Role of Biotechnologies for
Biofuel Production in Developing
Countries
The Bioenergy dimension
Jeff Tschirley
Environment, Climate change and Bioenergy (Nrc)
Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Rome, Italy
12 October 2007
Food security issues
 Food availability, access, stability and use
 Fluctuations and increases in food
commodity prices
 Food availability at times of crisis
 Restrictions on access to markets
 Tradeoffs in different bioenergy systems
as regards rural employment, income
opportunities
Where are the hungry?
Countries in
transition
25
Sub-Saharan
Africa
206
Near East and
North Africa
38
Latin America
and
Caribbean
52
Developed market
economies
9
854 million
(820 in developing
countries)
Asia and
Pacific
524
212 million India
150 million China
Environmental and sustainability issues
 Rapid land use change

Land rights and tenure

Total land availability

Availability and quality of water resources

Effects of agro-chemicals

Distribution of benefits

Wages, rural employment
Some key questions

What are the bioenergy options for food insecure
countries – trade, employment, technology?

How may fluctuating commodity prices – potentially
positive for producers, negative for poor consumers
– affect food availability?

Can inequities (land tenure, market access, etc) be
reduced?

Who is best placed to anticipate, monitor and
address conflicts?

How may changing bioenergy technology (1st v. 2nd
generation) affect tropical developing countries?
How is FAO contributing?

Bioenergy programme facility - direct assistance to
countries, guidelines, data, country analysis

Knowledge – Webshore http://www.bioenergywebshore.com
International bioenergy information system (iBis)

Partnerships – International Bioenergy Platform,
Global Bioenergy Partnership

Analysis – BEFS, SOFA 2008

Structural and programme re-orientation
Fuel
Feedstock
Currently
produced
GHG
reduction v.
petroleum
Production
cost
Biofuels
yield per
hectare
Land types
1st generation biofuels, commercially available
Ethanol
Biodiesel
FAME)
(SVO,
grains
(wheat,
maize)
US, Europe,
China
low-moderate
moderate
moderate
cropland
oil seeds
(rape, soy,
sunflower)
US, Europe
low-moderate
moderate
low
cropland
1st generation biofuels (commercially available mainly in developing countries)
Ethanol
sugar cane
Brazil, India,
Thailand
high
low-moderate
high
croplands
coastal lands
all land
Biodiesel/SVO
palm oil
Southeast Asia
moderate
low-moderate
moderatehigh
Biogas (CNG)
wastes,
crops
Europe, India
high
low-moderate
high
2nd generation biofuels (not yet commercially available)
Biodiesel (BTL)
cellulose
residues
none
none
high
high
high
croplands,
marginal lands
moderate-high*
high
croplands,
marginal lands
low-moderate
degraded lands
high
all land
moderate-high*
Other
Biodiesel/SVO
jatropha
South Asia,
Africa
Biogas (SNG, GtL)
biomass,
residues
all
high
moderatehigh**
high
moderate
Fritsche, 2007
Ethanol
cellulose,
residues
fossil
diesel
1st generation
biodiesel
2nd generation
biodiesel
1st + 2nd
generation EtOH
CNG
500
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
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g CO2-eq per kWh fuel
450
GHG emissions from transport fuels; data in g/kWh incl. upstream life-cycles and by-product credits (from: GEMIS 4.4)
Some key challenges





Policy and legislative frameworks that facilitate
sustainable approaches to bioenergy development
Estimating national bioenergy production potential
with sufficient accuracy for informed national
decisions
Coordinating bioenergy investment flows against
realistic policy and programme objectives
Certifications schemes that are flexible, cost
effective and do not penalize participation by
small-scale producers
Mechanisms for developing countries to compete
with technological change
Thank you