Localizing biomass production for energy at global scale under climate and biodiversity contraints
PhD supervisors: Benoît Gabrielle (Agro Saclay) et Thierry Brunelle
Abstract
Climate change and the shortage of non-renewable resources make the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy necessary. Biomass energy production is a promising alternative to fossil fuels, especially since biomass resources are available in most regions of the world and offer great flexibility through their ability to be used in different forms of energy carriers. This thesis aims to address a key question regarding global bioenergy production by improving estimates of biomass supply for energy purposes in major regions of the world by 2050/2100.
The work will focus on dedicated woody and herbaceous energy crops (lignocellulosic biomass sources, which is the most generic and versatile form of biomass).
The thesis has three main objectives:
- i/ the estimation of land costs taking into account the agronomic quality of the land, its geographical accessibility, the competition between land uses (for food purposes, but also forests and artificial land) and the costs of biomass production. In this section we will conduct a literature search in order to build a database, and call on specialists in the field in different geographical areas to provide the broadest possible overview.
- ii/ Estimation of the yield of lignocellulosic crops taking into account local factors, using a machine-learning approach based on observations made in different regions of the world. We will then project the production potential of these crops on a global scale on the basis of geo-referenced data concerning soils, climates (present and future) and land use.
- iii/ the information obtained from objectives i/ and ii/ will be combined to produce regional supply curves and analyze trade-offs between climate regulation and biodiversity, which will be specifically evaluated at this stage.