Biofuel Crop Sustainability brings together the basic principles of agricultural sustainability and special stipulations for biofuels, from the economic and ecological opportunities and challenges of sustainable biofuel crop production to the unique characteristics of particular crops which make them ideal for biofuel applications. This book will be a valuable resource for researchers and professionals involved in biofuels development and production as well as agriculture industry personnel. Chapters focus the broad principles of resource management for ecological, environmental and societal welfare, the sustainability issues pertaining to several broad categories of biofuel crops , as well as the economics and profitability of biofuels on both a local and international scale. Coverage includes topics such as utilizing waste water for field crop irrigation and algae production, reliability of feedstock supply, marginal lands, and identifying crops with traits of significance for survival and growth on low fertility soils. The development of production practices with low external inputs of fertilizer, irrigation, and pesticides is also covered. Biofuel Crop Sustainability will be a valuable, up-to-date reference for all those involved in the rapidly expanding biofuels industry and sustainable agriculture research fields.
Environmental Sustainability of Biofuels: Prospects and Challenges provides a comprehensive sustainability analysis of biofuels based on lifecycle analysis and develops various multi-dimensional decision-making techniques for prioritizing biofuel production technologies. Taking a transversal approach, the book combines lifecycle sustainability assessment, lifecycle assessment, lifecycle costing analysis, social lifecycle assessment, sustainability metrics, triple bottom lines, operational research methods, and supply chain designs for investigating the critical factors and critical enablers that influence the sustainable development of biofuel industry. This book will be a valuable resource for students, researchers and practitioners seeking to deepen their knowledge of biofuels as an alternative fuel. It will equip researchers and policymakers in the energy sector with the scientific methodology and metrics needed to develop strategies for a viable sustainability transition. Provides decision-making and planning tools for the bioenergy sector Focuses on the applied aspects of environmental sustainability, offering a guide to the implementation of standard and new analyses in the commercial sector Gives readers the tools to understand the implications of policy and regulation in different locations rather than providing location-specific information that is quickly out-of-date
The work builds on the results of the COMPETE Bioenergy Competence Platform for Africa, which was supported by the European Commission and coordinated by WIP Renewable Energies, Germany. The five sections cover biomass production and use, biomass technologies and markets in Africa, biomass policies, sustainability, and financial and socio-economic issues. This valuable work is, in effect, a single-source treatment of a key energy sector in a part of the world which still has a lot of unrealised potential for development.
The increased demand for biofuels is expected to put additional strain on the available agricultural resources while at the same time causing environmental degradation. Hence, new energy policies need to be formulated and implemented in order to meet global energy needs while reducing the impact of biofuel crop farming and production. To allow for the same, the author has made use of the concepts of Fuzzy logic and Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) in the form of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to develop software functionalities.The software functionalities provide a framework wherein the qualitative aspects of decision making (such as stakeholder viewpoints) maybe reconcilled with quantitative data.The efficacy of using quantitative methods for sustainability decision making has been illustrated through a number of case study based models. These models have used data from the Philippines and India in order to pinpoint suitable land and crop options for these countries. It should be noted that these methodologies can be applied outside of a software environment and can be used to develop a wide variety of sustainability models/scenarios.
Sustainability is a key driving force for industries in the chemical, food, packaging, agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors, and quantitative sustainability indicators are being incorporated into company reports. This is driving the uptake of renewable resources and the adoption of renewables. Renewables' can either be the substituted raw materials that are used in a given industry, (e.g. the use of biomass for fuel); the use and/or modification of a crop for use in a new industry (e.g. plant cellulose), or the reuse of a waste product (e.g. organic waste for energy production). This is the first book in the Wiley Renewable Resources series that brings together the range of sustainability assessment methods and their uses. Ensuing books in the series will look at individual renewable materials and applications.
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)
ISBN: MSU:31293036399461
Category: Agriculture and energy
Page: 198
View: 571
Biofuels global emergence in the last two decades is met with increased concerns over climate change and sustainable development. This report addresses the core issue of biofuel sustainability of biofuels and related feedstocks, drawing from a wide range of sustainability related studies, reports, policy initiatives. The report critically examines the economic, environmental and social sustainability dimensions of biofuels and review the major certification initiatives, schemes and regulations. In doing so, the report relies on extensive review of a number of country case studies covering a broad range of current biofuel-feedstocks systems. The report analysis clearly distinguish feedstock efficiency (in terms of biofuel yields per unit of land) from sustainability, especially under limiting resource (irrigated water) or sensitive areas (carbon stocks). Also, long run economic viability depend on the future policy support, technical innovations in biofuel systems, economics of biofuel supply and demand and trade-offs between food and energy uses as well as feedstock productivity gains. Biofuels can present both advantages and risks for environmental sustainability; the latter being often difficult to measure or monitor and may conflict with economic sustainability unless great strides in productivity gains are achieved. Social sustainability is the weakest link in current biofuel certification schemes owing to intrinsic local factors and as efforts target more few negative social impacts; much less focus is placed on inclusive processes that strengthen marginal stockholders participation and benefits. Biofuel certification schemes need to be more smallholder inclusive, perhaps through policy initiatives. Finally, poor developing countries, especially with abundant land and biomass production potential, need to prioritise food security and poverty reduction. In many cases, biofuel models that encourage small scale integrated bioenergy systems may offer higher rural development impacts. FDI-induced larger-scale biofuel projects, on the other hand, may be suitable in those situations where countries have sufficient industrial capacity, besides land and biomass potential, and when these biofuel projects can be fully integrated into domestic energy strategies that do not conflict with food production potential and food security.
This book addresses the underexposed political dimensions of bioeconomy promotion. Who wins and who loses? How are institutions being shaped, and by whom? Drawing from experiences since the earlier days of biofuels promotion, it explores in unprecedented detail the global drive away from fossil fuels and towards a biomass-based economy. Multipurpose agriculture gains ever more traction as countries create new bio-based value chains – or, rather, value webs. Governance, in this regard, proves to be key for steering developments towards inclusive agri-food-biomass systems instead of fueling just a handful of “flex crops” ridden with social equity and other environmental issues. Based on a rich global-level analysis of bioeconomy promotion and three in-depth case studies of key emerging economies (Brazil, India and Indonesia), the book also innovatively examines sustainability politics in Global South democracies. Ultimately, this book is about finding the politics for a fairer bioeconomy in the years and decades to come.
This book features review articles that analyze current agricultural issues and knowledge. It also proposes novel, environmentally friendly solutions that are based on integrated information from such fields as agroecology, soil science, molecular biology, chemistry, toxicology, economics and the social sciences. Coverage examines ways to produce food and energy in a sustainable way for humans and their children. Inside, readers will find articles that explore climate change, food security, water pollution, soil erosion, fertility loss, pest control and biodiversity depletion. Instead of solving problems using the classical painkiller approach, which seeks only to limit negative impacts, sustainable agriculture treats challenges at their source. Because most societal issues are in fact intertwined, global and fast-developing, sustainable agriculture will bring solutions that have the potential to build a more peaceful world. This book will help scientists, decision-makers, professors, farmers and politicians build safer agriculture, energy and food systems for future generations.
Sustainable agriculture is a rapidly growing field aiming at producing food and energy in a sustainable way for humans and their children. It is a discipline that addresses current issues: climate change, increasing food and fuel prices, poor-nation starvation, rich-nation obesity, water pollution, soil erosion, fertility loss, pest control and biodiversity depletion. This series gathers review articles that analyze current agricultural issues and knowledge, then proposes alternative solutions.
This collection features five peer-reviewed literature reviews on using crops as biofuel. The first chapter reviews the key issues and challenges faced when expanding sugarcane cultivation for bioenergy, primarily, competition with food crops, loss of biodiversity, water, air and soil pollution, as well as a potential increase in pest problems. The second chapter describes current technologies and constraints of biodiesel production, including the need for a consistent supply of feedstock to ensure a sustainable biodiesel industry. The chapter also examines life cycle assessment (LCA) of canola/rapeseed biodiesel production. The third chapter addresses the sustainability of biofuels derived from palm oil and discusses the impact of their production on our ecosystems. The chapter also reviews the economics of biofuel and the levels of governmental support needed for sustainable production. The fourth chapter examines the potential of varying grassland types for biomass production. The chapter details the options for use of grassland biomass, citing its suitability for combustion, pyrolysis, biorefining and for use in bioenergy applications. The final chapter reviews best agronomic practices for increasing overall biomass output in the face of pressing environmental changes. It also utilises the LCA framework to review strategies for crop improvement, such as intercropping and crop rotations. What is an Instant Insight? An Instant Insight gives you immediate access to key research on a topic, allowing you to get right to the heart of a subject in an instant and empowering you to contribute to sustainable agriculture.
Biofuels are a renewable source of energy used mainly for transportation. They link together food, energy and natural resources sectors, and involve ecological, social and inequality issues. They are an emblematic example of the interactions between economic, environmental, social and political decisions and, as a recent and complex issue, require updated and detailed information to be understood. This book aims to shed light on several economic, social and environmental issues connected to biofuel production and policies. The Economics of Biofuels adopts detailed descriptions, rigorous data analysis and precise econometric methods to estimate the effects of biofuel on different socio-economic factors, avoiding complicated and sometimes ineffective models based on context-specific parameters. In particular, the book focuses on the impact of bioenergy policy on biocommodity production and trade, and on the related phenomenon of land acquisitions to grow biofuel commodities. The book’s main findings are derived by an original and unique dataset collecting information on the investors acquiring land in Africa and on the voluntary standard, certification and labelling schemes adopted by them as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy. The analysis links together in an original way public and private initiatives to make biofuel sustainable. Therefore, this book represents an improvement in the understanding of biofuel production and policy’s sustainability. This book is of interest to those who study environmental economics, agricultural economics and sustainable development. It is also suitable for those in the renewable energy sector, with a particular focus on biofuel sustainability.
