The booming non-food bioeconomy drives large share of global land-use emissions

Abstract

The non-food bioeconomy is widely recognized as a crucial strategy to address climate change. However, the growing non-food demand for biomass, such as bioenergy and bio-based products, is leading to global land use changes and consequent greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, a global region- and biomass-specific land-use emissions (LUE) inventory and the Food and Agricultural Biomass Input-Output Model (FABIO) were used to quantify the LUE embodied in global non-food biomass supply chains. The results revealed that in 2013, the LUE induced by non-food biomass demand accounted for over one-quarter of the global LUE, with wood as the dominant contributor (47%), followed by live animals (17%) and oil crops (13%). Additionally, over 876 million tons (Mt) of LUE were associated with international biomass trade for non-food use, mainly from tropical countries/regions (e.g., Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand) to large developing ones (Mainland China and India) and major developed ones (the USA, the EU27 and Japan). This underscores the need for consumption-based accounting of non-food biomass uses, including emissions from land use changes. Furthermore, demand-side measures such as enhancing transparency in international biomass supply chains, establishing monitoring and certification systems for certain bio-based commodities to track LUE, and fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration are crucial for effectively reducing LUE.