Extension of energy crops on surplus agricultural lands: A potentially viable option in developing countries while fossil fuel reserves are diminishing

Abstract

AbstractsThe rapid depletion of fossil fuel reserves and environmental concerns with their combustion necessitate to look for alternative sources for long term sustainability of the world. These concerns also appear serious in developing countries who are striving for rapid economic growth. The net biomass growing potential on the global land surface is 10 times more than the global food, feed, fiber, and energy demands. This study investigates whether the developing countries have sufficient land resource to meet projected energy demand towards 2035 by planting energy crops on surplus agricultural land after food and feed production. The annual yields of four commonly grown energy crops specifically jatropha, switchgrass, miscanthus, and willow have been used to make scenarios and estimate land requirements against each scenario. This paper first performs literature reviews on availability of land resource, past and future trends in land use changes, demand of lands for food production, and potential expansion of croplands. The energy demands towards 2035 are compiled from energy scenarios derived by International Energy Agency (IEA), and British Petroleum (BP). This paper also reviewed bio-physiological characteristics of these energy crops to determine whether they are cultivable under tropical climatic conditions in developing regions. This paper found that projected energy demand through 2035 in developing regions could be provided by energy crops grown on a portion of surplus croplands or upgraded grasslands (27% and 22% respectively for miscanthus scenario). Sustainable land management practices, improved agricultural productivity, and adopting suitable energy crops cultivation can potentially supply increasing energy demands.

The Potential Growth of Sugarcane in Constructed Wetlands Designed for Tertiary Treatment of Wastewater

“…The reduction of fossil fuel reserves, as well as the need to reduce the emission of greenhouse effect gases, have increased the interest in bioenergy and in energy crops [1,2]. However, this increasing awareness of bioenergy alternatives can lead to an additional source of pressure on food resources and the availability of drinking water.…”

“…However, sugarcane requires more than twice the water as corn [5]. The high consumption of water, the need for fertilizers and the large areas of land required due to the low energy density of the cultures, are some of the challenges facing the expansion of bioenergy [1,2,4,5].…”

Semi-continuous feeding and gasification of alfalfa and wheat straw pellets in a lab-scale fluidized bed reactor

“…In the worldwide energy policy, renewable energy is of interest based on the fact that fossil fuel is rapidly diminishing and the energy demand is exorbitantly rising due to the imminent surge in population [1]. There is thus an urgent need to integrate all categories of renewable energy where the contribution of biomass is ever increasing.…”

Production of renewable energy on closed landfills to compensate for biogas emissions: A case study of the Valdina landfill (Messina, Italy)

“…The use of closed landfill surfaces to grow energy crops presents excellent potential because this approach is compatible with landscape recovery processes and does not diminish the agricultural surfaces potentially usable for edible crops. Indeed, social, ethical and environmental points of view all suggest that the production of energy crops cannot compete with food crops cultivation (Rahman et al, 2014;Valentine et al, 2012). Thus, exploiting land that is unusable for conventional agriculture (e.g.…”