 |

In Kenya, new research from the Stockholm Environment Institute looks at mechanisms and indicators for assessing the impact of biofuel feedstock production on ecosystem services.

Biofuel feedstock production can be a significant driver of landscape modification, ecosystem change, and biodiversity loss. There is a growing body of literature that shows how biofuel landscapes provide various ecosystem services (e.g., feedstock for fuel, carbon sequestration) and compromise other ecosystem services (e.g., food, freshwater services).

These effects are context-specific and depend largely on prior land use conditions and feedstock production practices. Changes in the flow of ecosystem services due to the conversion of natural and agricultural areas can have ripple effects on human well-being.

Despite some recent attempts to apply to biofuel settings concepts and methods rooted in the ecosystem services literature, this is the exception rather than the rule within both the biofuel and the ecosystem services research communities.

Category: Research

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