[go: up one dir, main page]

IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/now/jirere/101.00000133.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Future of the EU Bioenergy Sector: Economic, Environmental, Social, and Legislative Challenges

Author

Listed:
  • Fabio G. Santeramo
  • Monica Delsignore
  • Enrica Imbert
  • Mariarosaria Lombardi
Abstract
The bioenergy sector is becoming of increasing interest: the European Union is not an exception. Indeed, it is in need of solutions to face one of the worst energy crises of the last century. The sector’s growth faces numerous challenges. The main use of energy crops, as feedstock, generates stiff competition on the use of land for food and energy purposes. The production of bioenergy has relevant environmental implications in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. The social aspects related to the bioenergy sector are also potential obstacles to its development. These pressing issues for policymakers call for a better understanding on how national and international laws should regulate the growth of the bioenergy sector. Flying over the economic, environmental, social, and legislative aspects faced by the bioenergy sector, we conclude on threads, opportunities, and priorities that should be considered for its development and propose directions for future studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Fabio G. Santeramo & Monica Delsignore & Enrica Imbert & Mariarosaria Lombardi, 2023. "The Future of the EU Bioenergy Sector: Economic, Environmental, Social, and Legislative Challenges," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 17(1), pages 1-1–52, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:now:jirere:101.00000133
    DOI: 10.1561/101.00000133
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/101.00000133
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1561/101.00000133?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. D'Adamo, Idiano & Falcone, Pasquale Marcello & Imbert, Enrica & Morone, Piergiuseppe, 2020. "A Socio-economic Indicator for EoL Strategies for Bio-based Products," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    2. Ingrao, Carlo & Rana, Roberto & Tricase, Caterina & Lombardi, Mariarosaria, 2015. "Application of Carbon Footprint to an agro-biogas supply chain in Southern Italy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 75-88.
    3. Smeets, Edward & Tabeau, Andrzej & van Berkum, Siemen & Moorad, Jamil & van Meijl, Hans & Woltjer, Geert, 2014. "The impact of the rebound effect of the use of first generation biofuels in the EU on greenhouse gas emissions: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 393-403.
    4. Roberto Leonardo Rana & Mariarosaria Lombardi & Pasquale Giungato & Caterina Tricase, 2020. "Trends in Scientific Literature on Energy Return Ratio of Renewable Energy Sources for Supporting Policymakers," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-17, March.
    5. Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano & Miljkovic, Dragan & Lamonaca, Emilia, 2021. "Agri-food trade and climate change," Economia agro-alimentare / Food Economy, Italian Society of Agri-food Economics/Società Italiana di Economia Agro-Alimentare (SIEA), vol. 23(1), May.
    6. Christos Vlachokostas & Charisios Achillas & Ioannis Agnantiaris & Alexandra V. Michailidou & Christos Pallas & Eleni Feleki & Nicolas Moussiopoulos, 2020. "Decision Support System to Implement Units of Alternative Biowaste Treatment for Producing Bioenergy and Boosting Local Bioeconomy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-14, May.
    7. Prosperi, Maurizio & Lombardi, Mariarosaria & Spada, Alessia, 2019. "Ex ante assessment of social acceptance of small-scale agro-energy system: A case study in southern Italy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 346-354.
    8. Wustenhagen, Rolf & Wolsink, Maarten & Burer, Mary Jean, 2007. "Social acceptance of renewable energy innovation: An introduction to the concept," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2683-2691, May.
    9. Lee, Gi-Eu & Loveridge, Scott & Joshi, Satish, 2017. "Local acceptance and heterogeneous externalities of biorefineries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 328-336.
    10. Collotta, M. & Champagne, P. & Tomasoni, G. & Alberti, M. & Busi, L. & Mabee, W., 2019. "Critical indicators of sustainability for biofuels: An analysis through a life cycle sustainabilty assessment perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    11. Mekbib G. Haile & Matthias Kalkuhl & Joachim von Braun, 2016. "Worldwide Acreage and Yield Response to International Price Change and Volatility: A Dynamic Panel Data Analysis for Wheat, Rice, Corn, and Soybeans," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 98(1), pages 172-190.
    12. Gissi, Elena & Gaglio, Mattias & Reho, Matelda, 2016. "Sustainable energy potential from biomass through ecosystem services trade-off analysis: The case of the Province of Rovigo (Northern Italy)," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 1-19.
    13. Yang, Hong & Zhou, Yuan & Liu, Junguo, 2009. "Land and water requirements of biofuel and implications for food supply and the environment in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1876-1885, May.
    14. Fabio Gaetano Santeramo & Emilia Lamonaca & Marco Tappi & Leonardo Di Gioia, 2019. "Considerations on the Environmental and Social Sustainability of Animal-Based Policies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-12, April.
    15. Mihail Busu, 2019. "Assessment of the Impact of Bioenergy on Sustainable Economic Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-11, February.
    16. Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano & Searle, Stephanie, 2019. "Linking soy oil demand from the US Renewable Fuel Standard to palm oil expansion through an analysis on vegetable oil price elasticities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 19-23.
    17. Hyunseok Kim & GianCarlo Moschini, 2018. "The Dynamics of Supply: U.S. Corn and Soybeans in the Biofuel Era," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 94(4), pages 593-613.
    18. Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano & Lamonaca, Emilia & Tappi, Marco & Di Gioia, Leonardo, 2020. "On the Environmental Impacts of Voluntary Animal-based Policies in the EU: Technical and Political Considerations," MPRA Paper 99932, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Chen, Xiaoguang & Önal, Hayri, 2016. "Renewable energy policies and competition for biomass: Implications for land use, food prices, and processing industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 270-278.
    20. Gohin, A. & Chantret, F., 2010. "The long-run impact of energy prices on world agricultural markets: The role of macro-economic linkages," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 333-339, January.
    21. Cambero, Claudia & Sowlati, Taraneh, 2016. "Incorporating social benefits in multi-objective optimization of forest-based bioenergy and biofuel supply chains," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 721-735.
    22. Upreti, Bishnu Raj, 2004. "Conflict over biomass energy development in the United Kingdom: some observations and lessons from England and Wales," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 785-800, April.
    23. Leibensperger, Carrie & Yang, Pan & Zhao, Qiankun & Wei, Shuran & Cai, Ximing, 2021. "The synergy between stakeholders for cellulosic biofuel development: Perspectives, opportunities, and barriers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    24. Correa, Diego F. & Beyer, Hawthorne L. & Fargione, Joseph E. & Hill, Jason D. & Possingham, Hugh P. & Thomas-Hall, Skye R. & Schenk, Peer M., 2019. "Towards the implementation of sustainable biofuel production systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 250-263.
    25. Paola Sakai & Stavros Afionis & Nicola Favretto & Lindsay C. Stringer & Caroline Ward & Marco Sakai & Pedro Henrique Weirich Neto & Carlos Hugo Rocha & Jaime Alberti Gomes & Nátali Maidl de Souza & No, 2020. "Understanding the Implications of Alternative Bioenergy Crops to Support Smallholder Farmers in Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-22, March.
    26. Tricase, C. & Lombardi, M., 2009. "State of the art and prospects of Italian biogas production from animal sewage: Technical-economic considerations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 477-485.
    27. Schubert, Renate & Blasch, Julia, 2010. "Sustainability standards for bioenergy--A means to reduce climate change risks?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 2797-2805, June.
    28. Peri, Massimo & Baldi, Lucia, 2013. "The effect of biofuel policies on feedstock market: Empirical evidence for rapeseed oil prices in EU," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 18-37.
    29. Kuchler, Magdalena, 2014. "Sweet dreams (are made of cellulose): Sociotechnical imaginaries of second-generation bioenergy in the global debate," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 431-437.
    30. Calliope Panoutsou & David Chiaramonti, 2020. "Socio-Economic Opportunities from Miscanthus Cultivation in Marginal Land for Bioenergy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-22, May.
    31. de Andrade Junior, Milton Aurelio Uba & Valin, Hugo & Soterroni, Aline C. & Ramos, Fernando M. & Halog, Anthony, 2019. "Exploring future scenarios of ethanol demand in Brazil and their land-use implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    32. Hoefnagels, Ric & Smeets, Edward & Faaij, André, 2010. "Greenhouse gas footprints of different biofuel production systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(7), pages 1661-1694, September.
    33. Weißbach, D. & Ruprecht, G. & Huke, A. & Czerski, K. & Gottlieb, S. & Hussein, A., 2013. "Energy intensities, EROIs (energy returned on invested), and energy payback times of electricity generating power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 210-221.
    34. Nuccio Ludovico & Federica Dessi & Marino Bonaiuto, 2020. "Stakeholders Mapping for Sustainable Biofuels: An Innovative Procedure Based on Computational Text Analysis and Social Network Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-22, December.
    35. Markus Berger & Stephan Pfister & Vanessa Bach & Matthias Finkbeiner, 2015. "Saving the Planet’s Climate or Water Resources? The Trade-Off between Carbon and Water Footprints of European Biofuels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-19, May.
    36. Winchester, Niven & Reilly, John M., 2015. "The feasibility, costs, and environmental implications of large-scale biomass energy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 188-203.
    37. Searchinger, Timothy & Heimlich, Ralph & Houghton, R. A. & Dong, Fengxia & Elobeid, Amani & Fabiosa, Jacinto F. & Tokgoz, Simla & Hayes, Dermot J. & Yu, Hun-Hsiang, 2008. "Use of U.S. Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases Through Emissions from Land-Use Change," Staff General Research Papers Archive 12881, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    38. Correa, Diego F. & Beyer, Hawthorne L. & Possingham, Hugh P. & Thomas-Hall, Skye R. & Schenk, Peer M., 2017. "Biodiversity impacts of bioenergy production: Microalgae vs. first generation biofuels," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1131-1146.
    39. Demirbas, Ayhan, 2009. "Political, economic and environmental impacts of biofuels: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(Supplemen), pages 108-117, November.
    40. Hall, Charles A.S. & Lambert, Jessica G. & Balogh, Stephen B., 2014. "EROI of different fuels and the implications for society," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 141-152.
    41. Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano & Di Gioia, Leonardo & Lamonaca, Emilia, 2021. "Price responsiveness of supply and acreage in the EU vegetable oil markets: Policy implications," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    42. Pasquale Marcello Falcone & Enrica Imbert, 2018. "Social Life Cycle Approach as a Tool for Promoting the Market Uptake of Bio-Based Products from a Consumer Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22, March.
    43. Koçar, Günnur & Civaş, Nilgün, 2013. "An overview of biofuels from energy crops: Current status and future prospects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 900-916.
    44. Ekener-Petersen, Elisabeth & Höglund, Jonas & Finnveden, Göran, 2014. "Screening potential social impacts of fossil fuels and biofuels for vehicles," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 416-426.
    45. Gianfreda, Angelica & Parisio, Lucia & Pelagatti, Matteo, 2018. "A review of balancing costs in Italy before and after RES introduction," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 549-563.
    46. Tévécia Ronzon & Stephan Piotrowski & Saulius Tamosiunas & Lara Dammer & Michael Carus & Robert M’barek, 2020. "Developments of Economic Growth and Employment in Bioeconomy Sectors across the EU," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-13, June.
    47. Timothy D. Searchinger & Stefan Wirsenius & Tim Beringer & Patrice Dumas, 2018. "Assessing the efficiency of changes in land use for mitigating climate change," Nature, Nature, vol. 564(7735), pages 249-253, December.
    48. Holland, R.A. & Eigenbrod, F. & Muggeridge, A. & Brown, G. & Clarke, D. & Taylor, G., 2015. "A synthesis of the ecosystem services impact of second generation bioenergy crop production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 30-40.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano & Di Gioia, Leonardo & Lamonaca, Emilia, 2021. "Price responsiveness of supply and acreage in the EU vegetable oil markets: Policy implications," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    2. Baudry, Gino & Delrue, Florian & Legrand, Jack & Pruvost, Jérémy & Vallée, Thomas, 2017. "The challenge of measuring biofuel sustainability: A stakeholder-driven approach applied to the French case," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 933-947.
    3. Ji, Xi & Long, Xianling, 2016. "A review of the ecological and socioeconomic effects of biofuel and energy policy recommendations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 41-52.
    4. Correa, Diego F. & Beyer, Hawthorne L. & Fargione, Joseph E. & Hill, Jason D. & Possingham, Hugh P. & Thomas-Hall, Skye R. & Schenk, Peer M., 2019. "Towards the implementation of sustainable biofuel production systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 250-263.
    5. Brinkman, Marnix L.J. & Wicke, Birka & Faaij, André P.C. & van der Hilst, Floor, 2019. "Projecting socio-economic impacts of bioenergy: Current status and limitations of ex-ante quantification methods," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    6. Canabarro, N.I. & Silva-Ortiz, P. & Nogueira, L.A.H. & Cantarella, H. & Maciel-Filho, R. & Souza, G.M., 2023. "Sustainability assessment of ethanol and biodiesel production in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Guatemala," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    7. Dupoux, Marion, 2019. "The land use change time-accounting failure," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    8. Marco Vittorio Ecclesia & João Santos & Paul E. Brockway & Tiago Domingos, 2022. "A Comprehensive Societal Energy Return on Investment Study of Portugal Reveals a Low but Stable Value," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-22, May.
    9. Fabio Gaetano Santeramo & Dragan Miljkovic & Emilia Lamonaca, 2021. "Agri-food trade and climate change," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 23(1), pages 1-18.
    10. Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano & Bozzola, Martina & Lamonaca, Emilia, 2020. "Impacts of Climate Change on Global Agri-Food Trade," 2019: Recent Advances in Applied General Equilibrium Modeling: Relevance and Application to Agricultural Trade Analysis, December 8-10, 2019, Washington, DC 339375, International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.
    11. Rebolledo-Leiva, Ricardo & Moreira, María Teresa & González-García, Sara, 2023. "Progress of social assessment in the framework of bioeconomy under a life cycle perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    12. Rial, Rafael Cardoso, 2024. "Biofuels versus climate change: Exploring potentials and challenges in the energy transition," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    13. Becker, Tristan & Wolff, Michael & Linzenich, Anika & Engelmann, Linda & Arning, Katrin & Ziefle, Martina & Walther, Grit, 2024. "An integrated bi-objective optimization model accounting for the social acceptance of renewable fuel production networks," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 315(1), pages 354-367.
    14. Malça, João & Freire, Fausto, 2011. "Life-cycle studies of biodiesel in Europe: A review addressing the variability of results and modeling issues," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 338-351, January.
    15. Oliveira, Gustavo de L.T. & McKay, Ben & Plank, Christina, 2017. "How biofuel policies backfire: Misguided goals, inefficient mechanisms, and political-ecological blind spots," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 765-775.
    16. Karel Janda & Ladislav Kristoufek, 2019. "The relationship between fuel and food prices: Methods, outcomes, and lessons for commodity price risk management," CAMA Working Papers 2019-20, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    17. Pulighe, Giuseppe & Bonati, Guido & Colangeli, Marco & Morese, Maria Michela & Traverso, Lorenzo & Lupia, Flavio & Khawaja, Cosette & Janssen, Rainer & Fava, Francesco, 2019. "Ongoing and emerging issues for sustainable bioenergy production on marginal lands in the Mediterranean regions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 58-70.
    18. Rodríguez-Segura, Francisco Javier & Osorio-Aravena, Juan Carlos & Frolova, Marina & Terrados-Cepeda, Julio & Muñoz-Cerón, Emilio, 2023. "Social acceptance of renewable energy development in southern Spain: Exploring tendencies, locations, criteria and situations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    19. Buus, Tomáš, 2017. "Energy efficiency and energy prices: A general mathematical framework," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 743-754.
    20. Correa, Diego F. & Beyer, Hawthorne L. & Possingham, Hugh P. & Fargione, Joseph E. & Hill, Jason D. & Schenk, Peer M., 2021. "Microalgal biofuel production at national scales: Reducing conflicts with agricultural lands and biodiversity within countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(PA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bioenergy; European Union; impact; land use; law; sustainability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K32 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Energy, Environmental, Health, and Safety Law
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:now:jirere:101.00000133. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Lucy Wiseman (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nowpublishers.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.