Energy crops may present an opportunity to reduce Nova Scotia’s Greenhouse Gas emissions by offsetting fossil fuel use and provide economic benefits for farmers. They have also received government policy support. To investigate this opportunity, I conduct a partial social cost-benefit analysis using non-equity weighted monetary valuation of growing switchgrass on inactive and underused farmland in Nova Scotia for local residential heating. The private net benefit for farmers, processors and consumers is estimated between $24.9 million and $209.9 million. I estimate that the external net benefit to society from the potential reduction in GHG emissions (at $50/tonne CO2E) ranges from $11.3 million to $72.2 million. This must be taken with caution as the analysis does not account for the entire ecological footprint of the project. While a net benefit to society is suggested, the paper also points to a need for more research surrounding the life-cycle emissions of energy crops.

Rapidly increasing concerns about energy security coupled with detrimental environmental impacts posed by the dependence on fossil fuels, and an urgent need for rural development in Africa are key drivers for the search for fuel alternatives. The international effort into the development of criteria and indicators for sustainable bioenergy production clearly recognizes that bioenergy production must not be at the expense of biodiversity and food security. Owing to its multi-purpose capabilities i.e. its ability to rehabilitate eroded lands, drought resistance as well as its biophysical and maintenance requirements, Jatropha was selected as a potential candidate for the production of biodiesel. Jatropha is not new to the people of Tanzania, the study area of the project. Research has shown that, its associated social, environmental and economic benefits are crucial to economic development of the country. At present, all of Tanzania’s petroleum based products are imported; about 90% of the energy consumed is derived from biomass; road, rail and electricity networks are underdeveloped. Environmental degradation is also a concern in the country. The aim of the study was to identify three optimal locations for large scale Jatropha cultivation for biodiesel production in Tanzania’s semi arid regions. Geographical Information Systems was used to overlay several remotely sensed data from previous research namely semi arid regions delineations, agro-ecological sub-zones that had Jatropha potential as well as the administrative zones of Tanzania. The unavailable and/unsuitable areas were verified against literature and this enabled the areas that were under cultivation, were housing biodiversity or were generally constrained to be filtered out from the study area. The three largest, available and potentially suitable areas that the study identified for large scale Jatropha cultivation occupied about 7.6 million hectares. Assuming an optimal seed yield and an oil content of 35%, these areas are capable of producing about 14.4 million litres of Jatropha oil per annum. Targeting a SADC fuel import substitution of 10%, these 14.4 million litres of Jatropha oil that the three areas will meet about 83% of the country’s energy needs. Owing to the state of electricity generation in Tanzania, these three areas are able to generate about six percent of electricity and this can contribute to some extend to the country energy needs. From the analysis it was clear to note that the production of biodiesel for blending or for electricity generation is going to be economically viable from the three selected regions. The available and suitable areas that were not consolidated within the three selected regions can be used for small scale Jatropha cultivation and their produce can be fed to large scale commercial oil production or they can use the biodiesel to produce their own electricity. Jatropha will have to be irrigated to enhance a viable economic yield; infrastructure will need to be constructed to areas that are not served by roads and railway lines. All of this bodes well for enhancing rural development. The government has already had the foresight to establish the National Biofuels Task Force which will need to monitor investors to ensure no enforced human displacement and/or exploitation in areas where the large scale farms are to be established. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.

Energy availability and environmental issues are of growing concern; nations are striving to use energy more efficiently while at the same time decreasing the negative impacts on the environment. / The objectives of this study are to: (1) establish a supply price for ethanol derived from switchgrass, (2) establish an accounting budget for carbon dioxide during feedstock production and processing into ethanol, and (3) determine the cost/tonne of CO$ sb2$ using this strategy. / Total cost of production of the feedstock for cycles of 5, 10, 15, and 20 years are $357.06/ha ( $32.73/ODT), $337.81/ha ( $30.96/ODT), $331.52/ha ( $30.39/ODT), and $328.47/ha ( $30.11/ODT) respectively. Thus, the approximate cost of producing one litre of ethanol from switchgrass is $0.47/litre. / Overall, the switchgrass-ethanol system is a net carbon sink for all four cycles, and each hectare of swithgrass sequesters between 1.9 and 6.8 tonne of CO$ sb2$ per year. However, this process is not indefinite, and will stop once the soil organic matter reaches an equilibrium. / The current price for gas is $0.24/litre (excluding taxes and profit margins). According to the price differential existing between ethanol and gasoline and the CO$ sb2$ emissions difference between both systems, the cost of sequestering CO$ sb2$ ranges between $83/tonne and $129/tonne, with the adoption of this specific strategy. At the macro level, Quebec and Canada's total carbon dioxide emissions reached 70 million tonnes and 461 million tonnes respectively, in 1991. Thus, displacing fossil-based energy sources (gasoline) with a renewable energy source (ethanol from switchgrass) to reduce those emissions by 20 % by the year 2010, incurs a cost ranging between $1.16 billion and $1.8 billion for Quebec, and between $7.7 billion and $11.9 billion for Canada. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Dedicated energy crops have the potential to supply a sustainable biomass feedstock to support the bioenergy industry. However, a major constraint for promoting energy crops has been the availability of land for establishing energy crops. In this study, we developed a spatially-explicit model to identify suitable and economically feasible sites for establishing energy crops based on biomass price, production costs and site-specific biomass productivity. Results from our study provided an objective evaluation of factors that influence the amount and spatial distribution of land suitable for establishing energy crops. In addition, our model had the ability to capture variation across the feasible areas because of changing biomass market and policy conditions. By performing a sensitivity analysis with different market and policy scenarios, we were able to identify the most effective and favorable scenarios that could maximize the available land for producing energy crops.

Carbon storage was compared between two perennial biomass energy systems, namely switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and short-rotation willow Salix alba x glaffelteri L.) at 2 adjacent sites, and further compared with a corn cultivation, a 20-year-old abandoned field, and a mature hardwood forest, in southwestern Quebec. Aboveground carbon results indicated that switchgrass and corn had significantly greater carbon levels than willow at the less fertile site, but no significant differences were detected at the more fertile site. Root carbon results indicated that corn had significantly lower carbon levels than both perennial systems to a depth of 30 cm at both sites. However, switchgrass had significantly greater root carbon levels beyond 30 cm compared with willow and corn, and beyond 45 cm compared with the forest and abandoned field. These findings indicate that deep-rooted perennial grasses such as switchgrass have the potential to sequester carbon at deeper soil layers. Soil carbon results showed that at the more fertile site, willow was associated with significantly greater soil carbon levels than switchgrass. Moreover, both perennial crops had soil carbon levels that were greater than for corn, the abandoned field, and the forest. In contrast, at the less fertile site, no significant differences in soil carbon were detected between the various plant systems examined. The results of this study suggest that the perennial energy crops used, when grown on relatively fertile soils, have the potential to substantially increase soil carbon levels compared with conventional agricultural and/or forest systems. Consequently, when these crops are grown on less fertile soils, their added advantage of increasing carbon storage is lost.

Für den Anbau von Biomasse-Dauerkulturen wie schnellwachsende Baumarten werden Anbauhinweise und -empfehlungen gegeben, die Aspekte des Boden-, Gewässer- und Naturschutzes berücksichtigen. Standorteignung, Wirkungen auf wildlebende Pflanzen- und Tierarten, entstehende Synergieeffekte, Einflüsse auf den Wasserhaushalt, Stoffeinträge in Gewässer sowie klimatische Wirkungen sind Teilaspekte, unter denen die Chancen und Risiken der energetischen Nutzung nachwachsender Rohstoffe im Rahmen eines mehrjährigen Verbundvorhabens in Sachsen untersucht wurden. Ergänzend wurde auch der Anbau einjähriger Energiepflanzen betrachtet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-11, Section: A, page: 4805. Adviser: Madhu Khanna. Includes bibliographical references. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (M.S.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Agricultural Economics. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009. / Submitted to the African Centre for Crop Improvement. Full text also available online. Scroll down for electronic link.

Thesis (MScAgric)--Stellenbosch University, 1994. / Some digitised pages may appear illegible due to the condition of the Microfiche / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Many Proreaceae species indigenous to South Africa have potential as cutflower crops. Commercial production of proteas for expurt, mainly to Europe, must emphasise quality of flowers and time of production. Good export quality flowers have stems longer than 50cm and unblemished flowers. Cut-flower proteas are in greater demand and command better prices during the European winter (September to May, Southern hemisphere), when competition from flowers grown in Europe is less. Both quality and time of harvest can be manipulated by pruning techniques. Protea cv. Carnival (a natural hybrid, possibly between P. neriifolia and P. compacta) produces flowers in late summer, from February through to May. Picking flowers or pruning shoots of Proteo cv. Carnival entails removing the terminal portion of shoots with heading cuts to leave on the plant short stumps, known as bearers. Lateral shoots arising from axillary buds on bearers elongate by successive growth flushes until flowers are initiated terminally. The characteristics of the shoot determine whether or not flower initiation will take place, and will affect the quality of the resulting flower. Plants were pruned to produce bearers of different length and diameter. The characteristics of shoots arising from different bearers were recordea. Thick bearers of length 20-25cm produced the most shoots, and the longest shoots. Plants producing flowers biennially, rather than ann'Jally, produced thicker bearers, which, in turn, lead to production of better quality shoots arising from the bearers in the following season. Changing the time of pruning changed both the flowering cycle and the biomass allocation of Prorea cv. Carnival. Plants of Profea cv. Carnival were pruned on six different dates in 1991. Pruning in March, April or May, 1991, resulted in an annual flowering cycle. Less than 40% of the fresh mass produced in 1993 was reproductive, of which approximately 5% had stems long enough for export. The 1994 annual harvest was of s:milar size and quality as the 1993 annual harvest. Pruning in July, August or September, 1991, resulted in a biennial cycle of flowering. No flowers were produced in 1992, and a large crop was harvested in 1993. In 1993 lip to 70% of the fresh mass produced was reproductive, of which approximately 80% had stems long enough for export. Plants were pruned shortly after flowering in 1993, and the biennial cycle was replaced by an alternate flowering cycle, with a large crop being followed by a smaller crop. The large harvest in 1993 was significantly earlier than normal, but the small crop produced in 1994 was later. The harvest in 1994 from plants with an alternate flowering cycle was similar in size to the 1994 harvest from plants floweting annually, but flower stems were longer. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Heelwat inheemse Proteaceae spesies besit die vereiste eienskappe om as snyblomr.-le verhanctci te wod. Indien proteas kommersieel verbou sou word vir uitvoer moet die klem val op gehalte van blomme en die tyd van produksie. Goeie gehalte uitvoer blomme moet steellengte van langer as 50cm en perfek gevormde blomme besit. Daar is 'n groter aanvraag na kommersieel verboude proteas gedurende die Europese winter (September tot Mei, suidelike halfrond) en beter pryse word derhalwe ook dan verkry. Beide gehalte en die oes periode kan gemanipuleer word deur snoeitegnieke. Wanneer blomme gepluk word of lote gesnoei word van Profea cv. Carnival (waarskynlik 'n kruising tussen P. compacta x P. neriifolia) word die terminale gedeelte van die loot teruggesny. Die oorblywende gedeelte bestaan uit kort stompe wat bekend staan as draers. Laterale lote afkomstig van okselknoppe op draers verleng totdat 'n blom terminaal ontwikkel. Die eienskappe van die loot bepaal of 'n blom inisieer sal word of nie, en sal ook die gehalte van die gevormde blom beinvloed. Protea plante was gesnoei om draers van verkillende lengtes en deursnee te produseer. Die eienkappe van lote afkomstig van die verskillende tipe draers was gemeet. Dik ..draers van lengte 20-25cm het die meeste asook die langste lote geproduseer. Plante wat twee-jaarliks, in teenstelling met jaarliks, geblom het, het dikker draers geproduseer en ook gelei tot produksie van beter gehalte lote in die opeenvolgende seisoen. Die verandering in die tyd van snoei het beide die blom siklus en die biomassa verspreiding beinvloed. Plante van Protea cv. Carnival was up 6 verskillende datums in 1991 gesnoei. Snoei in Maart, April of Mei, 1991, het 'n jaarlikse blom siklus veroorsaak. Minder as 40% van die vars massa geproduseer in 1993 was reproduktief, waarvan 5% steellengte lank genoeg vir uitvoer gehad hel. Die 1994 jaarlikse oes was van dieselfde grootte en gehalte as die van 1993. Snoei in Julie, Augustus of September, 1991, het egter 'n twee-jaarlikse blom siklus veroorsaak. Geen blomme was in 1992 geproduseer nie, maar die oes in 1993 was heelwat groter as die jaarlikse oeste. In 1993 was to 70% van die vars massa geproduseer, reproduktief, waarvan 80% steellengte lank genoeg vir uitvoer gehad het. Die twee-jaarlikse blom siklus het 'n vroeer oes in 1993 veroorsaak, maar 'n later oes in 1994. Die twee-jaarlikse oes in 1994 was van dieseifde grootte as die jaarlikse oes in 1994, maar die blomstele was langer.