Biofuels and Sustainable Development

The book contributes to the better understanding of different stages of biodiesel production in the Brazilian Amazon Region, showing the linkages between the oil seed activity and the social inclusion, income generation, food security and climate change. The factor analysis was applied to support multidimensional assessment of linkages between oil seed production and the inclusion of poor farmers in the biodiesel chain. Scenarios comprising the current and potential food production were established to estimate the impacts on local food security. The impacts of oil seed production on farmer''s income were also estimated. Moreover, scenarios were also established to estimate the impacts of oil seed activity on climate change, mainly through CO2 emissions due to deforestation of native forests. The biodiesel production can now be better gauged in other parts of the Brazilian Legal Amazon region since the book highlights one of the most discussed topics about biofuels: oil seed production taking precedence over the sustainable development.