Assessing the Sustainable Development of Bioenergy from Cassava within “Water-Energy-Food” Nexus Framework in China

Dong Jiang, Shuai Chen, Mengmeng Hao, Jingying Fu and Fangyu Ding
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Dong Jiang: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information Systems, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Shuai Chen: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information Systems, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Mengmeng Hao: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information Systems, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Jingying Fu: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information Systems, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Fangyu Ding: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information Systems, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: Bioenergy from cassava is a promising alternative energy source for both energy supply and the mitigation of greenhouse gases. However, major global trends, such as climate change and competing landuse patterns, pose substantial risks to the sustainable development of bioenergy. The main purpose of this study was to assess the sustainable development of bioenergy from cassava, considering landuse change and climate change with a biogeochemical process model within the “water-energy-food” nexus framework. The results showed that the land resources that were suitable for the development of cassava bioenergy have continuously decreased in China since 1990. At the same time, the climate has also undergone significant changes, with temperature showing an increasing trend, and precipitation showing a decreasing trend. With the influences of both landuse change and climate change, the total bioenergy of cassava showed a downward trend. In China, the potential bioenergy production for the year 1990, 2000, and 2010 was 6075 PJ, 5974 PJ, and 4399 PJ, respectively. Compared to 1990, the bioenergy production in 2010 decreased by 1676.40 million GJ, which equals 57 million tons of standard coal. In addition, the water footprint of bioenergy from cassava was discussed. After considering changes to landuse, climate, and water footprint, it was concluded that Guangxi was the most suitable place to develop cassava bioenergy, followed by Fujian, Guangdong, and Yunnan.

Keywords: cassava bioenergy; biogeochemical process model; “water-energy-food” nexus; landuse change; climate change; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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