Soil Loss and Leaching, Habitat Destruction, Land and Water Demand in Energy-Crop Monoculture: Some Quantitative Limits

摘要

The environmental impacts of growing biomass for energy, especially for liquid automotive fuels, are potentially large. They are sensitive to the low power production per unit area (high land requirement) and to net energy balances. Initial quantitative estimates were made for impacts per unit power within several classes of impacts, and conversely, for limits to power produced if one avoids worst-class impacts. The following types of biomass energy technologies are considered: ethanol and methanol from grains and residues (temperate zone); jojoba wax (semi-tropical); ethanol from sugar cane and root crops (tropics); and silviculture for methanol via gasification. (ERA citation 06:032450)