Exploration of the land potential for the production of biomass for energy in the Netherlands

The energy potential for energy crops and biomass residues in the Netherlands is assessed. The analysis explores the possible use of land for biomass production in the future. Various government memorandums and analyses of the expected future land use in various sectors have served as the basis for the assessment of the supply of and the demand for land in the future. In this study the potential supply of agricultural land is based on expected productivity increments in agriculture and assumptions with respect to the future demand for agricultural products. Various future claims for infrastructure, forestry, urban areas and nature are subtracted from the expected supply. The net projected supply of land ranges from zero to 52 000 ha in 2000 to 110 000-250 000 ha in 2015. The supply of agricultural land depends however on a number of supra-national factors, such as the European agricultural policy, world market developments and the agricultural production in the countries in Eastern Europe. Uncertainties remain, therefore, and the projected supply of agricultural land should be considered as a possible scenario based on current trends. If the calculated land potential is used for energy crops like miscanthus and short rotation coppice, this land could contribute 0-10 PJ in 2000 and 27-59 PJ in 2015. Secondary biomass yields, such as those from forestry, agricultural residues, wood from prunings, etc., could contribute a further 34 PJ in 2000, decreasing to approximately 28 PJ in 2015. Taken together these potentials could satisfy 1-1.5% of the energy requirements of the Netherlands in 2000 and 1.5-2.5% in 2015, provided that energy farming is an economically feasible activity for farmers.     

Assessment of potential biomass energy production in China towards 2030 and 2050

The objective of this paper is to provide a more detailed picture of potential biomass energy production in the Chinese energy system towards 2030 and 2050. Biomass for bioenergy feedstocks comes from five sources, which are agricultural crop residues, forest residues and industrial wood waste, energy crops and woody crops, animal manure, and municipal solid waste. The potential biomass production is predicted based on the resource availability. In the process of identifying biomass resources production, assumptions are made regarding arable land, marginal land, crops yields, forest growth rate, and meat consumption and waste production. Four scenarios were designed to describe the potential biomass energy production to elaborate the role of biomass energy in the Chinese energy system in 2030. The assessment shows that under certain restrictions on land availability, the maximum potential biomass energy productions are estimated to be 18,833 and 24,901?PJ in 2030 and 2050.     

Land availability and biomass production potential in India

In this paper we have assessed the availability of land and the potential for biomass production in India to meet various demands for biomass, including modern bioenergy. This is estimated by considering the various demands on land and its suitability. The biomass production potential of energy plantations is assessed for different agro-ecological zones. The total woody biomass production is estimated to be 321 Mt, based on biomass productivity in the range 2 to 17 t/ha/yr for the different agro-ecological zones and considering the conservative estimate of 43 Mha land availability for biomass production. A surplus of 231 Mt of biomass (after meeting the increased demand for fuelwood and timber by the year 2010) is estimated to be available for energy, which has an electricity generation potential of 231 TWh. As a first step, only the feasible physical potential of biomass production is assessed, along with an analysis of barriers. The potential costs and benefits of biomass production strategy are not analysed.     

An outlook for sustainable forest bioenergy production in the Lake States

The Lake States region of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan offers significant potential for bioenergy production. We examine the sustainability of regional forest biomass use in the context of existing thermal heating, electricity, and biofuels production, projected resource needs over the next decade including existing forest product market demand, and impacts on price and feasibility. Assuming $36 per dry tonne at roadside, 4.1 million dry tonnes of forest biomass could be available region-wide. However, less is likely available due to localized environmental and forest cover type constraints, and landowner willingness to harvest timber. Total projected demand of 5.7 million dry tonnes, based on current and announced industry capacity, exceeds estimates of biomass availability, which suggests that anticipated growth in the forest-based bioeconomy may be constrained. Attaining projected demand will likely require a combination of higher cost feedstocks, integration of energy and non-energy uses, and careful management to meet environmental constraints. State distinctions in biomass harvest guidelines and the propensity for third-party forest certification will be critical in providing environmental safeguards. The cumulative effect of policy initiatives on biomass competition are discussed in the context of an emerging Lake States bioeconomy.     

Global bioenergy potentials through 2050

Estimates of world regional potentials of the sustainable use of biomass for energy uses through the year 2050 are presented. The estimated potentials are consistent with scenarios of agricultural production and land use developed at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria. They thus avoid inconsistent land use, in particular conflicts between the agricultural and bioenergy land use. As an illustration of the circumstances under which a large part of this potential could be used in practice, a global energy scenario with high economic growth and low greenhouse gas emissions, developed by IIASA and the World Energy Council is summarised. In that scenario, bioenergy supplies 15% of global primary energy by 2050. Our estimation method is transparent and reproducible. A computer program to repeat the calculation of the estimates with possibly changed assumptions is available on request.     

Analysis of biomass residues potential for electrical energy generation in Albania

This paper presents the status of research of biomass potential for producing electrical energy in Albania. Biomass potential can be generated by different sources. Three types of biomass energy sources are included: dedicated bioenergy crops, agricultural and forestry residues and waste. The technical electrical energy considered in this study was calculated with two converting techniques: (1) combustion of the feedstock directly in an incinerator and then driving a steam generator for producing electrical energy and (2) production of biogas from an anaerobic digester and running a turbine for electrical energy generation. Analysis of the potential biomass resource quantity was computed according to statistical reports, literature review and personal investigations. From the biomass residue potential was calculated in terms of the theoretical energy content (total heating value) of every type of feedstock and the technical energy content for every Albanian prefecture according to different burning processes and different operation efficiencies. Results show that Albania was producing around of 4.8 million tons of dry biomass in year 2005. The theoretical energy content of biomass in Albania was 11.6 million MWh/a, and the technical electrical energy production was 3 million MWh/a. The electrical energy produced is equivalent to 45.8% of total Albania Country annual electrical consumption. In Albania Country, residues from agriculture, forest and urban waste represent a large biomass potential. By actual conversion techniques it is possible to generate one third of the theoretical heat energy into technical electrical energy. The use of heat from cogeneration plants depends on local heat provision conditions. It is another big energy potential but excluded in this study, so the rest of energy is considered as heat losses.     

Can Brazil replace 5% of the 2025 gasoline world demand with ethanol?

Increasing use of petroleum, coupled with concern for global warming, demands the development and institution of CO₂ reducing, non-fossil fuel-based alternative energy-generating strategies. Ethanol is a potential alternative, particularly when produced in a sustainable way as is envisioned for sugarcane in Brazil. We consider the expansion of sugarcane-derived ethanol to displace 5% of projected gasoline use worldwide in 2025. With existing technology, 21 million hectares of land will be required to produce the necessary ethanol. This is less than 7% of current Brazilian agricultural land and equivalent to current soybean land use. New production lands come from pasture made available through improving pasture management in the cattle industry. With the continued introduction of new cane varieties (annual yield increases of about 1.6%) and new ethanol production technologies, namely the hydrolysis of bagasse to sugars for ethanol production and sugarcane trash collection providing renewable process energy production, this could reduce these modest land requirements by 29–38%.     

Hydropower for green hydrogen production in Turkey

The current study develops a hydro-based hydrogen production concept and investigates the utilization of hydroelectric power for green hydrogen production in Turkey. For the hydroelectric power potential calculations, the installed and under construction hydroelectric power plants, run-of-river systems, and reservoir dams are considered for the entire country. The potential capacities of each city are estimated based on the available official and published data by the government agencies, and some reasonable assumptions are also made for detailed analysis and assessment for a feasible hydrogen economy in the country. The results obtained here clearly show that the contribution of hydroelectric energy to hydrogen production is considerable high in promoting countries towards leadership in the field of green hydrogen production. Based on the analysis results, Turkey's hydro-based green hydrogen production potential is estimated to be 2.26 megatons. Şanlıurfa, Elazığ, Diyarbakır, Artvin, and Adana are cities with the highest green hydrogen production potential from hydroelectric power with an annual production capacity of 233.09, 204.92, 175.35, 157.28, and 140.8 kilotons, respectively. The results of this study are expected to help the policymakers to use hydropower energy for planning and developing action plan for the country and help overcome carbon-based fuel usage and its associated pollution. The main idea is to prepare hydrogen maps in detail for each region in Turkey, based on the hydro energy potential by using electrolysers. This, in turn, can be considered in the context of the current policies of the local communities and policymakers to prepare a sustainable energy roadmap for the country.     

The link between renewable energy production and gross domestic product in Africa: A comparative study between 1980 and 2008

Renewable energy (RE) projects are arguably one of the most important strategies that can be used in the mitigation of climate change impacts. At the same time, RE technologies can generate clean energy and potentially boost the economy of the African continent. It is thus not surprising that recent studies have investigated the relationship between RE and economic growth in some African countries. However, the limitation of these reductionist analytical frameworks is that they can conceal the true regional picture in terms of the link between investments in RE technologies and gross domestic product (GDP). This holistic analysis is important in order to inform regional policies on climate change. The article uses statistical analytic techniques to examine the correlation between RE production and economic growth across different blocks of the African continent between 1980 and 2008. The analysis is between geographical blocks (e.g. Southern Africa, Western Africa, etc.) and between oil and non-oil producing blocks. Generally speaking, while there exists a similar pattern in all the studied blocks in terms of mean, standard deviation and correlation between RE and GDP, a few exceptions can be found. For instance, the rise in RE-GDP correlation from 1992/1993 onwards was conspicuously higher in North Africa and oil-producing countries compared to all the other blocks. Similarly, Southern Africa was the only block where the correlation between RE and GDP was negative throughout the period under review, except 1988, 1989 and 1997 when it was positive.     

Assessment of sustainable biomass resource for energy use in China

This paper assesses the sustainable biomass resource for energy in China. Assessment has been carried out for the following resources: (i) agricultural residues, (ii) forest residues, and (iii) municipal solid waste (MSW). The potential of each resource is estimated for the base years 2008, 2008, and 2007. The energy potentials of these resources in 2008, 2008, and 2007 are estimated to be 14.7, 3.9, and 0.2 EJ, respectively. The total potential including the energy of 6.4 EJ from the proposed low-input high-diversity (LIHD) grassland biomass on the untilled lands for the base years 1996 is equal to about 30.2% of China’s energy consumption in 2008. Furthermore it is projected that sustainable biomass use for energy will reduce net emissions of green house gases (GHG) of 3276.7 million tonnes, and help in emission-reduction target of China and the world.     

Important roles of Fischer–Tropsch synfuels in the global energy future

This paper examines the potential roles of Fischer–Tropsch (FT) synfuels in the 21st century with a global energy model treating the entire fuel supply chain in detail. The major conclusions are the following. First, FT synfuels become a major alternative fuel regardless of CO₂ policy due to their low transportation costs and compatibility with existing petroleum infrastructure and vehicles. Secondly, the FT process brings stranded gas to world markets until around 2050. In a 550 ppm CO₂ stabilization case thereafter, producing FT synfuels from biomass, whose competitiveness is robust against its capital costs, and their interregional trade enable a worldwide diffusion of carbon-neutral fuels. This provides a significant source of income for developing regions, such as Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Thirdly, FT synfuels play a crucial role in meeting the growing transportation energy demand and assuring diversified supplies of transportation fuels. Increasing portions of FT liquids are refined to FT-kerosene to be provided for the rapidly growing aviation sector in the second half of the century. Furthermore, upgrading FT-naphtha into FT-gasoline proves to be critically important. FT synfuels’ participation could help the development in Africa through technological contributions of the South African leading companies in the world synfuel industry.     

Energy for sustainable development: A case of developing countries

Today, there are 1.4 billion people around the world that lack access to electricity, some 85% of them in rural areas. Without additional dedicated policies, by 2030 the number of people drops, but only to 1.2 billion. Some 15% of the world's population still lack access, the majority of them living in Sub-Saharan Africa. The number of people relying on the traditional use of biomass is projected to rise from 2.7 billion today to 2.8 billion in 2030. Addressing these inequities depends upon international recognition that the projected situation is intolerable, a commitment to effect the necessary change, and setting targets and indicators to monitor progress. A new financial, institutional and technological framework is required, as is capacity building in order to dramatically scale up access to modern energy services at the local and regional levels. In this paper, we discussed the energy situation of the developing countries for sustainable development.     

Potential land competition between open-pond microalgae production and terrestrial dedicated feedstock supply systems in the U.S.

To date, feedstock resource assessments have evaluated cellulosic and algal feedstocks independently, without consideration of demands for, and resource allocation to, each other. We assess potential land competition between algal and terrestrial feedstocks in the United States, and evaluate a scenario in which 41.5 × 10⁹ L yr⁻¹ of second-generation biofuels are produced on pastureland, the most likely land base where both feedstock types may be deployed. Under this scenario, open-pond microalgae production is projected to use 1.2 × 10⁶ ha of private pastureland, while terrestrial biomass feedstocks would use 14.0 × 10⁶ ha of private pastureland. A spatial meta-analysis indicates that potential competition for land under this scenario would be concentrated in 110 counties, containing 1.0 and 1.7 × 10⁶ ha of algal and terrestrial dedicated feedstock production, respectively. A land competition index applied to these 110 counties suggests that 38 to 59 counties could experience competition for upwards of 40% of a county's pastureland, representing 2%–5% of total pastureland in the U.S.; therefore suggesting little overall competition between algae production, terrestrial energy feedstocks and alternative uses for existing agricultural production such as livestock grazing.     

Identifying agricultural sites for biomass energy production in Minnesota

This research examines the potential of producing hybrid poplar on location specific marginal agricultural lands in Minnesota. It is assumed that all poplar production would be used to meet biomass energy requirements for two potential 100 MW power plants located in Alexandria and Granite Falls, Minnesota. The delivered fuelwood costs for each power plant are calculated using a cost minimization model. In addition to traditional production and harvesting costs, the model also incorporates landowners opportunity cost of fuelwood production as well as the actual transportation costs associated with supply from each individual analysis area to each power plant. The inclusion of any analysis area as a potential fuelwood supplier is greatly dependent on the interaction and combination of variables such as the opportunity cost, yield rates, and the distance from the power plants. The results show that approximately 40×10³ hectares of land capable of producing about 3.2×10[6] dry Mg of wood would be required to fuel each power plant for a 10 year planning period. The average present value costs of delivered (to the plant gate) fuelwood is about $32 dry Mg⁻¹ for Alexandria and $37 dry Mg⁻¹ for Granite Falls.     

A roadmap for production of sustainable,consistent and reliable electric power from agricultural biomass- An Indian perspective

The utilization of agricultural biomass for production of electric power can help to reduce the environmental emissions while achieving energy security and sustainable development. This paper presents a methodology for estimating the power production potential of agricultural biomass in a country. Further, the methodology has been applied to develop a roadmap for producing reliable power in India. The present study reveals that about 650 Mt/year of agricultural biomass is generated in India, while about one-third of this has been found to be surplus for energy applications. The cereal crops have major contribution (64.60%) in production of surplus biomass followed by sugarcane (24.60%) and cotton (10.68%). The energy potential of these resources is of the order of 3.72 EJ, which represents a significant proportion of the primary energy consumption in the country. These biomass resources can produce electric power of 23–35 GW depending upon the efficiency of thermal conversion. The delivery of biomass to the plants and selection of appropriate technology have been found as the major issues that need to be resolved carefully. In the end, the study summarizes various technological options for biomass collection and utilization that can be used for producing clean and consistent power supply.     

Simulating possible impacts of roundwood procurement problems in Austria on wood-based energy production and forest-based industries

Wooden biomass is the main source for energy based on biomass in Austria. Only a part of the wooden biomass for energy directly originates in forests. Other major sources include post-consumer wood and by-products of the Austrian forest-based industries. Consumption of wooden biomass has been growing much more than domestic production, forest-based industries are building up capacities in neighbouring countries, leaving less raw materials for exports to Austria than in the decades before. The authors have assessed the possible effects of a wood raw material shortage with a System-Dynamics simulation model of the Austrian forest-based sector (FOHOW). The model covers the interactions between the general economy and the forest-based sector, including wood-based energy. The simulation period ranged from 2006 to 2025. Beside a business as usual scenario, scenarios with a sawlog import reduction, a sawmill capacity reduction as well as a paper and panel capacity reduction were simulated. Probably the most notable result of the analysis is the strong impact of the sawmill industry on the fuelwood prices and availability. Despite increased fuelwood supply from forests, reduction of sawmill capacity will lead to the inability of fully meeting renewable energy policy objectives due to a shortage of sawmill residues. With exemption of the panel & paper capacity reduction scenario all other scenarios project a slight reduction of growing stock until 2025. But after decades of harvest below the increment such a development is not per se unsustainable. It can be expected that a shift in the Austrian forests towards younger stands will slightly increase the average increment.     

Energy consumption analysis of integrated flowsheets for production of fuel ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass

Fuel ethanol is considered one of the most important renewable fuels due to the economic and environmental benefits of its use. Lignocellulosic biomass is the most promising feedstock for producing bioethanol due to its global availability and to the energy gain that can be obtained when non-fermentable materials from biomass are used for cogeneration of heat and power. In this work, several process configurations for fuel ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass were studied through process simulation using Aspen Plus. Some flowsheets considering the possibilities of reaction–reaction integration were taken into account among the studied process routes. The flowsheet variants were analyzed from the energy point of view utilizing as comparison criterion the energy consumption needed to produce 1 L of anhydrous ethanol. Simultaneous saccharification and cofermentation process with water recycling showed the best results accounting an energy consumption of 41.96 MJ/L EtOH. If pervaporation is used as dehydration method instead of azeotropic distillation, further energy savings can be obtained. In addition, energy balance was estimated using the results from the simulation and literature data. A net energy value of 17.65–18.93 MJ/L EtOH was calculated indicating the energy efficiency of the lignocellulosic ethanol.     

Reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea) outperforms Miscanthus or willow on marginal soils,brownfield and non-agricultural sites for local,sustainable energy crop production

Growing biomass on non-agricultural land could potentially deliver renewable energy services without displacing land from food production, avoiding the social and environmental conflicts associated with bioenergy. A variety of derelict underutilized and neglected land types are possible candidates, sharing a number of challenges for agronomy, including contaminants in soils, potential uptake and dispersion through energy use. Most previous field trials have grown woody biomass species during phytoremediation. Five one-hectare brownfield sites in NE England, were each amended with c.500 t ha⁻¹ of green-waste compost, planted with short-rotation coppice willow, Miscanthus, reed canarygrass and switchgrass,¹ and then harvested for 3–5 years.Critical issues for the economic and environmental viability of energy production on brownfield land were investigated: The yields achieved on non-agricultural land; the potential for fuel contamination; the suitability for use and potential markets for any biomass produced. RCG appears best suited to the challenging soil conditions found on non-agricultural land, outperforming other species in ease of establishment, cost, time to maturity, yield and contamination levels. Invasive spreading and low melting ash compositions were not observed. Annual yields of 4–7 odt ha⁻¹ from the second growth season were found consistently across a range of previously-developed, capped or former landfill sites, with a gross annual energy yield of 97 GJ ha⁻¹ at contamination levels acceptable for domestic pellets. The analogy with marginal agricultural land suggests that this species and approach could help boost biomass production while avoiding the natural capital “nexus” related to global food-fuel-land-water limits.     

Integrating phytoremediation with biomass valorisation and critical element recovery: A UK contaminated land perspective

In the UK, the widespread presence of elemental contaminants such as arsenic and nickel in contaminated sites and more widely release of platinum group metals into the biosphere are growing concerns. Phytoremediation has the potential to treat land contaminated with these elements at low cost. An integrated approach combining land remediation with post-process biomass to energy conversion and high value element recovery is proposed to enhance the financial viability of phytoremediation.An analytical review of plant species suitable for the phytoremediation of nickel, Arsenic and platinum group metals is reported. Additionally, a preliminary model is developed to assess the viability of the proposed approach. A feasibility appraisal using Monte Carlo simulation to analyse project risk suggests high biomass yield plant species can significantly increase the confidence of achieving financial return from the project. The order of financial return from recovering elements was found to be: Ni > Pt > As.