1,229 research outputs found
Evaluating the potential of marginal lands available for sustainable cellulosic biofuel production in Italy
The European Union aims to provide as much as one quarter of its transportation fuels via biofuels derived from renewable sources by 2030. To put this into perspective, the Italian government has recently established an ambitious goal to support the wider uptake of advanced second-generation biofuels, including cellulosic biofuels for the transportation sector. A sustainable way forward is to grow perennial biomass crops on marginal lands, however the nationwide availability of those lands for lignocellulosic feedstock production remains uncertain. We identify and evaluate the potential of marginal lands in Italy to produce sizeable amounts of biomass for sustainable cellulosic biofuel production while limiting land use conflicts and negative ecological impacts. We applied spatial multi-criteria decision analysis techniques in geographic information systems to ultimately generate spatially-explicit national land suitability and availability maps at a fine resolution (250-m). We selected a broad range of leading cellulosic biomass crops that includes poplar (Populus × canadensis Moench), willow (Salix alba Linnaeus), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia Linnaeus), giant reed (Arundo donax Linnaeus), and vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides Linnaeus). Based on marginality criteria, our results suggest that such biomass plantations of perennial grasses and short rotation trees may produce 3.1–27.4 billion liters of cellulosic ethanol per year from 462,265 to 2,811,064 million hectares of available marginal lands. This estimated production may fulfill 7.8–69.1% of Italy's current liquid transportation fuel consumption, constrained by the requirement that each modelled location be within 70 km of a potential cellulosic biorefinery. Collectively, this study provides the cornerstone of efforts to rationally meet Italy's need for renewable fuels in a sustainable low-carbon economy future
Oil palm crop: State and gaps of research and technological development at global scale, Latin America and Mexico
Oil palm plantations face important challenges in terms of balancing agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability. This research synthesis aims to answer key questions regarding the state and knowledge gaps of oil palm (OP) research and technological development (R&D) at a global scale, in Latin America and in Mexico, using all Web of Science® databases and agriculture categories and time spans between 1960 and 2018. Three thousand nine hundred and forty-eight publications were analysed. The research themes started with the generation of agronomic knowledge in 1960. Since 1963, studies in Latin America have focused on yield improvement; since 2010, topics related to agroecology, product quality, health issues, biodiversity, conservation impacts, and biofuel uses have been widely integrated, although some relevant themes are lacking. In addition, considering the high domestic demand for crude palm oil and great available natural resources, few Mexican institutions have participated in publications registered in Web of Science (WOS) on this topic. This research proposes a quick exploratory and reliable instrument for evaluating the agronomic interest of any agricultural production system
Sustainable bioenergy use and climate change in China : a spatial agent model for the case of Jiangsu Province
Valorization of cocoa processing waste bioresource in biofuel production: A mini review
Food-related waste is produced in large quantities every year throughout the world. Cocoa industrial wastes, in particular, constitute an important source of useable biomass for the development of fresh items like food, farm animal feed, beauty products, and chemical substances, as well as the production of biofuels. Cocoa pod shells, bean shells, and mucilage are among the cocoa industrial wastes that include compounds of relevance to many businesses. However, because of these by-products’ lignocellulose content, which necessitates pretreatment to effectively employ them, depending on the conversion technique utilized to get the best biomass yield, different kinds of renewable energy can be produced. Modern research has demonstrated that solid, gaseous, and liquid biofuels may be produced from industrial waste from cocoa. All the same, the most prevalent use documented is as a direct combustion source for powering the same production plants. As a result, the goal of this project is to conduct a review of biodiesel synthesis utilizing cocoa pods as a catalyst as well as the technological concept used for the transformation. Emerging trends also show how important it is to use predictive methods to improve system parameters and to use enzyme catalysis in manufacturing to speed up chemical reactions
Bioenergy resources from waste, energy crops and forest in Los RÃos Region (southern Chile) - A systemic approach based on sustainability on designing a bioenergy area
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Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production in Colombia: Opportunities and Challenges
The sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) working group in Colombia was convened under the SAF Global Supply Chain Development project (Project A93) led by the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Center of Excellence for Alternative Jet Fuels and Environment, also termed the Aviation Sustainability Center of Excellence (ASCENT) and executed by Washington State University. The working group includes stakeholders across aviation, biofuel production, agriculture, government agencies, academic research, and technical consultancies. A complete list of stakeholders is included after the cover page. This group recognizes that developing SAF requires gathering knowledge and insights across multiple sectors, such as academia, private enterprise, local and federal governments, as well as multilateral, environmental, and energy advocates. This report serves as a high-level information identification to be use as starting point for designing and analyzing the supply chain to produce SAF in Colombia
Inquiring into the political economy of oil palm as a global flex crop
Oil palm production and consumption, and the trade of its multiple commodities, have expanded exponentially in recent decades. This paper argues that this expansion will continue due to, and along with, the rise of ‘flexing’ among its increasing multiple uses, especially for more industrial and energy purposes. Oil palm has been extensively analysed in the context of land grabs and agrarian change, land conversion and deforestation. However, its nature as a flex crop remains unexplored, especially with respects to the convergence of global food, fuel and environmental crises. This paper provides a preliminary discussion of how oil palm fits in the flex-crop framework to analyse its enabling material and ideational bases, as well as who informs, decides and controls the nature of flexing. This is done through an analysis of the different roles played by state, corporate (private) and social actors in the flexing of oil palm across the globe. We conclude by drawing some implications for further research
Bioeconomy: Shaping the Transition to a Sustainable, Biobased Economy
Sustainability; Biomass Management; Resource Management; Agriculture; Macroeconomic
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