Roundtable reveals international biofuel standard.

• Author: Block, Ben
• Position: EYE ON EARTH - Discussion - Brief article

An international stakeholder group known as the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels has released the first-ever global standard for biofuel production. The draft guidelines, voluntary for now, require biofuel producers to consider the entire life cycle of the fuels when assessing environmental and other impacts.

The biggest challenge to biofuels' sustainability is ensuring that high-value land is preserved, because it stores large amounts of carbon, shelters threatened species, or is well-suited for human food production. To address concerns about widespread forest clearing, the standards emphasize the use of marginal, degraded, or previously cleared land for growing the fuels. They also require producers to make plans for soil health and water and air pollution, including efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over time.

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