Identifying trade-offs between socio-economic and environmental factors for bioenergy crop production: A case study from northern Kentucky

Nepal, Sandhya; Tran, Liem

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2019.04.110

Cited by 16 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The application of bioethanol could contribute to the emission of harmful gases [14]. "Sustainable management of water" Irrigation can have negative consequences for the structure of soil [15].…”

Section: Un 2030 Agenda For Sustainable Development Aspects Of Bioenergy Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Positioning Bio-Based Energy Systems in a Hypercomplex Decision Space—A Case Study

et al. 2021

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The optimization of the energy portfolio for a small, open, landlocked economy with rather limited fossil resources is a complex task because it must find a long-range, sustainable balance between the various goals of society under the constant pressure of different interest groups. The opinions of independent, informed experts could be an essential input in the decision-making process. The goal of this research was to determine the relative importance of the values and goals potentially accompanying projects, based on the utilization of bioenergy. The current research is based on a wide-ranging survey of 65 non-partisan experts, applying the Pareto analytic hierarchy process to ensure the unbiased prioritization of project segments. The results of the survey put a spotlight on the importance of the economic role of bioenergy projects. Contrary to previous expectations and considerations, the social functions of these projects have hitherto been given relatively little importance. The results highlight the importance of bioenergy in increasing the income-generating capacity of agricultural producers by optimal utilization of natural resources for agricultural production. This can be achieved without considerable deterioration of the natural environment. Modern agricultural production is characterized by high levels of mechanization and automatization. Under these conditions, the social role of bioenergy projects (job creation) is rather limited.

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Section: Un 2030 Agenda For Sustainable Development Aspects Of Bioenergy Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Positioning Bio-Based Energy Systems in a Hypercomplex Decision Space—A Case Study

et al. 2021

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“…Increasing interest in lowering the dependence on fossil fuels has led to a growing demand for renewable energy, and increased the potential market for biomass feedstock. Another key interest is bioenergy's potential to support rural economies through job generation, increasing land productivity, and improving access to key infrastructure [3]. One of the biggest challenges with producing forest products for biomass for bioenergy is doing so in a sustainable manner.…”

Section: Environmental and Economic Aspects Of Biomass For Bioenergymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The environmental and actual costs to produce bioenergy should be competitive or exceed the costs of non-renewable energy sources [6]. In order to support the renewable energy industry, geographic and infrastructural requirements must also be considered to ensure that a growing bioenergy industry can truly be sustainable [3]. These geographic and infrastructural considerations are addressed further in Section 3.1 of this paper, which allowed us to define our criteria for the AHP portion of the stakeholder surveys.…”

Section: Environmental and Economic Aspects Of Biomass For Bioenergymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One such fuel is bioenergy, which has been recognized a sustainable source of energy, and has become a staple in energy plans around the world. Biofuels using forested biomass has considerable potential as an energy source due to its sustainability and relative efficiency [1][2][3][4], but it is not without its issues; uncertainties associated with land-use change, inadequate volume for perennial crop cultivation for biomass feedstock, and a relative uneasiness among investors for producing feedstocks have combined to significantly slow the growth of bioenergy production in the United States [5][6][7]. The feedstock requirements present perhaps the largest challenge; a 2005 US Department of Energy (DoE) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) joint estimate suggested a requirement of around 36,252 Mg of domestic perennial biomass for domestic bioethanol needs, of which little over 10,000 Mg has been produced as of 2016 [8,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Geographical Criteria for Loblolly Pine Management for Bioenergy Production in Virginia

Smith

Nguyen

Wieczerak

et al. 2019

Forests

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This study analyzed the perceptions of four stakeholder groups (forest landowners, private forest consultants, forest management researchers or educators, and federal or state agency foresters), regarding their management practices and preferred geographic growing conditions of loblolly pine in Virginia by combining AHP (analytical hierarchy process) and regression modeling. By ranking the importance of different geographical conditions for managing loblolly pine, we aimed to identify ways to support loblolly growth as a potential feedstock for biofuel generation. We achieved this through collecting survey responses from 43 stakeholders during the 2019 Virginia Forestry Summit. The results showed that the landowner, researcher/educator, and federal/state agency stakeholder groups all indicated that proximity to a mill was the most important criteria, whereas the consultant stakeholder group indicated that proximity to a road was the most important criteria. All the stakeholder groups indicated that distance from protected land was the least important criteria, followed by proximity to a water body and flat land. The regression model revealed that acres of land managed and loblolly rotation age were correlated to the weight given to the distance to a mill criterion, where increased acreage and increased rotation age were associated with an increased prioritization of proximity to a mill. Distance from protected land, the lowest-ranking criteria, was shown to have an association with the level of experience with loblolly, where more experience was associated with a lower prioritization of proximity from protected land. A contingency analysis of the self-identified level of experience with loblolly in each stakeholder group revealed that federal/state agency foresters had the most experience, followed by consultants, landowners, and researchers/educators. The research supports the importance of understanding the variation of perceptions between and within stakeholder groups in order to develop the necessary infrastructural and policy support for the sustainable development of bioenergy.

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“…Because perennial crops are not replanted every year, soil disturbance is less frequent than annual crops. Nevertheless, it is also reported that the initial cultivation of dedicated energy crops when non-agricultural land is used can aggravate soil erosion, negatively affect soil quality, and contribute to overall soil degradation 474,[501][502][503] .…”

Section: Synergies and Trade-offs With Sgd 15 -Life On Landmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land for biomass?

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In the past decades, sugarcane production in Brazil has expanded rapidly to meet increasing ethanol demand. The large majority of this expansion occurred in Sao Paulo state. We used an integrated approach considering location-specific biophysical characteristics to determine the environmental impacts of sugarcane expansion and their spatial variation in Sao Paulo state (2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015). The included environmental impacts are greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, biodiversity, soil erosion, and water quantity. All impacts were integrated into a single environmental performance index to determine trade-offs between impacts. Our results show a strong spatial variation in environmental impacts and trade-offs between them. The magnitude and direction of these impacts are mostly driven by the type of land use change and by the heterogeneity of the biophysical conditions. Areas where expansion of sugar cane has resulted in mostly negative environmental impacts are located in the center and east of the state (related to the change of shrublands, eucalyptus, and forest), while areas where sugar cane expansion has resulted in positive impacts are located in the center-west and north (related to the change of annual crops). Identifying areas with mainly positive and negative impacts enables the development of strategies to mitigate negative effects and enhance positive ones for future sugarcane expansion. 24 42 3 A carbon footprint assessment of multi-output biorefineries with international biomass supply: a case study for the Netherlands

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Identifying trade-offs between socio-economic and environmental factors for bioenergy crop production: A case study from northern Kentucky

Cited by 16 publications

References 21 publications

Positioning Bio-Based Energy Systems in a Hypercomplex Decision Space—A Case Study

Positioning Bio-Based Energy Systems in a Hypercomplex Decision Space—A Case Study

Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Geographical Criteria for Loblolly Pine Management for Bioenergy Production in Virginia

Land for biomass?

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