The bioenergy and water nexus
Journal article, 2011
Promotion of energy from biomass for reducing greenhouse gas emissions has led to increased usage of freshwater, especially during the cultivation of biomass. This has raised concerns about the increase in water stress, particularly in countries that are already facing water shortages. Attempts are being made to characterize the effect of water demand induced inter alia by increased bioenergy usage. Also, alternatives are being developed to mitigate such impacts by improved management so that bioenergy can be beneficially utilized. Future studies on bioenergy will need to take into consideration the water aspect so that the trade-offs between climate change mitigation and water stress are addressed.
bioenergy
impacts
lca
water
energy
assessment
biofuels
footprint
climate-change
biomass
bioethanol
impacts
carbon
Author
S. H. Gheewala
Ministry of Education
King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi
Göran Berndes
Chalmers, Energy and Environment, Physical Resource Theory
G. Jewitt
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining
1932-104X (ISSN) 1932-1031 (eISSN)
Vol. 5 4 353-360Subject Categories
Industrial Biotechnology
DOI
10.1002/bbb.295