Energiepflanzen und Flächenkonkurrenz: Indizien und Unsicherheiten

In the first decade of the 21st century, energy crop cultivation, particularly for biofuels, has increased remarkably in many developed and transition countries, determined by political decisions. This development raised concerns that energy crops compete with food production for land use. In this review, indicators for land-use competition such as land-use change, tenure rates and agricultural prices are discussed with regard to their context and informative value for past and future competitions through cultivation of energy crops. Yield increases and changing dietary patterns are analysed exemplarily as important determining factors for potential future developments. Due to the complex interplay of many influencing factors, indicators and models can only indicate risks of land-use competition and not precise figures. The present article emphasises that available analyses have not sufficiently taken into account feedbacks which at least partly mitigate negative impacts of energy crop cultivation in terms of land-use competition.