Sustainability of Biofuels Workshop Report Issued

Summary

The joint USDA-DOE Office of Science Sustainability of Biofuels Workshop, held October 28-29, 2008, stimulated an interactive discussion among a wide range of experts on the state of the science and research needed to establish sustainable production and utilization of cellulosic biofuels. The workshop report has just been issued and is available at (/biofuels/sustainability/). It summarizes the workshop and presents a series of new and critically important areas of research. Interdisciplinary teams involving scientists from the agricultural, ecological, socioeconomic, and information system communities will be required to fill knowledge and technology gaps and provide integrated solutions that effectively target specific challenges. This research, however, must maintain a holistic view of the entire biofuel production system and its socioecological impacts. DOE, USDA, and other federal agencies now have a unique opportunity to use the workshop recommendations to develop an integrated research agenda that addresses the environmental, economic, and social dimensions of cellulosic biofuels across multiple scales and ensures that this emerging industry has the information needed to grow sustainably.