(118b) Sustainable Biofuels: A Case Of Ethics, Politics, Economics and (I almost forgot) Technology

The sustainability of biofuels is inextricably linked to the broader challenges of sustainable agriculture and sustainable development. And both these challenges are deeply rooted in political and ethical questions that we have yet to address in a clear and coherent manner. The debate about biofuels’ indirect effect on global land use change is the latest and clearest connection between these two problems. Indirect land use change, simply put, considers the problems and possibilities of agricultural expansion and subsequent land clearing associated with increased demands on agricultural land from biofuels.

This land use debate is framed using the “objective” paradigm of the scientific experimenter, which I contend has led us to waste precious research and analysis resources on the wrong question. In this paradigm, biofuel’s sustainability rests on a starting assumption that all other aspects of our global agriculture system remain unchanged (the experimental paradigm of ceteris paribus). This is tantamount to asking if biofuels, when added to an already unsustainable agriculture system, has any chance of being sustainable. The answer is obvious: No. But we have spent million of dollars and hours seeking an analytical answer to this question rather than focusing on the questions that really matter. First and foremost, what does it mean for biofuels, agriculture and development writ large to be sustainable? This is as much an ethical question as it is a technical and economic one. In my talk, I will highlight some of the ethical aspects of sustainable development to illustrate how they influence our conclusions about biofuels.  Second, what must be done to ensure that global agriculture gets on a path to sustainability? Here, I will discuss a few aspects of modern day global agriculture that offer powerful levers for change. Third, can and should biofuels play a role in sustainable development? The question of “can” largely depends on the answers to the previous question. The question of “should” is a practical and ethical question the answer to which (I will argue) is yes.