Strategic planting of ‘energy’ crops could mitigate biodiversity loss, study finds
- July 5, 2024
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Strategic planting of ‘energy’ crops could mitigate biodiversity loss, study finds
Sub: Environment
Sec: Climate change
Context:
- Study titled ‘Balancing bioenergy expansion and restoration: Global shifts in biodiversity intactness’ emphasised that prioritising degraded or abandoned agricultural land for energy crops offers greater benefit.
About Bioenergy Crops:
- Refer to plants specifically grown for the purpose of producing biomass that can be converted into energy. It includes energy grasses, oilseeds, and lignocellulosic crops.
- Classified into three development stages:
- First Generation: Energy conversion technologies exist like sugar crops, starch, and oil crops, etc.
- Second Generation: Energy Conversion technologies are under development. Involves switching from food to non-food lignocelluloses like polysaccharides cellulose, etc.
- Third Generation: Involves future technologies such as genetically modified crops, etc.
- Challenges in Bioenergy crop production: Land use conflicts, food security (conversion of agricultural land for bioenergy), transporting wet biomass from the plantation to the production site becomes energetically unfavorable and costly, etc.
Key Findings from the Study
- Prioritizing degraded or abandoned agricultural land for energy crops offers the greatest benefit.
- Planting energy crops in areas with high natural vegetation cover significantly reduces biodiversity, especially in tropical regions.
- Energy crop plantations can be more beneficial for biodiversity than current agricultural practices, particularly with diverse plant mixes in agriculturally dominated areas.
- Increasing landscape complexity can have ecological advantages.
Importance of Strategic Land-Use Planning:
- Essential for achieving bioenergy, climate change mitigation, and biodiversity restoration goals.
- Energy crops on existing agricultural land reduce biodiversity losses compared to converting natural habitats.
Impact on Biodiversity
- Restoring priority areas for natural vegetation has the most significant positive impact on biodiversity.
- Strategically planting energy crops on existing agricultural land is less harmful than converting natural habitats.
- The Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII) was used to measure the impact, comparing current native species abundance with pre-human impact levels.
- Energy crops could be least detrimental to BII in places like Central Europe, and the east coasts of the USA and China, with potential small benefits in West Africa.
India’s Initiatives for Bio-Energy:
- National Bioenergy Programme (By Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy)
- Comprises 3 sub-schemes:
- Waste to Energy Programme: Programme on Energy from Urban, Industrial, and Agricultural Wastes /Residues.
- Biomass Programme: Scheme to Support the Manufacturing of Briquettes & Pellets and Promotion of Biomass (non-bagasse) based cogeneration in Industries.
- Biogas Programme: For setting up of biogas plants.
Source: DTE