Land-Use Change

Basics

• The change in land use brought about by a policy/activity
• Is subdivided into direct and indirect
• Relevant mainly in Carbon Accounting (and if dealing with undeveloped land, ecological impacts as well)
• For instance if implemented poorly, biofuels could lead to more unsustainable farming, or deforestation, and thus not be a truely "Sustainable Biofuel"
• The reverse can be true, such as how increasing cost on certain animal feeds may have reduced meat consumption demand due to increased prices etc
• Complicated to determine in some instances, but an important aspect to consider in a LCA nonetheless

Internal Links

• Afforestation / Deforestation (Good examples of direct, heavily impactful direct land use change)

External Links

• The Wikipedia Page on Indirect Land use Change Impacts of Biofuels
• The Wikipedia Page on Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (The UN's metric(s) for this?)
• A 2010 Paper Titled "Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Biofuels’ Indirect Land Use Change Are Uncertain but May Be Much Greater than Previously Estimated"