Download PDF: Impacts of Liquid Biofuels on Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity (756.0 kB PDF)
Ecosystem services are benefits people obtain from ecosystems. In this report, the ecosystem services concept is used to rationalise the existing evidence about biofuels’ impact on ecosystems. It is shown that biofuels can provide a number of ecosystem services (e.g. fuel, climate regulation) while compromising others (e.g. food, freshwater services).
At the same time, it is also shown why biofuel expansion is currently being considered as one of the main emerging threats to biodiversity, particularly in highly biodiverse areas such as in Indonesia and Brazil. A combination of response options such as designer landscapes, Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), and biofuel certification will have to be put in place to minimise the negative impacts of biofuel expansion on ecosystem services and biodiversity.
