Communicating about bioenergy sustainability

Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2013 · Environmental Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-012-0014-4· OSTI ID:1108548

Dale, Virginia H ^[1]; Kline, Keith L ^[1]; Perla, Dr. Donna ^[2]; Lucier, Dr. Al ^[3]

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1. ORNL
2. US Environmental Protection Agency
3. National Council on Air and Stream Improvement

Defining and measuring sustainability of bioenergy systems are difficult because the systems are complex, the science is in early stages of development, and there is a need to generalize what are inherently context-specific enterprises. These challenges, and the fact that decisions are being made now, create a need for improved communications among scientists as well as between scientists and decision makers. In order for scientists to provide information that is useful to decision makers, they need to come to an agreement on how to measure and report potential risks and benefits of diverse energy alternatives, including problems and opportunities in various bioenergy production pathways. Scientists also need to develop approaches that contribute information relevant to policy and decision making. The need for clear communication is especially important at this time when there is a plethora of scientific papers and reports, and it is difficult for the public or decision makers to assess the merits of each analysis. We propose three communication guidelines for scientists whose work can contribute to decision making: (1) relationships between the question and the analytical approach should be clearly defined and make common sense; (2) the information should be presented in a manner that nonscientists can understand; and (3) the implications of methods, assumptions and limitations should be clear. The scientists job is to analyze information in order to build a better understanding of environmental, cultural and socioeconomic aspects of the sustainability of energy alternatives. The scientific process requires transparency, debate, review, and collaboration across disciplines and time. This paper serves as an introduction to the papers in the special issue on Sustainability of Bioenergy Systems: Cradle to Grave because scientific communication is essential to developing more sustainable energy systems. Together these four papers provide a framework under which the effects of bioenergy can be assessed and compared to other energy alternatives in order to foster sustainability.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
• Sponsoring Organization: EE USDOE - Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EE)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1108548
• Journal Information: Environmental Management, Journal Name: Environmental Management Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 51; ISSN 0364-152X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

Benefits
Biofuels
Communication
Costs
Decisions
Landscape Design
Risk
Scale