Challenges and Science Needed to Describe Sustainable Biofuel Production

by Jeffrey Steiner (Agricultural Research Services, USDA). In this talk he points out the importance of rural landscapes and ecosystem services.

· The success of the supply chain depends on productive, profitable, and good resource stewardship perspectives

· Considering sustainability indicators, a variety of issues need to be considered. It is very hard to find a way that will benefit all the pieces of the supply chain at once; therefore, the decisions are put through the filter known as “An Experimental Set of National Indicators”

· There are three sets of indicators: environmental, economic, and society indicators

Ø Environmental indicators include: surface water quality, atmospheric ozone status, soil erosion rates

Ø Economic indicators include: federal dept to GDP ratio, unemployment, labor productivity

Ø Society indicators include: births to single mothers, education level, crime rate, time and money contributions to charity

Mr. Steiner also pointed out the geographical areas favorable for agricultural production for Sustainable Biofuels, even at the places with an extreme weather.

This presentation includes many maps of areas in USA and all over the world favorable for such attempts. READ MORE