Download or read book Establishment Fertility and Harvest Management for Optimizing Switchgrass Yield and Quality as a Cellulosic Ethanol Feedstock in the Great Lakes Region written by Katherine Kelly Withers and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Switchgrass written by Andrea Monti and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-03-09 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The demand for renewable energies from biomass is growing steadily as policies are enacted to encourage such development and as industry increasingly sees an opportunity to develop bio-energy enterprises. Recent policy changes in the EU, USA and other countries are spurring interest in the cultivation of energy crops such as switchgrass. Switchgrass has gained and early lead in the race to find a biomass feedstock for energy production (and for the almost requisite need for bio-based products from such feedstocks). Switchgrass: A Valuable Biomass Crop for Energy provides a comprehensive guide to the biology, physiology, breeding, culture and conversion of switchgrass as well as highlighting various environmental, economic and social benefits. Considering this potential energy source, Switchgrass: A Valuable Biomass Crop for Energy brings together chapters from a range of experts in the field, including a foreword from Kenneth P. Vogel, to collect and present the environmental benefits and characteristics of this a crop with the potential to mitigate the risks of global warming by replacing fossil fuels. Including clear figures and tables to support discussions, Switchgrass: A Valuable Biomass Crop for Energy provides a solid reference for anyone with interest or investment in the development of bioenergy; researchers, policy makers and stakeholders will find this a key resource.
Download or read book Renewable Fuel Standard written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-01-29 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the United States, we have come to depend on plentiful and inexpensive energy to support our economy and lifestyles. In recent years, many questions have been raised regarding the sustainability of our current pattern of high consumption of nonrenewable energy and its environmental consequences. Further, because the United States imports about 55 percent of the nation's consumption of crude oil, there are additional concerns about the security of supply. Hence, efforts are being made to find alternatives to our current pathway, including greater energy efficiency and use of energy sources that could lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions such as nuclear and renewable sources, including solar, wind, geothermal, and biofuels. The United States has a long history with biofuels and the nation is on a course charted to achieve a substantial increase in biofuels. Renewable Fuel Standard evaluates the economic and environmental consequences of increasing biofuels production as a result of Renewable Fuels Standard, as amended by EISA (RFS2). The report describes biofuels produced in 2010 and those projected to be produced and consumed by 2022, reviews model projections and other estimates of the relative impact on the prices of land, and discusses the potential environmental harm and benefits of biofuels production and the barriers to achieving the RFS2 consumption mandate. Policy makers, investors, leaders in the transportation sector, and others with concerns for the environment, economy, and energy security can rely on the recommendations provided in this report.
Download or read book Handbook of Bioenergy Crops written by N. El Bassam and published by Earthscan. This book was released on 2010 with total page 545 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This completely revised second edition includes new information on biomass in relation to climate change, new coverage of vital issues including the "food versus fuel" debate, and essential new information on "second generation" fuels and advances in conversion techniques. The book begins with a guide to biomass accumulation, harvesting, transportation and storage, as well as conversion technologies for biofuels. This is followed by an examination of the environmental impact and economic and social dimensions, including prospects for renewable energy. The book then goes on to cover all the main potential energy crops.
Download or read book Biofuels and the Sustainability Challenge written by Aziz Elbehri and published by Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). This book was released on 2013 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biofuels global emergence in the last two decades is met with increased concerns over climate change and sustainable development. This report addresses the core issue of biofuel sustainability of biofuels and related feedstocks, drawing from a wide range of sustainability related studies, reports, policy initiatives. The report critically examines the economic, environmental and social sustainability dimensions of biofuels and review the major certification initiatives, schemes and regulations. In doing so, the report relies on extensive review of a number of country case studies covering a broad range of current biofuel-feedstocks systems. The report analysis clearly distinguish feedstock efficiency (in terms of biofuel yields per unit of land) from sustainability, especially under limiting resource (irrigated water) or sensitive areas (carbon stocks). Also, long run economic viability depend on the future policy support, technical innovations in biofuel systems, economics of biofuel supply and demand and trade-offs between food and energy uses as well as feedstock productivity gains. Biofuels can present both advantages and risks for environmental sustainability; the latter being often difficult to measure or monitor and may conflict with economic sustainability unless great strides in productivity gains are achieved. Social sustainability is the weakest link in current biofuel certification schemes owing to intrinsic local factors and as efforts target more few negative social impacts; much less focus is placed on inclusive processes that strengthen marginal stockholders participation and benefits. Biofuel certification schemes need to be more smallholder inclusive, perhaps through policy initiatives. Finally, poor developing countries, especially with abundant land and biomass production potential, need to prioritise food security and poverty reduction. In many cases, biofuel models that encourage small scale integrated bioenergy systems may offer higher rural development impacts. FDI-induced larger-scale biofuel projects, on the other hand, may be suitable in those situations where countries have sufficient industrial capacity, besides land and biomass potential, and when these biofuel projects can be fully integrated into domestic energy strategies that do not conflict with food production potential and food security.
Download or read book Large scale plantations bioenergy developments and land use change in Indonesia written by Anne Casson and published by CIFOR. This book was released on 2014-12-29 with total page 135 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Indonesia's forests make up one of the worlds most biologically diverse ecosystems. They have long been harvested by local people to meet their daily needs. Since the 1970s, a combination of demographic, economic and policy factors has driven forest exploitation at the industrial scale and resulted in growing deforestation. Key factors behind the forest loss and land use change in present-day Indonesia are the expansion of oil palm, plywood production and pulp and paper industries. Oil palm has been one of the fastest-growing sectors of the Indonesian economy, increasing from less than 1 million hectares in 1991 to 8.9 million hectares in 2011. The plywood and pulp and paper industries have also expanded significantly since the log export ban in 1985. All three sectors have contributed to deforestation. Several measures are being taken to reduce the loss of tropical forests in Indonesia. These measures are driven by growing global concern about the impact of deforestation on biodiversity and global warming and the Indonesian governments commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A major policy initiative revolves around developing renewable energy from biomass that can be sourced from oil palm, sugar, cassava, jatropha and timber plantations. This paper analyzes these measures and assesses the conditions under which they may be most effective.
Download or read book Green Algae Strategy written by Mark Robert Edwards and published by Talentdna. This book was released on 2008 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Green Algae Strategy provides a path to sustainable food and biofuels with one of the smallest and oldest plants on Earth; algae.
Download or read book Perennial Grasses for Bioenergy and Bioproducts written by Efthymia Alexopoulou and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2018-01-02 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perennial Grasses for Bioenergy and Bioproducts: Production, Uses, Sustainability and Markets for Giant Reed, Miscanthus, Switchgrass, Reed Canary Grass and Bamboo brings together a team of international authors to explore the current utilization, sustainability and future perspectives of perennial grasses in the bioeconomy. The book begins by examining the role of these crops as feedstock for bioenergy, in particular advanced biofuels and bioproducts. It then offers five chapters, each covering one perennial grass type, namely giant reed, miscanthus, switchgrass, reed canary grass and bamboo. The book covers their breeding, cultivation, harvesting, pre-treatment, economics and characterization. The book goes on to present the thermochemical conversion pathways for different types of feedstock. The last chapter explores issues concerning sustainability of perennial grasses, including their production in marginal lands. This thorough overview is a helpful reference for engineering researchers and professionals in the bioenergy sector, whose understanding of feedstock characterization, sustainability and production is critical in the development of conversion technologies. Those in the industrial crops sector will benefit from discussion of various issues surrounding crop production, which can guide their feedstock cultivation, harvesting and pre-treatment for specific conversion processes or end use. The book is also a useful resource for instructors and students in Masters and PhD programs in the area of biomass and energy crops. Policy makers and government agents involved in regulating the bioenergy and bioproducts sector will find comprehensive information to guide their decision making. - Explores the whole value chain of grassy feedstock for advanced biofuels and bioproducts, from cultivation to end use, including biomass characterization (physical properties, chemical composition, etc.) and conversion and sustainability - Examines the sustainability and economic factors related to perennial grasses and their conversion into biofuels and bioproducts - Includes a complete list of grasses relevant for energy uses, and tables with their current and expected future uses and markets
Download or read book Negative Emissions Technologies and Reliable Sequestration written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2019-04-08 with total page 511 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To achieve goals for climate and economic growth, "negative emissions technologies" (NETs) that remove and sequester carbon dioxide from the air will need to play a significant role in mitigating climate change. Unlike carbon capture and storage technologies that remove carbon dioxide emissions directly from large point sources such as coal power plants, NETs remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or enhance natural carbon sinks. Storing the carbon dioxide from NETs has the same impact on the atmosphere and climate as simultaneously preventing an equal amount of carbon dioxide from being emitted. Recent analyses found that deploying NETs may be less expensive and less disruptive than reducing some emissions, such as a substantial portion of agricultural and land-use emissions and some transportation emissions. In 2015, the National Academies published Climate Intervention: Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable Sequestration, which described and initially assessed NETs and sequestration technologies. This report acknowledged the relative paucity of research on NETs and recommended development of a research agenda that covers all aspects of NETs from fundamental science to full-scale deployment. To address this need, Negative Emissions Technologies and Reliable Sequestration: A Research Agenda assesses the benefits, risks, and "sustainable scale potential" for NETs and sequestration. This report also defines the essential components of a research and development program, including its estimated costs and potential impact.
Download or read book Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2010-07-25 with total page 598 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last 20 years, there has been a remarkable emergence of innovations and technological advances that are generating promising changes and opportunities for sustainable agriculture, yet at the same time the agricultural sector worldwide faces numerous daunting challenges. Not only is the agricultural sector expected to produce adequate food, fiber, and feed, and contribute to biofuels to meet the needs of a rising global population, it is expected to do so under increasingly scarce natural resources and climate change. Growing awareness of the unintended impacts associated with some agricultural production practices has led to heightened societal expectations for improved environmental, community, labor, and animal welfare standards in agriculture. Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century assesses the scientific evidence for the strengths and weaknesses of different production, marketing, and policy approaches for improving and reducing the costs and unintended consequences of agricultural production. It discusses the principles underlying farming systems and practices that could improve the sustainability. It also explores how those lessons learned could be applied to agriculture in different regional and international settings, with an emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa. By focusing on a systems approach to improving the sustainability of U.S. agriculture, this book can have a profound impact on the development and implementation of sustainable farming systems. Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century serves as a valuable resource for policy makers, farmers, experts in food production and agribusiness, and federal regulatory agencies.
Download or read book Biomass Conversion written by Chinnappan Baskar and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-05-08 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The consumption of petroleum has surged during the 20th century, at least partially because of the rise of the automobile industry. Today, fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas provide more than three quarters of the world's energy. Unfortunately, the growing demand for fossil fuel resources comes at a time of diminishing reserves of these nonrenewable resources. The worldwide reserves of oil are sufficient to supply energy and chemicals for only about another 40 years, causing widening concerns about rising oil prices. The use of biomass to produce energy is only one form of renewable energy that can be utilized to reduce the impact of energy production and use on the global environment. Biomass can be converted into three main products such as energy, biofuels and fine chemicals using a number of different processes. Today, it is a great challenge for researchers to find new environmentally benign methodology for biomass conversion, which are industrially profitable as well. This book focuses on the conversion of biomass to biofuels, bioenergy and fine chemicals with the interface of biotechnology, microbiology, chemistry and materials science. An international scientific authorship summarizes the state-of-the-art of the current research and gives an outlook on future developments.
Download or read book Applications of Biochar for Environmental Safety written by Ahmed Abdelhafez and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2020-07-22 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biochar is a carbon-rich material produced from the pyrolysis of organic materials from agricultural and forestry biomass at a relatively low temperature in the absence of oxygen. As such, it has potential for solving many agricultural and environmental problems.This book is divided into five sections: “Introduction,” “Production and Legislation of Biochar,” “Applications of Biochar for Soil Fertility Improvement,” “Role of Biochar for Soil Remediation and Ameliorating Salinity Effects” and “Applications of Biochar for Water Treatment.” Chapters address topics such as the pros and cons of biochar, its production, and its role in remediating and treating contaminated soils and water.
Download or read book Principles of Soil Conservation and Management written by Humberto Blanco-Canqui and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-09-16 with total page 617 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Principles of Soil Management and Conservation” comprehensively reviews the state-of-knowledge on soil erosion and management. It discusses in detail soil conservation topics in relation to soil productivity, environment quality, and agronomic production. It addresses the implications of soil erosion with emphasis on global hotspots and synthesizes available from developed and developing countries. It also critically reviews information on no-till management, organic farming, crop residue management for industrial uses, conservation buffers (e.g., grass buffers, agroforestry systems), and the problem of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and in other regions. This book uniquely addresses the global issues including carbon sequestration, net emissions of CO2, and erosion as a sink or source of C under different scenarios of soil management. It also deliberates the implications of the projected global warming on soil erosion and vice versa. The concern about global food security in relation to soil erosion and strategies for confronting the remaining problems in soil management and conservation are specifically addressed. This volume is suitable for both undergraduate and graduate students interested in understanding the principles of soil conservation and management. The book is also useful for practitioners, extension agents, soil conservationists, and policymakers as an important reference material.
Download or read book Building Soils for Better Crops written by Fred Magdoff and published by Sare. This book was released on 2009 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "'Published by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, with funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture."
Download or read book Handbook on Environmental Quality written by Evan K. Drury and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental quality is a general term which can refer to varied characteristics that relate to the natural environment as well as the built environment, such as air and water purity, pollution, noise and the potential effects that they may have on physical and mental health. The natural environment is contrasted with the built environment, which comprises the areas and components that are strongly influenced by humans. A geographical area is regarded as a natural environment if the human impact on it is kept under a certain limited level. This book presents research on a wide variety of environmental concerns in today's world. Included are chapters on renewable energy technology, water quality, recycling of electronic equipment, and corporate environmental commitment. The attitudes of university students toward environmental concerns are also discussed as well as a study that empirically examines local land use planning capacity for mitigating environmental hazards.
Download or read book Switchgrass written by Andrea Monti and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-03-14 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The demand for renewable energies from biomass is growing steadily as policies are enacted to encourage such development and as industry increasingly sees an opportunity to develop bio-energy enterprises. Recent policy changes in the EU, USA and other countries are spurring interest in the cultivation of energy crops such as switchgrass. Switchgrass has gained and early lead in the race to find a biomass feedstock for energy production (and for the almost requisite need for bio-based products from such feedstocks). Switchgrass: A Valuable Biomass Crop for Energy provides a comprehensive guide to the biology, physiology, breeding, culture and conversion of switchgrass as well as highlighting various environmental, economic and social benefits. Considering this potential energy source, Switchgrass: A Valuable Biomass Crop for Energy brings together chapters from a range of experts in the field, including a foreword from Kenneth P. Vogel, to collect and present the environmental benefits and characteristics of this a crop with the potential to mitigate the risks of global warming by replacing fossil fuels. Including clear figures and tables to support discussions, Switchgrass: A Valuable Biomass Crop for Energy provides a solid reference for anyone with interest or investment in the development of bioenergy; researchers, policy makers and stakeholders will find this a key resource.
Download or read book Compendium of Bioenergy Plants written by Hong Luo and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2014-03-14 with total page 467 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains the most comprehensive reviews on the latest development of switchgrass research including the agronomy of the plant, the use of endophytes and mycorrhizae for biomass production, genetics and breeding of bioenergy related traits, molecular genetics and molecular breeding, genomics, transgenics, processing, bioconversion, biosystem and chemical engineering, biomass production modeling, economics of switchgrass feedstock production etc. The book will be of interest and great value to the switchgrass research communities in both academia and industry and a handbook for agronomists, geneticists, breeders, molecular biologists, physiologists, biosystems engineers and chemical engineers.
