The concept of sustainability is derived from ‘sustainable development,’ which has been defined in the Brundtland report as ‘development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (WCED 1987: 45). The concept of sustainable development has traditionally focused on three pillars (i. e., social, environmental, and economic), and in recent years, it has evolved including other components such as policies and institutions (Diaz-Chavez, 2011).

The EU, since first announcing its intention to set a mandatory biofuels target, has maintained that any production or use of biofuels must be sustainable (European Federation for Transport and Environment 2009). The Renewables Directive (2009/28/EC) aims to ensure this ambition is met through the use of mandatory sustain­ability criteria. The criteria set out three main requirements which biofuels must meet in order to be counted toward the target or to be eligible to receive tax rebates or subsidies:

• The greenhouse gas emission savings from the use of biofuels and bioliquids must be at least 35 % (rising to 50 % in 2017) compared to fossil fuels;

• The feedstock of biofuel is not to be derived from land with high biodiversity value such as high biodiversity grassland; and

• The feedstock of the biofuel is not to be derived from land with a high carbon stock. These criteria apply to biofuels and bioliquids and for both imported and domestically produced feedstock.

A significant part of biofuels debate since 2009 focused on indirect land — use change and its exclusion from the EU sustainability criteria. ILUC is not accounted in the Renewables Directive, and therefore, the emissions resulting from ILUC are not included in the greenhouse gas life cycle analysis calculations (Amezaga et al. 2010).

For biofuels, the length and complexity of the supply chains make the sustainabil­ity issue very challenging. Biofuels’ pathways include several successive segments over the fuels life cycle (e. g., feedstock production, conversion of the feedstock to biofuels, wholesale trade, retail, and use in engines) and multiple actors (e. g., feed­stock suppliers, biofuels producers, biofuels consumers, and public authorities).

In order to be sustainable, biofuels should be carbon neutral, especially consid­ering the necessity of fossil fuel substitution and global warming mitigation. Also, biofuels should contribute to the economic development and equity. Moreover, they should not affect the quality, quantity, and use of natural resources as water and soil, should not affect biodiversity, and should not have undesirable social consequences (Lora et al. 2011).

Several authors have recently raised concerns about the environmental costs benefits and social implications of biofuels production such as underlying uncer­tainties over the life cycle emissions of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), pos­sible deforestation for feedstock production, degradation of soil and air quality, increased water consumption, possible loss of biodiversity, possible competi­tion with food production, and other potential social imbalances (Ajanovic 2011; Gnansounou 2011; Finco et al. 2012; Padella et al. 2012).

Land-use change is considered one of the most important environmental impacts to address, mainly because of its impacts on GHG and wider ecosystems. Recently, many studies are working on land use, direct and indirect (LUC, ILUC). For exam­ple, the research studies of Brazil show that the amount of new land required for sugarcane production would be relatively small (Arima et al. 2011; Macedo et al. 2012). In the same way, the LUC module based on a transition matrix developed by Ferreira Filho and Horridge (2011) and calibrated with data from the Brazilian Agricultural Censuses of 1995 and 2006 shows how land use changed across different uses (crops, pastures, forestry, and natural forests) along those years. The results obtained by general equilibrium models approach show that the ILUC effects of ethanol expansion are of the order of 0.14 ha of new land coming from previously unused land for each new hectare of sugarcane. This value is higher than the values found in Brazilian literature (Ferreira Filho and Horridge 2009, 2011).

Careful assessment of these impacts has given rise to criticisms from economists, ecologists, NGOs, and international organizations, who call for additional analysis of biofuels’ effects. Furthermore, the European Union and several countries have adopted certification schemes to biofuels to respond to these growing concerns and to address the sustainability issues derived from the expanding production of biofuels.

Current and future biofuels production could have important environmental and ecological impacts. One of the major reasons for producing biofuels is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to mitigate the effects of global warming produced by fossil fuels. However, some unintended impacts of biofuel production are land, air, water, and biodiversity.