Chapter 2: Biomass Availability and Sustainability for Biofuels
-
Published:17 Aug 2011
D. Loqué, A. Eudes, and F. Yang, in Chemical and Biochemical Catalysis for Next Generation Biofuels, ed. B. A. Simmons and L. Peter, The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2011, ch. 2, pp. 5-32.
Download citation file:
One of the most significant questions surrounding biofuels is the availability of a sufficient amount of land capable of sustainably producing biofuel feedstocks that do not compete with food production. On Earth, only 29.2% of the surface is above water (149M Km2)-the rest is covered ocean. From this 29.2%, only 59.5% is considered as biologically productive land (86M Km2) and corresponds to forests (39.3M Km2) or agricultural areas (49.3M Km2). Biological productive land corresponds to land that support human demands for food, fiber and timber for infrastructure and energy (FAO definition). The other 40.5% of lands, traditionally considered as non-productive lands, have a very low or no primary productivity since they are covered by ice, human development, or they are located under extreme climate conditions (cold, dry or arid). The productive lands are divided in several biomes mainly classified according to the vegetation types and productivity, which are dictated by the climate and human accessibility. In order to define those land areas suitable for biofuel feedstock production, an evaluation of most of he primary lands has to be conducted. This analysis is presented in this chapter where we evaluate the different types of lands available and discuss biomass availability as a function of land cover type.