Land use: Synergies and trade-offs between energy and food production? (LUST) 

The Academy of Finland is funding Finland Futures Research Centre's project “Land use: Synergies and trade-offs between energy and food production?” (LUST). The project started on 1.1.2010 and ends on 31.12.2013.

The research focuses on land use for energy and food production. The Western type diet including lot of meat requires a larger area at production stage than a vegetarian diet. Population growth and economic growth increase aölso energy consumption, but the possibilities to utilize more renewable energy sources such as different biofuels are limited due to competing land use purposes. Increasing production costs of energy and food set a challenge to national and EU policies which include high targets for the use of renewable energies, especially biofuels.

The objectives of the research include

• Develop an integrated evaluation framework utilizing quantitative and qualitative research methods, which can be used for assessing the social, economic and environmental impacts of energy and food production as well as synergies and trade-offs between these impacts from the land use perspective.
• Test this evaluation framework in case studies of different context.
• Construct alternative visions of future at regional, national, and international level.
• Identify possibilities promoting energy and food security and draw related policy conclusions.