The steering committee of the Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) has announced the release of draft guidelines (“Version Zero”) on the “Principles for Sustainable Biofuels”. The RSB is a multi-stakeholder initiative of the Energy Center, Swiss Federal Technical Institute (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland. The guidelines contain “international standards for guaranteeing that biofuels originate from environmentally sustainable sources”, and could also be used to compare environmental/social impacts of biofuel alternatives. The document contains 12 criteria for sustainable biofuels: (1) Legality (biofuel production shall follow all applicable country laws and relevant international treaties), (2) Consultation, Planning, Monitoring (operation and design of biofuel projects shall be comprehensive, transparent, consultative, and participatory), (3) Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas (the biofuel shall contribute to mitigation of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions), (4) Human and Labor Rights (no violation of human and labor rights, should ensure worker well-being), (5) Rural and Social Development (biofuel shall contribute to the social/economic development of rural and indigenous communities), (6) Food Security (biofuel has no adverse impact on food security), (7) Conservation and Biodiversity, (8) Soil (biofuel production practice shall promote good soil health and prevents degradation, (9) Water (biofuel production shall optimize/minimize use of water resources), (10) Air (biofuel production shall minimize pollution), (11) Economic efficiency, technology, and continuous improvement, (12) Land Rights (biofuel production shall not violate land rights). The draft will be reportedly open for consultation until February 2009. The complete draft guidelines can be downloaded from the EPFL-Energy Center website (URL above)..