Assessing the Environmental Impact of Agriculture

Description

A prerequisite to improving the sustainability of agriculture are reliable methods to identify and quantify types of environmental impact. This collection summarises current research on the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) and other modelling techniques to measure and improve the sustainability of agriculture. Part 1 looks at current best practice and key methodological challenges in life cycle assessment. Part 2 reviews ways of modelling particular types of impact, from nutrient and carbon cycles to freshwater balances, energy use, pesticide use and biodiversity. Part 3 reviews the environmental assessment and optimization of sectors such as crops, ruminant and other livestock production as well as by-products. Assessing the environmental impact of agriculture will be a standard reference for researchers in agricultural and environmental science concerned with understanding and mitigating the environmental impact of agriculture. Achieving carbon-negative bioenergy systems from plant materials Contents Series list Acknowledgements Introduction Part 1 Technologies Chapter 1 Biomass gasification for bioenergy 1 Introduction 2 Fundamentals of biomass gasification 3 Biomass gasification for heat and power generation 4 Fuel synthesis from biomass gasification synthesis gas 5 Carbon balance value of by-products from thermal gasification of biomass 6 System integration for polygeneration 7 Conclusion 8 Where to look for further information 9 References Chapter 2 Fast pyrolysis for biofuel production 1 Introduction 2 Chemical reaction kinetics of fast pyrolysis 3 Fast pyrolysis process technologies 4 From hydroprocessing to catalytic upgrading 5 Co-products and uses in the market 6 Techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) review 7 Commercialization and demonstration of biomass fast pyrolysis 8 Conclusion and future trends 9 Where to look for further information 10 References Chapter 3 Producing biofuels with torrefaction 1 Introduction 2 Biomass as a sustainable energy source 3 The development of biomass pretreatment technologies 4 Biomass densification technologies 5 Pretreatment technologies: an overview 6 Steam explosion[21] 7 Dry torrefaction 8 Pelleting/briquetting 9 Hydrothermal carbonization (wet torrefaction) 10 Advantages and limitations of biomass pretreatments 11 Use of torrefied biomass in power plants[6,30–34] 12 Case study: use of torrefied wood pellets at Portland General Electric’s Boardman Facility[6] 13 Summary 14 Acknowledgements 15 References 16 Appendix: key sources on torrefaction Part 2 Materials Chapter 4 Production of biodiesel from renewable sources 1 Introduction 2 Types of feedstocks for biodiesel production 3 Understanding transesterification for biodiesel production 4 Optimizing operating conditions for biodiesel synthesis 5 Optimizing supercritical transesterification technology for biodiesel production: a case study 6 Improving biodiesel quality 7 Conclusions 8 Where to look for further information 9 References Chapter 5 Production of biodiesel from oilseeds: Jatropha curcas 1 Introduction 2 Characteristics of Jatropha curcas L. 3 Jatropha curcas as a biodiesel feedstock: transesterification 4 Factors affecting enzymatic transesterification using immobilized lipase 5 Life cycle assessment of Jatropha curcas for biodiesel production 6 Economic analysis of biodiesel production 7 References Chapter 6 Production of biodiesel from oilseeds: canola/rapeseed 1 Introduction 2 Current technologies and constraints of biodiesel production 3 Life cycle assessment of canola/rapeseed biodiesel 4 Future trends and conclusion 5 Where to look for further information 6 References Chapter 7 Sustainable use of Miscanthus for biofuel 1 Introduction 2 The energy balance 3 Nutrient-use efficiency 4 Water use/water-use efficiency 5 Carbon flux 6 Life cycle assessment (LCA) for different end uses 7 Traits and/or agronomy for improved sustainability 8 Conclusion and future trends 9 Acknowledgements 10 Where to look for further information 11 References Chapter 8 Sustainable use of switchgrass for biofuel 1 Introduction 2 Switchgrass and environmental sustainability metrics 3 Challenges in becoming a primary feedstock resource 4 Switchgrass production and agronomics in the context of sustainability 5 Economic, policy and social issues 6 Case study 7 Conclusion 8 Future trends 9 Where to look for further information 10 References Chapter 9 Sustainable production of willow for biofuel use 1 Introduction 2 Feedstock quality for biofuel use 3 Feedstock productivity 4 Cropping security 5 Biodiversity 6 Nutrient uptake and use 7 Carbon accumulation and sequestration 8 Ecosystem services and environmental impact 9 Case study 10 Summary and future trends 11 Acknowledgements 12 Where to look for further information 13 References Chapter 10 Sustainable use of seaweed for biofuel 1 Introduction 2 Seaweed as a feedstock for third-generation biofuels 3 Conversion technologies for biofuel production from seaweed: biochemical conversion by anaerobic digestion 4 Biochemical conversion by fermentation 5 Thermochemical conversion routes 6 Chemical conversion routes 7 Large-scale production case studies and technoeconomical assessments 8 Conclusion and future trends 9 References Index