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Mostly_Harmless
wyrd bið ful aræd



Registered: 05/12/09
Posts: 5,043
Loc: Perfidious Albion
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Water-efficient crops offer solution to food versus fuel debate
#21936657 - 07/13/15 10:08 AM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2015/06/sustainable-bioenergy-crassulacean-acid-metabolism-plant
Quote:
 Prickly pears are being trialled as a biogas feedstock. Image taken at the Live Energies plantation in Kenya © Tessy George
New analysis from UK researchers suggests a previously overlooked group of plants could be key to providing sustainable bioenergy for the future.
Traditional biofuels such as bioethanol are made from food crops like corn and sugarcane that require prime agricultural land – a commodity in relatively short supply. Competition between food and fuel crops means that large scale bioethanol production is therefore controversial.
But plants that perform photosynthesis through a crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) system may enable bioenergy production without disrupting food supplies. CAM plants are adapted to grow on arid and semi-arid land, where low or unpredictable rainfall makes conventional agriculture difficult. Semi-arid land is estimated to take up 12–18% of the world’s land area and while some of this is already used for farming, much of it is relatively unproductive grazing land. CAM plants can flourish here by conserving water more effectively than traditional crops – they capture carbon dioxide from the air at night and convert it to malate, which fuels photosynthesis during the day. By avoiding the need for gas exchange during the day, they reduce evaporative losses through their leaves and so require much less water per unit of biomass than other plants.
Though well known, CAM plants have barely been studied as potential bioenergy crops. However, new analysis by researchers from the University of Oxford, Tropical Power, Imperial College London and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, say that CAM species like Opuntia ficus-indica (prickly pear) and Euphorbia tirucallli could make a huge contribution to sustainable biogas production.
Bioenergy entrepreneur Mike Mason, who led the work, explains that electricity production from biogas is incredibly flexible, ‘you can bring it up or down as demand goes up and down. The problem is that there isn’t much resource to turn into biogas and it’s horribly expensive.’ But CAM plants, which can be grown cheaply on marginal land, have the potential to change this.
Mason estimates that it would take between 4% and 12% of available semi-arid land to generate 5PWh of electricity per year, equivalent to that generated from natural gas. The products of anaerobic digestion, nutrient rich wastewater and solid digestate, can be re-used for irrigation or as fertilisers. The wastewater could also be used for highly productive forms of aquaculture – potentially increasing food production from land growing biofuels instead of decreasing it.
‘This is a valuable synthesis of the literature and new data,’ notes biofuels expert Richard Murphy from the University of Surrey, UK. ‘They make a positive and optimistic case.’ However, he cautions that careful consideration needs to be given to issues such as nutrient cycling, electricity infrastructure and conservation management to ensure the long-term sustainability of such agro-ecosystems.
Although some CAM plants such as pineapple and agave are already cultivated on a large scale, they are not currently employed for biogas production. ‘There is no doubt that plant science and breeding improves crops,’ says Mason, the problem is that ‘we are with CAM plants where we were with cereal crops 10,000 years ago.’ But with increasing research interest and sustainable electricity in ever greater demand, that situation might change quickly.
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spaceman101
Friend to all



Registered: 01/18/13
Posts: 11,726
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Re: Water-efficient crops offer solution to food versus fuel debate [Re: Mostly_Harmless]
#21936976 - 07/13/15 11:50 AM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Damn! That was a Very interesting read Mostly.
Thanks for keeping us all updated
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Acaterpillar
A little mad...



Registered: 06/09/07
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Re: Water-efficient crops offer solution to food versus fuel debate [Re: spaceman101]
#21937827 - 07/13/15 03:34 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Very exciting. I'm surprised this wasn't thought of sooner.
-------------------- Aaa...E I O Uuu...A E I O Uuu..A E I O uh Uuu.. *Cough* *Cough* Ooo...U E I O Aaa...U E I Aaa..A E I O Uuuuu... At first sight, The Perfection of Wisdom is bewildering, full of paradox and apparent irrationality.
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kosmokratorshaman
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Registered: 05/13/15
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Re: Water-efficient crops offer solution to food versus fuel debate [Re: Acaterpillar]
#21937942 - 07/13/15 04:02 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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well done
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cowsRmeat
Don't step on the MomeRaths



Registered: 04/23/14
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Re: Water-efficient crops offer solution to food versus fuel debate [Re: Acaterpillar]
#21938638 - 07/13/15 06:38 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
Acaterpillar said: Very exciting. I'm surprised this wasn't thought of sooner.
-------------------- One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. 'Which road do I take?' she asked. 'Where do you want to go?' was his response. 'I don't know', Alice answered. 'Then', said the cat, 'it doesn't matter.'
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mandrin13
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Re: Water-efficient crops offer solution to food versus fuel debate [Re: cowsRmeat]
#21943410 - 07/14/15 06:47 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Fantastic, it is too bad we probably wont utilize this to its full potential.
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kizatzhaddarak
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Registered: 10/13/14
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Re: Water-efficient crops offer solution to food versus fuel debate [Re: mandrin13]
#21946326 - 07/15/15 08:31 AM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Thank you for sharing the article Mostly_Harmless.
I can think of some other beneficial arid climate plants. Acacia trees. (Wattle). some varieties provide: food, wood, and medicine. Baobabs, Sempervivum species and Sedum album, are both (Cam) plants that can grow and spread very rapidly. I have them growing here, in my yard. Amazing to think that sedum and sempervivum, could become biomass fuels.
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Toadstool5
A Registered Mycophile



Registered: 01/22/15
Posts: 1,359
Loc: The Golden State
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Re: Water-efficient crops offer solution to food versus fuel debate [Re: kizatzhaddarak]
#21949317 - 07/15/15 08:50 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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This makes me even happier to own a opuntia ficus-indica 
Its a very important plant in mexico. Many of the dairies supplement their feedstock with nopales (fresh pads), then the opuntia growers use cow manure as their primary source of nitrogen.
I dont think this will solve the food vs fuel problem though. If they start growing it in an impovished arid area without strong agriculture, the locals will use it as food. We still havent solved our food shortages so any edible plant is probably not going to be diverted to fuel uses just so well-fed people can drive a cleaner car 
You dont see mexico offering any crops for biofuel, especially with tortillas being the main staple food. 
Same with america. Who is going to sell their cheapest source of food/feedstock for even cheaper so that the environment doesnt tank out? Nobody.
-------------------- If you do not know where the mushroom products you are consuming are grown, think twice before eating them. - Paul Stamets AMU Teks Stro's Write Ups
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