Biomass Feedstock and Climate Change in Agroforestry Systems: Participatory Location and Integration Scenario Analysis of Biomass Power Facilities

Abstract

Producing energy with biomass feedstocks as a renewable energy source can contribute to the mitigation of climate change through direct CO 2 sequestration and higher CO 2-emitting fuel replacement. Here, the correct location of a biomass power facility can be considered as a critical position due to their geographical and spatial characteristic. This research presents a novel approach involving a geographic information system (GIS) location and its integration scenario analysis with the consideration of biomass feedstocks and climate change in agroforestry systems, the agro-silvo-pastoral system (ASPS), of a Spanish case study. A combined participatory operative approach, that is, fuzzy-decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (F-DEMATEL) with simple additive weighting (SAW) and sensitivity analysis in various disciplines and criteria, is applied by professionals. In particular, an analysis of five biomass power facilities in the area assessed by the methodology found that only one facility (BPF4) is located in the suitable area. Among five integration scenarios (A to E) as the likelihood test by the stakeholders, scenario E (suitability layer) was most supported-that is, it was selected as the most suitability map-while scenario D (general geophysical layer) was least supported, in that the results encapsulated foreseeable problems derived from the effects. Hence, the validation of the methodology proposed can be employed as a decision-making tool to support proper sustainable planning and development of a biomass power facility under the impact of climate change.

Energy Recovery of Shrub Species as a Path to Reduce the Risk of Occurrence of Rural Fires: A Case Study in Serra da Estrela Natural Park (Portugal)

“…From that year until 2016, the burnt area always corresponded mostly to land occupied with scrub and pasture, and in 2017, the year that presented the largest burned area in history, more forest was burned than the scrub and pasture. This alternation between the major types of burnt areas demonstrates the changes in the pattern of occurrences of rural fires, but also the changes caused by the different forms of management of the territory, which will certainly be related to the desertification of the land that occurred during the end of the 1980s in the period following the entry of Portugal into the European Com- The use of these species in the production of energy, either directly, in biomass plants or indirectly via the production of fuels derived from biomass, presents itself as a possibility that had aroused growing interest, mainly due to the opportunity presented for the recovery of residual biomass [37]. This valorization and use are more important with a greater quantity of materials in use, as this encourages and enhances the use of materials from cleaning and fuel management operations, contributing to the reduction in the risk of the occurrence of rural fires.…”

Revolutionizing Towards Sustainable Agricultural Systems: The Role of Energy

“…However, a limited quantity of research is available concerning current technologies and innovations within the primary sector, such as in developed countries [102][103][104]. The latter countries are mainly vulnerable to environmental influences, e.g., related to climate change [34,42]. Such current challenges usually have an explicit influence on the agricultural and forestry sector [103].…”

“…Agriculture is one of the most significant sectors, which is characterized by the greatest potential for sustainable economic development [5,7,9,16,[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]. Specifically, renewable sources represent good alternatives to fossil resources in the primary sector, which are inadequate in quantity and are prone to exhaustion [31,38,[40][41][42][43].…”

“…Examining one of the recent notions of 'sustainability', energy can be assumed as the fourth dimension of sustainability. With the four sustainable dimensions (energy, economy, society and environment), rural districts can provide greater maintainable growth, also focusing on a sustainable (energy) future, which in literature is perceived by the "agro-energy districts" [32][33][34][35][36]. However, very often such innovative realities present their intrinsic limits.…”

Optimizing Forest-Biomass-Distribution Logistics from a Multi-Level Perspective—Review

“…The process of expanding the use of wood biomass to produce finished products and bioenergy may, in addition to costs, constitute an additional source of business revenue for the forestry and wood sector. Integrated processing can improve the profitability of forestry and timber companies [24][25][26][27]. To make this feasible, the technological and business issues of the distribution logistics need to be combined.…”