Review of integrated ecological‐economic analyses for bioenergy plants under climate change at local scale

Abstract

Purpose -The authors aim to provide here an opinion on the state-of-the-art of integrated ecological-economic assessments of bioenergy under climate change, as well as the challenges along with their implications faced in planning adaptation at local scale. Design/methodology/approach -Investments to reduce emissions must be made in the coming decades to avoid the risks posed by climate change. If these investments are made wisely, then costs will be manageable, stability in markets as well as energy security will be achieved, and even rural development and economic growth may be stimulated. The authors call attention to the need for modeling of climate change impacts by combining the outputs from appropriately designed crop simulation models with economic analyses. Combining natural science and economics in a compatible fashion at local scale will play an essential role in advancing communication and information exchange. Findings -There are key differences in drivers or determinants of mitigation and adaptation potential and decisions at different scales, which means that different actors, different timescales and different spatial scales of decision making must be specifically considered. Understanding of the potential impacts of climate change requires disaggregation of the agricultural sector with appropriate detail. A critical trade-off exists between area-wide spatial coverage and an explicit consideration of local peculiarities. Originality/value -The authors suggest that a much stronger effort must be made to meld natural science crop modeling approaches with economic analyses, to include spatially explicit consideration of conventional crop production along with 1st and 2nd generation bioenergy crops, and the evaluation not only of "best guess" scenarios of change, but also potential system impacts of extreme scenarios.

Using systems thinking and causal loop diagrams to identify cascading climate change impacts on bioenergy supply systems

“…For example, modelling of bioenergy crop production to determine availability needs to be developed (Surendran Nair et al 2012). Nguyen and Tenhunen (2013) criticise energy crop production simulation models for not properly including socio-economic factors or local climate change impacts in their assumptions on future yields and production ranges. Similarly, data collection on the current state of bioenergy utilisation and trade within countries or regions is hampered by the insufficient detail on the origin of biomass resources, and unregistered and cascaded uses of biomass.…”

“…Climate change impact, vulnerability and risk assessments concerning bioenergy have hitherto been isolated to specific segments or aspects (such as demand projections, or economic drivers) (Cronin et al 2018;Emodi et al 2019;Schaeffer et al 2012), specific supply chain nodes (mostly feedstock production) (see e.g. Haberl et al 2011;Nguyen and Tenhunen 2013;Preston et al 2017), specific climate change impacts (such as floods or droughts) or confined within national borders (Langholtz et al 2014). However, the need to understand cascading climate change impacts, defined here as impacts that flow through a network of interconnected system components, affecting the components in different ways (Helbing 2013), has gathered prominence in recent years.…”

The Inclusion of Forest Hydrological Services in the Sustainable Development Strategy of South Korea

“…The link between human well-being and the provision of water-related benefits by forests is widely documented [101][102][103][104][105][106]. In South Korea, the implementation of adequate solutions to the problems of water supply and quality would likely result in a greater provision of water-related benefits to future generations, and is imperative for the long-term development of the nation [100].…”

Medium- and High-Tech Export and Renewable Energy Consumption: Non-Linear Evidence from the ASEAN Countries

“…Sustaining economic growth while reducing dependence on fossil fuels remains a challenge in our era of climate change. In addition to the need for reducing emissions, continuingly increasing fossil fuel prices, fears of unaffordable and rapidly depleting sources of fossil fuels, and the desire to transitioning into a low carbon economy have combined to heighten the importance of renewable energy use [1]. Several countries have set a target of specific renewable energy share in their total energy consumption.…”