The current use of the earth’s natural resources is on a collision course with the widely accepted definition of “sustainable,” wherein the current generation meets its needs without endangering the ability of future generations to do the same. The challenges are great and many; from the need to reduce the impacts of climate change, to the imperative to reduce poverty, as well as the conservation of global nature. Over half of the habitable land is already used for agriculture. By 2050, humanity will number 9 billion and should double consumption from the present day, meanwhile 3 billion people won’t have access to freshwater. How will we meet the challenges on the horizon while protecting the climate? We need to do more with less.

Biofuels will and should be a part of the solution to decrease our global materiality. To ensure that the development of the biofuels industry occurs in as sustainable a manner as possible, a number of policies and voluntary standards have been and are being developed. Sustainability’s acronym soup for biofuels currently includes such standards as BSI, CSBP, ISCC, RSB, RSPO, and RTRS. All of these emerging standards along with existing and developing policy measures will have significant impacts on the global and local environments as well developing the business of biofuels, as they will help dictate the resource use pattern in the 21^st century. This presentation will examine the above topics and provide a brief comparison of some of the standards and policies along their implications for sustainability.