Title:
Environmental and Economic Assessment of Cynara Cardunculus for Local Bioenergy Production under Rainfed Conditions in the Context of Climate Change Impact
Author(s):
Lago, C., Herrera, I., Sánchez, J., Lechón, Y., Curt, M.D.
Document(s):
Paper
Poster
Abstract:
Marginal and abandoned lands could suppose an opportunity for local biomass production for bioenergy purposes, without competing with food and feed crops. Cynara cardunculus L. is a suitable crop to be grown in marginal lands, because of its perennial character, low requirements of agricultural inputs and its good adaption to Mediterranean agro-ecological conditions in rainfed regime. The main objective of this study was to assess the environmental and economic performance of several productive scenarios of cardoon cultivation in agricultural land potentially suitable for the sustainable production of biomass for non-food purposes. The end-uses of the biomass analysed in this study were the production of heat in domestic boilers and power in combustion plants, both form pelletized cardoon biomass. Results show significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emission savings, both for the production of electricity (81-87%) and for the heat drive (87-89%). However, under the unrestricted management practices analysed, growers do not make a profit on their farms. Cardoon cultivation is, therefore, a good option to climate change mitigation, but still needs subsidies and revenues to get profitability in marginal and abandoned lands with low crop yields. Whether it is possible to achieve economic profitability under a low agricultural-input scenario would be the next step to investigate.
Keywords:
climate change, environmental assessment, Cynara cardunculus L., local bioenergy production, economic performance
Topic:
Biomass Sustainability, Impacts and Policies
Subtopic:
Climate impacts of bioenergy
Event:
27th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
4AV.5.9
Pages:
1719 - 1724
ISBN:
978-88-89407-19-6
Paper DOI:
10.5071/27thEUBCE2019-4AV.5.9
Price:
FREE
