Responsible innovation: an approach for extracting public values concerning advanced biofuels

Abstract

The objective of our study was to test an approach for extracting public values concerning a virtually unknown and scientifically complex topic, namely advanced lignocellulosic biofuels, in order to foster responsible innovation of this novel technology in Canada as early on in the policy-making process as possible. As advanced lignocellulosic biofuels are currently an emerging form of liquid fuel for transport, it may be beneficial to open the development of this technology to “upstream” public input. We thereby explore how a deliberative mini-public views the need for advanced lignocellulosic biofuels and their recommendations for supporting or opposing its development and production. Participants of the study engaged in four days of deliberation on their value-based considerations concerning the social acceptability of this technology. On the final day, they developed a series of collective recommendations on three participant-generated agenda items: economic sustainability, unknown environmental and health impacts, and governance issues related to responsibility for advanced biofuels policy. The results provide a novel input into interdisciplinary research aimed at better understanding what may be driving public values on wider, sometimes controversial, issues related to biofuels.