In line with the 20:20:20 Strategy, the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) was introduced to regulate the overall biofuel market, amongst others. Based on the RED's definition of sustainability, different certification schemes emerged, aimed at creating a uniform biofuel standard within Europe. At present, the overall scale and scope of environmental and social impacts associated with the biofuel supply chain are not well defined and this will be evaluated within this thesis. Furthermore, close ties between the biofuel supply chain and other sectors including food and crude oil industries lead to associations with issues such as deforestation, pollution and food supply shortages. Thus, this thesis will analyse whether RED actually supports such a low-carbon pathway or it mainly supports the local industry. As such, the RED has been critically regarded as a market protectionist mechanism for the European agricultural and biofuel industry against the comparatively more competitive biodiesel imp]]>