Indirect land use change

An international debate is taking place on indirect land use change (iLUC) triggered by biofuels, which could to lead to large emissions of greenhouse gases. EU is expected to shortly decide about future subsidies and restrictions on the use of crops that, according to EU, can cause iLUC. Studies of iLUC caused by Swedish biofuel production are however lacking. The purpose of this project is to investigate how Swedish biofuels affect the use of land. We will also study measures to minimize the risk of iLUC and trade-offs to sustainability in biomass production. The project is implemented in five parts: (1) Literature review of iLUC models (2) Analysis of land use statistics in Sweden (3) Development of future scenarios for biofuels with a low risk of iLUC. (4) Case studies for the production of biofuels (5) Development of advice to decision makers. The project is implemented by SLU and LTH in cooperation with a number of actors with interest in the issue.

The project is funded by The Swedish Knowledge Centre for Renewable Transportation Fuels (f3)

Duration of the project: 2015-2017

Project Leader: Serina Ahlgren
Other contributors: Lovisa Björnsson, Thomas Prade, Mikael Lantz