Article ID: CBB841746332

“All We Want, Is to Get Rid of the Straw”: How Biofuel Policies Need to Be Multiple (2021)

unapi

Second-generation (2G) biofuels are promoted worldwide as remedy to sustainable-energy challenges in the transport sector and as response to the criticism of first-generation biofuels. By utilizing agriculture and forest residues, 2G biofuels claim to support agricultural livelihoods and boost rural economies. Quantitative estimates exist of the availability of “waste” or “unused” or “surplus” biomass that could be fed into producing bioenergy. Most of current discourse on 2G bioethanol is about developing efficient technologies and supportive policies for biomass utilization and energy distribution, while availability and supply of that biomass are often taken for granted. This paper challenges these presumptions of biomass availability and technological feasibility. Following a social-constructivist analysis of technology and focusing on how political actors, scientists, industry, green-revolution and organic farmers envision biomass, this paper argues that the innovation for 2G is hybrid and complex, rather than merely logistical and economic. Biomass as feedstock is not an off-the-shelf commodity, but a dynamic and fluid entity, the availability of which is dependent on a number of cultural, social, technological and economic factors. Policies are needed that recognize the multiplicity of agricultural practices if a sustainable biofuel system is to be developed.

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Authors & Contributors
Levidow, Les
Noam Bergman
Debbie Hopkins
Oge, Margo T.
Sujatha Raman
Taebi, Behnam
Concepts
Sustainability
Technoscience; science and technology studies
Public policy
Biofuels; biomass energy
Technology
Imaginaries
Time Periods
21st century
20th century
20th century, late
Places
South Korea
United States
Asia
Great Britain
Flint, Michigan
Michigan (U.S.)
Institutions
International Council for Science
Industrial Technology Research Institute- ITRI
Future Earth. Systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production Knowledge-Action Network
International Organization for Standardization
Korea Institute of Science and Technology - KIST
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