AVOIDING BIOENERGY COMPETITION FOR FOOD CROPS AND LAND

This research paper argues that using land for bioenergy creates intense competition with food, feed, and carbon storage, potentially widening the global crop calorie gap. The authors contend that most bioenergy is land-inefficient compared to solar energy and that current greenhouse gas accounting often 'double counts' biomass, erroneously suggesting that bioenergy is carbon-free. The paper recommends phasing out bioenergy from dedicated land use and prioritizing biomass derived from true wastes.

• The world faces a projected 70 percent gap between available crop calories in 2006 and anticipated needs in 2050. Phasing out crop-based biofuels could reduce this 2050 calorie gap from 70 percent to approximately 60 percent, whereas a global target of 10 percent transportation fuel from biofuels could increase the gap to about 90 percent.
• Cellulosic biofuels (second generation) are unlikely to eliminate competition for cropland because the fast-growing trees and grasses required for high yields grow best on the same flat, fertile lands already used for food crops. To match the ethanol output of a hectare of U.S. maize, cellulosic yields would need to be nearly double the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's estimates.
• Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are significantly more land-efficient than bioenergy. On 75 percent of the world's land, PV can generate more than 100 times the usable energy per hectare than bioenergy. When combined with electric motors, which are 2–3 times more efficient than internal combustion engines, PV can provide 200–300 times more usable energy for transport per hectare.
• Many bioenergy greenhouse gas (GHG) calculations are based on an accounting error that 'double counts' biomass. These calculations often ignore the CO2 released when biomass is burned, assuming it is offset by the CO2 absorbed during plant growth. However, if those plants would have grown anyway, diverting them to bioenergy does not remove additional carbon from the atmosphere.

APA

Searchinger, T., & Heimlich, R. (2015). AVOIDING BIOENERGY COMPETITION FOR FOOD CROPS AND LAND. World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/avoiding_bioenergy_competition_food_crops_land.pdf

Chicago

Searchinger, Tim, and Ralph Heimlich. AVOIDING BIOENERGY COMPETITION FOR FOOD CROPS AND LAND. World Resources Institute, 2015. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/avoiding_bioenergy_competition_food_crops_land.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Searchinger |first1=Tim |last2=Heimlich |first2=Ralph |title=AVOIDING BIOENERGY COMPETITION FOR FOOD CROPS AND LAND |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=January 2015 |url=https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/avoiding_bioenergy_competition_food_crops_land.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{searchinger2015avoiding, author = {Searchinger, Tim and Heimlich, Ralph}, title = {{AVOIDING BIOENERGY COMPETITION FOR FOOD CROPS AND LAND}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2015}, month = jan, url = {https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/avoiding_bioenergy_competition_food_crops_land.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }