A case-study approach to quantifying indirect land-use change due to expanding biofuels feedstock cultivation

The goal of this dissertation is to contribute to our knowledge of indirect land-use change (ILUC) quantification and mitigation by adopting a case-study approach and applying it to specific regions of the world. This dissertation is a part of the interdisciplinary junior research group "Fair Fuels?", which is generously funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). In the course of this project,studies on the sustainability of biofuel production were conducted in South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Europe. Included are three specific case studies that were conducted as a part of this dissertation in order to demonstrate application of the new ILUC case-study approach: additional sugarcane ethanol production in Malawi and in Brazil and additional wheat ethanol production in Germany. In order to address the objectives presented here, the case studies focus on the relevance of regional factors concerning the extent of ILUC, on identifying regionally specific measures to reduce ILUC, and on calculating the resulting net GHG emissions.