CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
Research Theme 3 focuses on climate and environment and looks at both how climate change is likely to affect bioenergy provision and how bioenergy can help reduce the greenhouse gases the cause climate change.
Whether land is fertile, marginal, or barren is a function of the water available, human activity, and the local and global climates. The feedback system and relationships between these factors are highly complex, and the production of bioenergy crops needs to be considered with the context of livelihood trade-offs and alternative purposes for the land.
PISCES is looking at climate change from two different perspectives:
Firstly, how is climate change likely to affect bioenergy production and what are the responses to those impacts? For example, lower rainfall as a result of climatic changes may impact production of sugar cane or corn grown for biofuels. The response might be increased planting of drought-resistant crop varieties.
Secondly, what contribution can bioenergy provide to reducing the greenhouse gases that cause climate change? For example, jatropha plant oil has been used to electrify a rural village in India, but can it be scaled up?
From the broader environment perspective, PISCES is also researching how to protect the environment while maximising the productivity of crops in the emerging bioenergy industry.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
One of the key themes of this research is to look at the environmental impacts of bioenergy in Africa and South Asia. Grown under the right conditions, bioenergy crops can contribute to better environmental management – dedicated energy plantations grown on degraded lands can actually help restore the soil and biodiversity. As with all crops, bioenergy crops need to be grown and managed responsibly, and farm-level incentives for sustainable farming need to be in place. The use of crop residues as biofuel can also reduce the demands made on forests for firewood.
PISCES is researching the optimum models for maximising environmental benefits. The research findings will also show what the environmental impacts are so that policy makers can make informed decisions on how to increase access to energy services with minimum environmental impact.
Another important environmental impact pertains to human health. Bioenergy encompasses improved cook stoves that can have a direct environmental impact on women and children by reducing indoor air pollution. Currently the use of biomass fuels contributes to more than 1.6 million deaths annually and 2.7 per cent of the global burden of disease, making it the second-biggest environmental contributor to ill-health (after unsafe water and sanitation). In India, for example, an estimated 500,000 women and children die each year as a result of traditional biomass burnt in the household. PISCES is investigating how to get users to switch from basic energy sources such as firewood to cleaner bioenergies and raising awareness about cleaner technology options.
In the longer term, it is envisaged that uptake of PISCES recommendations will lead to a reduction in the burning of fossil fuels and forest depletion and have important long term, positive effects on climate and the environment.
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