Net Energy, CO2 Emission and Land-Based Cost-Benefit Analyses of Jatropha Biodiesel: A Case Study of the Panzhihua Region of Sichuan Province in China

Abstract

Bioenergy is currently regarded as a renewable energy source with a high growth potential. Forest-based biodiesel, with the significant advantage of not competing with grain production on cultivated land, has been considered as a promising substitute for diesel fuel by many countries, including China. Consequently, extracting biodiesel from Jatropha curcas has become a growing industry. However, many key issues related to the development of this industry are still not fully resolved and the prospects for this industry are complicated. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the net energy, CO 2 emission, and cost efficiency of Jatropha biodiesel as a substitute fuel in China to help resolve some of the key issues by studying data from this region of China that is well suited to growing Jatropha. Our results show that: (1) Jatropha biodiesel is preferable for global warming mitigation over diesel fuel in terms of the carbon sink during Jatropha tree growth. (2) The net energy yield of Jatropha biodiesel is much lower than that of fossil fuel, induced by the high energy consumption during Jatropha plantation establishment and the conversion from seed oil to diesel fuel step. Therefore, the energy efficiencies of the production of Jatropha and its conversion to biodiesel need to be improved. (3) Due to current low profit and high risk in the study area, farmers have little incentive to continue or increase Jatropha production. (4) It is necessary to provide more subsidies and preferential policies for Jatropha plantations if this industry is to grow. It is also necessary for local government to set realistic objectives and make rational plans to choose proper sites for Jatropha OPEN ACCESSEnergies 2012, 5 2151 biodiesel development and the work reported here should assist that effort. Future research focused on breading high-yield varieties, development of efficient field management systems, and detailed studies lifecycle environmental impacts analysis is required to promote biologically and economically sustainable development of Jatropha biodiesel and to assist government agencies in setting realistic objectives and appropriate and advantageous policies for the regions and the country.

Impacts of land use and land cover changes on surface energy and water balance in the Heihe River Basin of China, 2000–2010

“…For example, recent studies have shown that anthropogenic LUCC have dramatically altered the earth's land surface (Ramankutty et al, 2008;Margono et al, 2012) and played a vital role in reshaping the global patterns of energy and/or water balances (Chen et al, 2005;Seneviratne et al, 2006). Previous studies showed that the large-scale land use/cover dynamics exerted huge impacts on the surface energy and water balance through biochemical and biophysical processes (Twine et al, 2004;Ardli and Wolff, 2009;Jiang et al, 2011;Liu and Deng, 2011;Deng et al, 2012;Huang et al, 2013). Besides, some research indicated that surface roughness, albedo and other properties, which affect exchanges of water and energy between the land surface and the atmosphere, will be altered by the conversion of natural ecosystems to irrigated agriculture, leading to various changes of the surface energy and net radiation in different seasons (Kueppers and Snyder, 2012).…”

China's changing diet and its impacts on greenhouse gas emissions: an index decomposition analysis

“…While the impacts of China's increasing demand and production of crops and livestock on agricultural lands are commonly identified in the literature (Naylor et al 2005;Fu et al 2012;Zhou et al 2012), the contribution of food consumption to GHG emissions is more rarely recognised (Steinfeld et al 2006;Deng et al 2012;Xu et al 2013) and has not been appraised in the level of detail provided in the present study.…”

Life Cycle Cost and Sensitivity Analysis of Reutealis trisperma as Non-Edible Feedstock for Future Biodiesel Production

“…As such, the research communities continue to explore new possible source of feedstocks and catalysts for biodiesel production; the more varieties of feedstocks that are available and tested, the more assured is biodiesel in terms of sustainability and feasibility. Several examples of research efforts on crops for the production of biodiesel are calophyllum inophyllum [36], pongamia glabra (koroch seed) [37], jatropha curcas [38,39], eruca sativa. L [40], Hevea brasiliensis and Ricinus communis [41] pongamia pinnata (karanja) [42,43], sterculia foetida [44], azadirachta indica (neem) [45], madhuca indica (mahua) [46], soap nut [47,48], milkweed (Calotropis gigantean) [49], guizotia abyssinica [50], tung [51], pistacia chinensis [52], and algae [18].…”