Year of publication 2010

The Bioenergy Impact Assessment (BIAS) framework summarizes the major issues related to impact and process based environmental assessments related to bioenergy development and attempts to bring together and evaluate the best available, tested and untested methodologies. It is part of a larger effort of FAO to facilitate decisions at various levels that take their wider impact into consideration, above all their impact on food security (BEFS project) and the environment (BIAS). In an area of fast development, many investment and land use decisions have already been taken, often in a vaguely defined policy environment and without due consideration of environmental consequences. This framework is intended as a step towards practical decision making tools and to perhaps serve as a benchmark or reference for new methodologies, other evaluation approaches and for future standards development.