23 October 2014: The International Energy Agency (IEA) Bioenergy organization hosted a one-day workshop on ‘Bioenergy: Land Use and Mitigating Indirect Land Use Change (iLUC),’ during which 11 experts gave presentations on the issue’s policy background, mitigation models and applications, case studies and related global aspects.

The workshop, held on 23 October 2014, in Brussels, Belgium, was organized in conjunction with the 74th IEA Bioenergy Executive Committee meeting, which took place from 21-22 October at the same venue.

Presentations given by representatives of governments and academia covered topics such as: status of EU legislation on iLUC from biofuels; Brazil’s approach; worldwide LUC mitigation solutions, including land use conservation and mitigating land-use change pressure; preconditions for sustainable biomass sourcing; practical ways to achieve iLUC-free biofuels; regional case studies on low-iLUC risk biofuel production potential; and REDD+ and iLUC mitigation.

A speaker from Ecofys defined iLUC-free biofuels as: advanced biofuels produced from abundantly available non land-using materials; or conventional biofuels produced from feedstocks that do not lead to displacement of existing agricultural production. He identified options for preventing iLUC, including: use of residue materials as feedstocks; use of unused land; increase of crop yields; sugarcane-cattle integration; multi-cropping; reduction of post-harvest losses; and improved conversion efficiency of biofuel installations.

IEA Bioenergy, established by the IEA in 1978, seeks to improve cooperation and information exchange between countries engaging in national programmes in bioenergy research, development and deployment. [IEA Bioenergy Workshop Webpage] [IEA Bioenergy Website]