The beginning of this century was marked by a renewed interest in the development of biofuels. The commitment of the international community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, energy concerns and agricultural markets were the main reasons for this development. Therefore, the production and consumption of biofuels have increased dramatically and took on an international dimension. This phenomenon magnitude has caused agricultural, environmental and economical concerns. The purpose of the thesis is to study all the implications of the development of biofuels - that is to say, economical, agricultural and environmental - in the context of the global economy. To promote biofuels as opposite to their fossil equivalents, important measures to support all sectors of biofuels have been established in different parts of the world. To study the impact of these policies, we conducted a comparative study between the measurements of the main players (Brazil, European Union and United States) and new actors in international markets. In addition to comparing the economic and environmental performance, we analyzed the influence of political support of key players on the political orientation of new actors involved in the production of biofuels (or raw materials). The second axis of the thesis focuses on the agricultural implications of biofuel development. Indeed, many events have marked the global agricultural markets over the past twenty years: the change in eating habits in developing countries, the scarcity of farmland in the historically producing and exporting regions, natural disasters... is a challenge for future food needs. In this context, the advent of biofuels is certainly an additional factor to existing tensions in global agricultural markets. In addition to increasing the pressure on prices, the development of biofuels contributes to the reorganization of the architecture of global agriculture in favor of developing countries. The last axis addresses the environmental impacts of biofuels. Internationalization (direct and / or indirect) of biofuels production gives a new dimension to the environmental implications of biofuels. Our approach is to study the environmental impacts of biofuels by separating the stages of production of raw materials, those of processing and of consumption. The results show that developing countries are exposed to high environmental risks. To mitigate these risks, the development of biofuels should be subject to certain conditions that will achieve a socio-economical and environmental sustainability.
