Marine feedstock based biofuels and ecosystem services

About the project

Climate change mitigation is prioritized in numerous national and international policy decisions and action plans, particularly in relation to the transportation sector. Renewable energy sources are considered sustainable alternatives to the use of fossil fuels. Marine feedstocks like algae and sea squirts are depicted as interesting alternatives to more traditional biofuels produced from forest residues or agricultural crops; not competing with food and requiring less land area. However, prior to full-scale production, an all-embracing sustainability assessment is needed, screening possible impacts of marine-based biofuel production. For this, there is a need to identify the different ecosystem services affected.

This project has aimed at identifying and describing ecosystem services and appropriate indicators that are affected by production of marine feedstock based biofuels in Sweden.