Comments on the European Commission Directorate-General for Energy Indirect Land Use Change Literature Review

One of the four consultation documents  published by the European Commission to inform its 2010 consultation on indirect land use change is a literature review by the Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENERGY) titled “The Impact of Land Use Change on Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Biofuels:  Literature review.”

This ICCT white paper offers a critical commentary on that review. It suggests that overall, the review tends to overstate uncertainties that might reduce the magnitude of indirect land use change, while understating uncertainties in the other direction. It also argues that the review could leave readers with the impression that there are more gaps in the literature than do in fact exist.