Biofuel initiatives in India have gained momentum with the national biofuel policy targeting 20% blending of both petrol and diesel by 2017. Most of India's biofuel plans revolve around using sugarcane for bioethanol and jatropha for biodiesel production. This study, taking the southern Indian state of Karnataka as an example, aims at estimating the potential to achieve policy targets. The study spatially analyses land-use change owing to biofuel expansion and its effects on food production. We used an integrated modelling framework to simulate land-use change and bioenergy production under two scenarios -Industrial Economy (IE) and Agricultural Economy (AE). Results indicate that meeting the 20% blending target is a challenging goal to achieve under both scenarios. Bioethanol requirements can be nearly fulfilled (88% under IE and 93% under AE) because of sugarcane expansion. However, biodiesel demands cannot be fulfilled using only degraded lands as currently planned in India, but additional agricultural land (3-4% of the total cropland) will be required for jatrophabased biodiesel production. Food production will not be directly impacted until 2025, because the largest source of additional land could be short-and long-term fallows. We conclude that conservation oriented initiatives, such as water harvesting and energy conservation measures can increase productivities of biofuel crops and reduce fuel demands, respectively. State support and Clean Development Mechanism opportunities can enhance economic incentives for energy cropping. Therefore, a simultaneous and multipronged approach is needed to accommodate food and fuel demands in India.
Energy scenarios and roadmaps indicate that intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind power and solar photovoltaic (PV) will be crucial to the power supply in the future. However, this increases the demand for flexible power generation, particularly under conditions of insufficient wind and/or solar irradiation. Among the renewable energy sources, bioenergy offers multiple end-use in the form of power, fuel or heat. Biomass-based power combines the advantages of being renewable, exceptionally CO 2 neutral and supporting demand-oriented production.This chapter analyses four energy scenarios for Germany, focusing on the relevance of flexible bioenergy therein. Depending on how the scenarios are constructed, the range of biomass potential in the energy system is 1,180-1,700 PJ/a. The following sections of the chapter investigate the potential of flexible power generation from biomass on a regional scale (50 Hertz grid) starting with a description of the current state of bioenergy generation in the region and its potential for supplementary heat provision. We model the contribution of flexible biogas and solid biomass power using a minimization of daily residual load variance as a goal function. Two points in time are modeled -2011 and 2030 to include the current and projected
India announced a long-awaited and much-needed national biofuel policy in December 2009 with a mandate of achieving 20% blending of bioethanol and biodiesel by 2017. However, while the determination of specifi c time-bound targets is a crucial step in the Indian biofuel program, several aspects of the guidelines refl ect uncertainty that may render the 20% target unachievable. This perspective traces the rapid changes in political strategies of biofuels in India over the last decade and reviews signifi cant scientifi c progress, achieved in the same period. Our observation indicates that biofuel policies in India have followed a zigzag course interspersed with several positive initiatives, severely discouraging advocacies and occasional neglect of biofuels. The multiplicity of related policies, each partially addressing biofuel issues have amounted to increasing ambiguity.We present an analysis of the tenets of the current policy with respect to land availability, related land use, and economic and marketing institutions, which are some of the important determinants of success for the Indian biofuel program. Some recommendations emanating from the analysis are (1) to estimate of available land and land use change effects; (2) to build resilience for energy crops towards climate change; and (3) to strengthen marketing and fi nancial mechanisms at grass-roots level. In conclusion we emphasize the need for timely scientifi c assessments and the subsequent incorporation into policy formulation to enable India to achieve the overall goal of sustainable biofuel production.
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