Enormous Biofuel Potential for Fast-Growing Eucalypts

Biofuels can replace fossil fuels without eating into too much valuable farming land, says Australian expert Professor Robert Henry, who believes the world could completely overcome its dependence on oil by planting 100 million hectares of biofuel crops – equivalent to about a seventh of Australia’s landmass. But by reducing consumption by increased fuel-efficiency, the area required for biofuels could reduce to perhaps 50 million hectares.

Anna Salleh reports for ABC (27 January 2010):

Biofuels can replace a significant amount of our reliance on fossil fuels without eating into too much valuable farming land, says an Australian expert.

Professor Robert Henry, of the Bioenergy Research Institute at Southern Cross University in Lismore, reports his findings in the online ahead of print edition of Plant Biotechnology.

“It is possible to replace oil by using a relatively small proportion of our total arable land,” says Henry, who has also just completed a book titled Plant resources for food, fuel and conservation.

Recently, concerns have been raised about the potential for biofuel crops to take up land that could otherwise be used for producing food.

But Henry says his analysis shows the world could replace all its dependence on oil by planting 100 million hectares of prime agricultural land to biofuel crops – equivalent to about a seventh of Australia’s landmass.

He says while electric vehicles are an option in cities, liquid fuel alternatives to petrol will continue to be important for heavy transport and aviation because they have a greater energy density than batteries.

Henry says reducing consumption by increasing fuel-efficiency could reduce the area required for biofuels to perhaps plant 50 million hectares.

He says the leading biomass producers in the world include eucalypts and sugarcane, which produce 50 to 100 tonnes of dry biomass per hectare under the best conditions.

Henry says growing biofuel crops on degraded agricultural land would be another option, although this would require more land because the productivity is lower.

He says fast-growing eucalypts have enormous potential globally as a biofuel because they have high productivity in “less than perfect environments”.

Green biofuels?

But Henry says it will be important to roll out biofuel crops in a thoughtful way so that they are a genuine improvement on fossil fuels.

Today’s biofuel crops only convert certain parts of the plant – such as sugar, starch or oil.

But, he says, new technology should aim to convert all of the carbon in the plant, including the woody parts, into fuel to make biofuels an efficient option.

It would also be important to consider the impact of biofuel crops on biodiversity, says Henry. Areas of high biodiversity should be locked up, while tree crops may be planted to improve the biodiversity of degraded farmlands, he says.

Weeds

Henry says another big issue to consider is that biofuel crops are generally chosen for their ability to grow fast and this means they can turn into weeds.

“What need to do is understand their ‘weediness’ before we grow them on a large scale,” he says.

Henry says it’s also important to consider the energy costs in biofuel production.

“The whole lifecycle assessment is important in this,” he says.

This means including fertiliser use, water use, and the location of biofuel crops – which would be best located in regional areas close to cities, says Henry.

“It’s a challenging area because there are so many things you’ve got to analyse to come up with the bottom line is in terms of your net impact,” he says.

Economic incentive

Henry there is a strong economic incentive for Australia to grow more biofuel crops because its oil production is declining.

“Most of our oil in 10 years time will be being imported and that will be a huge cost to Australia,” he says.

Henry says his analysis shows only a bit over a million hectares of highly productive land would be needed to replace the oil used in the country.

“I think we can move fairly quickly in Australia to replacing a third of our fuel with biofuel by 2020 or 2025 without great effort,” he says.

“But we have to have a more considered plan about how we’re going to approach that so we do it in a way that’s going to have a positive environmental benefit.”

Source: www.abc.net.au,  www.scu.edu.au and www.beri.com.au