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- Title
Optimizing the water, carbon, and land-use footprint of bioenergy production in Mexico - Six case studies and the nationwide implications.
- Authors
Hennecke, Anna M.; Mueller ‐ Lindenlauf, Maria; García, Carlos A.; Fuentes, Alfredo; Riegelhaupt, Enrique; Hellweg, Stefanie
- Abstract
This study aims to answer the question if and how biofuels can be produced in Mexico without aggravating water scarcity, reducing greenhouse gas ( GHG) emissions and avoiding indirect land-use changes. We analyzed environmental impacts of six potential maize-bioethanol production systems in Mexico on water resources, land use, and GHG emissions by using a life cycle assessment approach. Three irrigated high-input maize systems and three rain-fed low-yield systems were analyzed. Inventory data was acquired by soil sampling and interviews with farmers. For the water footprint, field water balances were modeled using the Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO) AquaCrop Model. For the carbon footprint, the BioGrace tool was used. Based on the results of status-quo analysis, scenarios with improved agricultural management were defined to identify optimization potential. Additionally, the producible amount of biofuels was estimated on a national level. The analyses showed that improving management in rain-fed agriculture offers the best opportunities for biofuel production without compromising regional water availability and without unwanted indirect effects on food prices and GHG emissions. Around 3.4% of Mexican gas consumption could be produced from maize bioethanol in Mexico without the above mentioned unwanted effects. By optimizing green water use in rain-fed maize production, around 3 billion m3 of non-productive soil evaporation would be put into productive use. This is around 10% of the total water extracted from aquifers in Mexico. From this we conclude that unproductive soil evaporation is an underestimated water resource which should be considered in water management. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
- Subjects
MEXICO; GREENHOUSE gas mitigation; LAND use; PRODUCT life cycle assessment; WATER management; BIOMASS production; SOIL sampling
- Publication
Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining, 2016, Vol 10, Issue 3, p222
- ISSN
1932-104X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1002/bbb.1629