Policy and governance dynamics in the water-energy-food-land nexus of biofuels: Proposing a qualitative analysis model

Author(s)

Benites Lazaro, Lira Luz ^[1] ; Giatti, Leandro Luiz ^[1] ; Bermann, Celio ^[2] ; Giarolla, Angelica ^[3] ; Ometto, Jean ^[3]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Environm Hlth, Sch Publ Hlth, Av Dr Arnaldo 715, BR-01246904 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Energy & Environm, Av Prof Luciano Gualberto 1289, BR-05508010 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[3] Natl Inst Space Res INPE, Earth Syst Sci Ctr, Av Dos Astronautas 1758, BR-12227010 Sao Jose Dos Campos - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: RENEWABLE & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REVIEWS; v. 149, OCT 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

The production of biofuels is inextricably linked with the water-energy-food-land (WEFL) nexus. Understanding these linkages is necessary to formulate effective policies that can influence positive outcomes and contribute to the realization of long-term economic, environmental, and social goals. The use of biofuels can help achieve the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and implement the Paris Agreement on climate change. However, the biofuels sector must account for its interdependencies and trade-offs with other sectors. In this study, we formulate a qualitative analytical model that goes beyond the three water-energy-food nexus components by incorporating other elements, such as policy, innovation, governance, and labor to examine their effect as influencing factors and to understand how synergies, trade-offs, and long-overlooked interlinkages between sectors and among existing policies and institutions can become visible. This qualitative model was applied to the case of ethanol in Brazil, for which a large corpus was constructed from the scientific literature, documents and sustainability reports from sugarcane ethanol companies. We used a supervised latent Dirichlet allocation (sLDA) algorithm along with co-occurrence and network analyses. The results demonstrate this approach can be used to evaluate the interfaces between science, policy, and businesses within the WEFL-biofuels nexus. This is done by identifying how best to integrate the development of policies, governance, and stakeholder actions to support cost-effective decisions for optimal resource management and regulatory processes while enabling better integration of scientific insight and policy-making. We also identified how these four influencing factors are of vital importance within the nexus and, if properly addressed, can contribute to more holistic nexus thinking management. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 19/24479-0 - Water-energy- food nexus of biofuels: analyzing policy impacts
• Grantee: Lira Luz Benites Lazaro
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• FAPESP's process: 17/22269-2 - Transition to sustainability and agriculture-energy-water nexus: exploring an integrated approach with case studies in the Cerrado and Caatinga
• Grantee: Jean Pierre Henry Balbaud Ometto
• Support Opportunities: Research Program on Global Climate Change - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 17/17796-3 - Conflicts and power relations: the water-energy-food nexus in the production of ethanol in the State of São Paulo
• Grantee: Lira Luz Benites Lazaro
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 15/03804-9 - Environmental governance of macrometropolis paulista in face of climate variability
• Grantee: Pedro Roberto Jacobi
• Support Opportunities: Research Program on Global Climate Change - Thematic Grants