Improving agricultural efficiency, reducing food waste, converting pasture land to cropland and reducing meat and dairy consumption per capita can help boost biofuel feedstock availability while minimizing land use impacts

Summary

Several strategies can boost biofuel feedstock availability while minimizing land use impacts. Improving agricultural efficiency through modern techniques, fertilization, and irrigation could increase crop yields, particularly in regions where current yields are low. Reducing global food waste, which accounts for approximately one third of food production, could free up a maximum of 1.6 billion acres of land. Converting pasture land to more efficient cropland use and reducing meat and dairy consumption could significantly reduce the 3,200-3,500 million acres currently used for grazing. These approaches collectively offer pathways to increase biofuel production without expanding agricultural land while minimizing indirect land use change.

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Land usage is the number one concern for the production of biofuels as the cultivation of biomass can reduce food supply and lead to indirect land use change (ILUC). Using lignocellulosic biomass (non-edible biomass) as a feedstock can alleviate some of the pressure on food systems; however, there is still evidence that shows that the production of lignocellulosic biomass will still lead to indirect land use change. In order to minimize land usage and food supply concerns, there are a number of secondary methods that can be taken to reduce inefficiencies in land usage and food production that could increase food and biomass outputs without increasing land usage.

Improving agricultural efficiency (higher crop yields per unit of land)

Boosting agricultural yields for food crops and biofuel crops will reduce the amount of land required to produce the same unit of biomass. This in turn could dampen the negative effects of biofuels on land use changes by reducing intrusions into pristine ecosystems. As an example, corn yields in the United States, Europe and China tend to sit between 40% – 85% of potential maximum yields, whereas in Central and South America, Africa and parts of Asia, yields tend to sit between 10% – 40% ¹. Several actions could be undertaken to help boost agricultural yields including: greater use of modern farming techniques, fertilization, increased water storage and irrigation, and the use of more efficient crop varieties and crop rotations ¹. However, high intensity farming practices can be damaging to the land and local ecosystems, so the benefits will need to be weighed against the potential negative impacts. Additionally, locations where crop yields can be boosted tend to be located in low income countries, outside of Europe and the United States, so actions will need to be taken to ensure environmental economic equity to minimize burdens on those regions.

Reducing food waste

Reducing food waste, besides being a highly desirable goal in general, has the potential to reduce global agricultural land requirements which could then be diverted to biofuel production that results in diminished indirect land use change. It is estimated globally that approximately one third of food produced for human consumption is wasted, amounting to over 1.3 billion tons per year ¹. Losses in the production and distribution stages tend to be even in all countries, accounting for 31% – 33% of losses as a portion of food produced in both regions ¹. However, on the consumer side, losses tend to be significantly higher in 'developed' countries (over 10%) vs all other countries (1–2%) ¹. It is estimated globally that 1.1 billion acres of land could be freed up by eliminating food crop wastage and 840 million acres by eliminating meat and dairy wastage ¹. Completely eliminating food waste in terms of practicality is unlikely as processing losses in production and distribution will still occur, but if international best practices are adopted, the combined amount of land that could be freed up is approximately 664 million acres ¹.

Conversion of pasture land to cropland for use as food crops or biomass for biofuels

Enormous tracts of land globally are dedicated to pastureland, land that is used for livestock grazing. Currently, there is approximately 3,200 – 3,500 million acres of land used for pasture, and it is estimated that 7.0 Gt (7 billion tons) of biomass was used to feed livestock in 2000 of which 3.8 Gt was sourced from pasture land ¹. If pasture land was instead used to grow grass for feed, only 940 million acres would be required to supply the same amount of biomass, assuming that grass yields were above 4 tons per acre ¹. Reductions in pasture land usage have already slowly been occurring over the last 30 years, as shown by the 40% increase in milk and meat production from pasture animals with only a 4% increase in pasture land usage ¹.

Reducing meat and dairy consumption

The changes mentioned above would require significant alterations to the livestock industry and food production systems in general. For example, higher intensity livestock that has closer resemblances to industrialized factory farming might be required which carries its own environment, health, and ethical concerns. Another similar alternative that would yield a similar result to reduced pasture land is simply consuming less meat and dairy per capita. Besides reducing pasture land, this would also reduce the amount of land dedicated to growing crops for animal feed. In the United States, approximately 40% of all domestic corn usage is for animal feed (cattle, hogs and poultry), roughly the same amount as the amount of corn used for ethanol production ².

Sources

Footnotes

1. International Renewable Energy Agency. (2016). Boosting biofuels: Sustainable paths to greater energy security (ISBN: 978-92-95111-84-4). Retrieved from https://www.irena.org/publications/2016/Apr/Boosting-Biofuels-Sustainable-Paths-to-Greater-Energy-Security ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

2. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. (2025). Feed grains sector at a glance. Retrieved from https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/crops/corn-and-other-feed-grains/feed-grains-sector-at-a-glance ↩