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Environmental indicators of biofuel sustainability : What about context?
Citation:
Efroymson, R. A., V. H. Dale, K. L. Kline, A. C. McBride, J. M. Bielicki, R. L. SMITH, E. S. Parish, P. E. Schweizer, AND D. M. SHAW. Environmental indicators of biofuel sustainability : What about context? ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT. Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, 51(2):291-306, (2013).
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public
Description:
Indicators of the environmental sustainability of biofuel production, distribution, and use should be selected, measured, and interpreted with respect to the context in which they are used. These indicators include measures of soil quality, water quality and quantity, greenhouse-gas emissions, biodiversity, air quality, and vegetation productivity. Contextual considerations include the purpose for the sustainability analysis, the particular biofuel production and distribution system (including supply chain, management aspects, and system viability), policy conditions, stakeholder values, location, temporal influences, spatial scale, baselines, and reference scenarios. Recommendations presented in this paper include formulating the problem for particular analyses, selecting appropriate context-specific indicators of environmental sustainability, and developing indicators that can reflect multiple environmental properties at low cost within a defined context. In addition, contextual considerations such as technical objectives, varying values and perspectives of stakeholder groups, and availability and reliability of data need to be understood and considered. Sustainability indicators for biofuels are most useful if adequate historical data are available, information can be collected at appropriate spatial and temporal scales, organizations are committed to use indicator information in the decision-making process, and indicators can effectively guide behavior toward more sustainable practices.
