Tracking the European transition from fuel dependence to sustainable mobility

Ukraine is the only major agricultural country whose production of biofuels has declined since 2010. Nevertheless, it has set a target of 11.5 percent of primary energy supply from biomass, biofuels and waste by 2035. Agricultural land needed to produce biofuels feedstock is calculated for two scenarios based on its current 11.5 percent target and previous 5.0 percent target specified as a share of transport energy consumption. The export orientation of Ukraine’s crop sector and resulting foreign currency earnings pose trade-offs if crops are diverted from exports to biofuel feedstocks. Given these trade-offs, policy options for developing a biofuels industry while satisfying Ukraine’s export and domestic markets are to (1) bring land not currently cultivated into production and (2) increase yield. Both options are found to have substantial potential.

Biofuels are socially and politically accepted as a form of sustainable energy in numerous countries. However, cases of environmental degradation and land grabs have highlighted the negative effects to their adoption. Smallholder farmers are vital in the development of a biofuel industry. The study sought to assess the implications in the adoption of biofuel crops by smallholder farmers. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 129 smallholder farmers who were sampled from the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. A binary probit model was used to investigate the determinants of smallholder farmers adopting biofuel crops. The empirical results showed that the variables, such as membership in association, occupation and incentives were statistically significant in influencing farmers’ decision to adopt biofuel crops. Furthermore, it was discovered that the studied areas have a potential to grow biofuel crops.

The bioeconomy, grounded in the shift from fossils to bio-based resources, plays an important role in the Net Zero 2050 scenario. However, even if rooted in circular thinking, bioeconomy business models are not free from environmental, social, and economic concerns. This paper deals with the causes of the unsustainability of business models in the biofuels sector, embracing an unconventional approach that focuses on the uncaptured value. The value uncaptured is the negative aspect of value, and it consists of creating too much or not enough value during the product lifecycle. Value uncaptured can threaten the sustainability of circular business models, which is why it constitutes the ‘dark side’ of circular strategies. Starting from a gap in the existing literature and supported by theoretical background, this study aims to suggest a theoretical framework to identify the causes of the negative value in the biofuel sector. The paper uses a qualitative tool, namely a case study analysis. The findings reveal that circular business models can suffer from value uncaptured, which can take the form of value absence, value destroyed, value surplus, and value missed. Identifying these forms of value can transform them into opportunities for value creation. These results enrich the research on the circular economy with a new and unconventional approach. The elaborated theoretical framework can become a qualitative tool to identify what causes companies’ circular business models to underperform.