Abstract
Modern and sustainable bioenergy production may be an effective way to substitute substantial portions of energy demand for transportation in the future. According to Doornbosch and Steenblik (2007), 60% of the total world's potentially available land could be used produce bioenergy by 2050 (440Mha), of which around 60% (250Mha) will be in Latin America & Caribbean and 180Mha in Africa). Since the availability of land for bioenergy will largely originate from pasture land. The overall scale of bioenergy production will in part depend on the availability of fertile land with good climatic conditions, it is clear that, if food production is to be increased to meet future needs and biodiversity protected, basically the world will depend on the Latin America & Caribbean and Africa continents for future expansion of bioenergy. The LACAf-Cane project will, therefore, focus in these two continents and will evaluate bioethanol production from sugarcane. Bioelectricity production from sugarcane will also be considered due to its important impacts on rural development and its synergy with ethanol production. The LACAf-Cane project intends to be a contribution to the Global Sustainable Bioenergy (GSB) project which was initiated in 2009 by a group of scientists, engineers, and policy experts from universities, government agencies, and the non-profit sector from across the globe, with the overall goal of providing guidance with respect to the feasibility and desirability of sustainable bioenergy-intensive future. The core objective of the GSB Project is to test the hypothesis that it is physically possible for bioenergy to sustainably meet a substantial fraction of future demand for energy services while feeding humanity and meeting other needs from managed lands, preserving wildlife habitat, and maintaining environmental quality. The GSB project is structured in three stages: Stage 1(completed). Hold five continental conventions to discuss the hypothesis. Stage 2. Explore whether and how it is physically possible for bioenergy to sustainably meet a substantial fraction of future demand for energy services - e.g. 150 EJ annually,1 corresponding to the 23% of primary energy supply expected from biomass in the IEA Blue Map Scenario [see International Energy Agency. 2010 Energy Technology Perspectives 2010 (PDF)] - while feeding humanity and meeting other needs from managed lands, preserving wildlife habitat and maintaining environmental quality. Stage 3. Analyze and recommend transition paths and policies in light of Stage 2 results, incorporating analysis of macroeconomic, environmental, ethical and equity issues as well as local-scale effects on rural economies. The GSB project has already conducted stage 1. The full text of the Latin America and Africa continental conventions and the remaining resolutions can be found at: http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/gsbproject/. More information about the GSB project on Lynd et al. (2011). The next steps for the GSB project are stages 2 and 3. (AU)
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