NEW YORK/ROME (United Nations) - A recent report by UN-Energy (a United Nations interagency mechanism on energy) looks at bioenergy from a different angle. Besides looking at the potential benefits of biofuels, it also studies the potential environmental impact of producing biofuels.

The report, officially entitled Sustainable Bioenergy: A Framework for Decision Makers, was sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organisation. As such it should be no surprise that it looks at the potential conflict between food crops and bioenergy crops and the dangers this might pose to food supplies in the poorer parts of the world.

But the report also looks at the sustainability of bioenergy production, which can end up producing greenhouse gas emissions if handled improperly. Replacing forests with agricultural lands for bioenergy production might do more harm than good. As the report tells us in its preface “appropriate trade-offs” between energy and environment are the order of the day.

The FAO website offers a comprehensive summary as well as the full report (pdf, 1.1MB).