Land Availability for Biofuel Production

Abstract

Marginal agricultural land is estimated for biofuel production in Africa, China, Europe, India, South America, and the continental United States, which have major agricultural production capacities. These countries/regions can have 320-702 million hectares of land available if only abandoned and degraded cropland and mixed crop and vegetation land, which are usually of low quality, are accounted. If grassland, savanna, and shrubland with marginal productivity are considered for planting low-input high-diversity (LIHD) mixtures of native perennials as energy crops, the total land availability can increase from 1107-1411 million hectares, depending on if the pasture land is discounted. Planting the second generation of biofuel feedstocks on abandoned and degraded cropland and LIHD perennials on grassland with marginal productivity may fulfill 26-55% of the current world liquid fuel consumption, without affecting the use of land with regular productivity for conventional crops and without affecting the current pasture land. Under the various land use scenarios, Africa may have more than one-third, and Africa and Brazil, together, may have more than half of the total land available for biofuel production. These estimations are based on physical conditions such as soil productivity, land slope, and climate.

Safety, health, and environmental assessment of bioethanol production from sugarcane, corn, and corn stover

“…The three types of bioethanol production in this study, that is, ethanol derived from sugarcane, corn, and corn stover, refer to the most representative biomass resources for sucrose-containing materials, starch materials, and lignocellulosic biomass. Therefore, based on the results of this study, a new viewpoint, that is, process hazard assessment, can be implemented into bioethanol production in addition to economic aspects, LCIA, resource availability, and use of land and water discussed by other researchers [14][15][16]. In this context, the specific category of environmental impacts related with nutrients used in biomass cultivation, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, is also important and their input/output balances and cycles among involved carriers such as animal and plant should be carefully considered [44].…”

“…The environmental impact, mainly expressed as greenhouse gases emissions, has also been evaluated for bioethanol production from various feedstock, including corn in the USA [6][7][8][9], sugarcane in Brazil [10,11] and corn stover [12,13]. Additionally, the issues of biomass availability [14] and water and land use [15,16] have also been studied.…”

Química Sem Fronteiras: o desafio da energia

“…Estimativas de uso de água quando se considera a produção de biodiesel de soja é da ordem de 13,9 -27,9 bilhões de litros por MWh de energia, enquanto são necessários apenas 10 -40 litros de água por MWh para a extração do petróleo ou de 170 -681 litros de água por MWh para a extração do óleo de xisto. 54,55 Considerando-se ainda a grande quantidade de terra necessária 56,57 e também a grande quantidade de fertilizantes aplicadas às plantações (que também libera NH 3 e gases estufa para a atmosfera e pesticidas para corpos d'água e solos) 58,59 associadas à produção de soja ou de outro cultivar para a produção de biodiesel, os benefícios ambientais iniciais associados à queima do biodiesel são minimizados. Logo, quando se pensa em biomassa para geração de energia se deve expandir o dilema "alimentos x combustíveis" para o trilema "alimentos x combustíveis x meio ambiente".…”

Stress-Tolerant Feedstocks for Sustainable Bioenergy Production on Marginal Land

“…Other estimates put the global marginal land area anywhere from 1100 [5] to 6650 million hectares [2], depending on the parameters used to describe marginal (e.g., "nonfavored agricultural land," "abandoned or degraded cropland," or arid, forested, grassland, shrubland, or savanna habitats). The potential area available in the USA for cellulosic biomass crops and low-input, high-diversity native perennial mixtures ranges from 43 to 123 million hectares [5,6]. The differences in these estimates reflect the inconsistencies in the usage of the term "marginal land," despite its common use in the bioenergy industry and literature [5,7,8].…”

“…The potential area available in the USA for cellulosic biomass crops and low-input, high-diversity native perennial mixtures ranges from 43 to 123 million hectares [5,6]. The differences in these estimates reflect the inconsistencies in the usage of the term "marginal land," despite its common use in the bioenergy industry and literature [5,7,8]. Marginal lands are often described as degraded lands that are unfit for food production and/or of some ambiguously poor quality and are often termed unproductive [7].…”