Biotech Updates

Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) to Hold Outreach Meetings

January 16, 2009
http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=3125

The “Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels” is a multi-stakeholder initiative by the Swiss EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) Energy Center, aimed at developing a management/policy decision tool for evaluating sustainability issues for biofuel feedstocks. A draft version of the biofuel sustainability principles and criteria (called “Version Zero”) was released last 2008 August, and is in the process of consultation/discussion. Stakeholder outreach meetings are scheduled to gather inputs on the draft, which will be finalized for publication late this year. According to the Biodiesel Magazine website, the outreach meetings are “aimed at biodiesel and ethanol producers, as well as other interested stakeholders from industry and the environmental movement”. RSB Coordinator, Matt Rudolf, mentions that there is a real feeling internationally, of a need for standards that [non-governmental organizations], environmental groups and the biofuels community will feel good about”. A voluntary system to certify sustainable biofuel production is being proposed by the RSB.

Related information on RSB
http://www.bioenergywiki.net/index.php/Roundtable_on_Sustainable_Biofuels
http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2680&q=Roundtable&category_id=22
http://www.bioenergywiki.net/index.php/Version_Zero