C. DE LUCIA, University of York, UK and Technical University of Bari, Italy

Abstract: This chapter illustrates and discusses main objectives of biofuels policies viewed under multidirectional effects on economy, energy and environment. The analysis touches multiple effects of biofuels production and use such as the need for guaranteeing energy security and supply, environmental protection and land-use change, the expansion of rural areas and food safety and the increasing institutional support for biofuels policies including the contribution of these to climate change mitigation.

Key words: biofuels, feedstock, land use, rural development, climate change mitigation.

2.1 Introduction

Since their introduction in the supply chain, biofuels contributed to the reduction of carbon emissions. It is this evidence, together with advances in technological progress for renewables use and recent development of international agreements on climate change, that suggests to governments the adoption of new practices to enhance the agricultural sector. A renovated agricultural system was launched for biofuels feedstock production. This, in turn, served as a stimulus for countries facing current unbalances of imported energy commodities to search for new energy supply and security initiatives. Additionally, current biofuels feedstock production and future bioenergy and biorefinery practices are instrumental in the enhancement of rural development and the creation of further policy tools in the biofuels industry as well as the agricultural sector. However, this scenario is not without drawbacks. The positive and negative synergies occurring across a multitude of biofuels objectives should be carefully addressed. The aim of this chapter is to illustrate and discuss main objectives of biofuels policies viewed under multidirectional effects on economy, energy and environment. The chapter is organised as follows: Section 2.2 illustrates biofuels and bioenergy seen as energy security and supply; Section 2.3 discusses environmental and land-use concerns linked to biofuels practices; Section 2.4 emphasises the risk for food safety and the need for the development of marginal areas when considering biofuels activities; Section 2.5 describes current biofuels policy support and delineates future scenarios for climate change mitigation; finally, Section 2.6 concludes.