Biofuels from dedicated tropical plantation forests: it is time for detailed studies of the lignofuels options
As a source of alternative fuels, ligneous biomass offers two significant advantages: trees can grow on low-yield land unsuited for food production and supply the energy required for producing derived fuels. Technologies for its conversion into substitutes for gasoline and especially
for diesel fuel are complex and expensive. Harnessing and applying them will however be pushed forward by the double challenge of oil resource depletion and global warming. Ample sunlight and high rainfall suggest that the tropics may be the preferred areas where plantation forests dedicated
to lignocellulose fuel production (or lignofuels as distinct from agrofuels) could be established. At petroleum prices 10 to 20 above 2007 levels, the authors conclude that a bioethanol outlet for tropical forest plantations on deforested idle lands and humid savannahs is viable. To meet the
very rapid expected growth in demand for biomass, such projects should thus be initiated now. Key issues to be covered in related feasibility studies are discussed herein.
Keywords: biofuels; climate change; ethanol; oil-free future; plantation forests
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: Strategic development advisor, Geneva; former ministerial advisor in the Ivory Coast and former senior researcher, Battelle, Geneva Research Center, Switzerland. 2: Consultant, venture capital, Geneva; former vice-president, Swiss Bank Corporation/UBS and former researcher, Battelle, Geneva Research Center, Switzerland.
Publication date: 01 December 2008
- The International Forestry Review is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal that publishes original research and review papers on all aspects of forest policy and science, with an emphasis on issues of transnational significance. It is published four times per year, in March, June, September and December. Theme editions are a regular feature and attract a wide audience.
The IFR is part of The Global Forest Information Service - GFIS
International Forestry Review has an Impact Factor of 1.705 - Editorial Board
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