Review of the Impacts on Air Quality and Human Health of Land-Use Changes Induced by Non-food Biomass Production

International audience

English. Biomass production has developed significantly in the latest decades to meet the growing needs of the bioeconomy sector. This trend is expected to continue in the near future to substitute dwindling fossil resources. Concerns were recently raised on the consequences of expanding feedstock production on land use worldwide, prompting a surge in scientific publications. These consequences may be analysed through a three-step causal chain relating drivers of feedstock production, changes in land use (LUC), and environmental impacts. Among these, atmospheric pollution or human health impacts, as related to LUC, are rarely evaluated although they are a prime concern for environmental policies and the sustainability of the bioeconomy.Here, we reviewed current research on the LUC-mediated effects of biomass development on air quality and human health through a systematic survey of literature from 1975 to 2015. Only 17 articles addressing air quality and 9 papers addressing human health were retrieved. Most were published after 2014, implying that these topics only emerged recently. Most studies focused on liquid biofuels (1st and 2nd generation), although bio-materials and bio-electricity were also represented. These studies covered several geographical areas, with an emphasis on Europe and South America. Given the small size of our sample and the diversity of contexts it addressed, it is difficult to evidence clear-cut trends on the impacts of substituting fossil resources with biomass on human health and air quality.. Overall, the benefits of this substitution appeared mixed and dependent on the type of end-product considered. First-generation biofuels were out-performed by their second-generation counterparts, but this trend relies on a low number of references. Life-cycle assessment was the predominant method used to estimate the impacts of biomass development on human health or air pollution. This emerging field warrants further efforts toward more thorough assessments of LUC effects.