320
Views
8
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Contemporary Forest Restoration

Forest resources for second generation biofuel production

&
Pages 126-133 | Published online: 14 Jul 2010
 

Abstract

The gradual reduction in world oil reserves is increasing the importance of biofuel. First generation biofuels resulted in yields that are lower than general energy needs. At least in some cases, more energy was used for production than was obtained from the final fuel. Conflicts with food cultivation and high environmental impact are other possible drawbacks. Nevertheless, the multiple uses of plant lipids (fuels, food, many industrial uses) make fuel crops important cultivations. Moreover, cultivation of oil crops used for fuel only is probably economically advantageous for local needs and local economic cycles. Second generation biofuels should perform better in terms of yield and soil use. Among them, lignocellulosic biomass appears to be promising owing to its high available quantity and productivity. In particular, forest biomass (of cultivated trees) could potentially provide a large amount of biomass for biofuels. A general account on lignocellulosic biomass transformation to liquid biofuels (ethanol) is provided together with a quantitative example which calculates the potential biofuel production obtainable by cultivating forest biomass in abandoned and marginal land of Tuscany (Italy). Looking at official available data on energy demand in Tuscany, 15% of the current gasoline consumption could be replaced by such biofuel sources.

Acknowledgements

We thank the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Pistoia e Pescia for their financial support of our scientific investigation in the field of biofuels (PISTOLIO project) and an anonymous reviewer for suggestions to improve the quality of this article.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 61.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 133.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.