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Biomass remains a key energy source for several billion people living in developing countries, and the production of liquid biofuels for transportation is growing rapidly. However, both traditional biomass energy and crop-based biofuels technologies have negative environmental and social impacts. The overall research challenge for bioenergy is to develop the technologies to produce useful products at low costs while minimizing the use of scarce resources such as arable land and water. This requires substantial advancements in modern biomass power generation and the success of liquid biofuel technologies that permit the use of lignocellulosic feedstocks or possibly algae. With such technologies, biomass resources...
There are unconventional fuels that may serve as near term major replacements for conventional mineral oil and natural gas. These include fuels from oil shale and bitumen, liquid fuels from coal, methane from methane hydrates, biofuels and the secondary fuel hydrogen. Here, these fuels will be reviewed as to their presumable stocks and life cycle wastes, emissions and inputs of natural resources. The unconventional fuels are usually characterized by a relatively poor source-to-burner energy efficiency when compared with current conventional mineral oil and gas. Apart from some varieties of hydrogen and biofuel, their life cycles are characterized by relatively large water inputs, emissions, and wastes. The unconventional...
The pricing of particular fuels, such as electricity, gas and oil, should be considered in terms of the development of pricing policies for the energy sector as a whole. The pursuit of an efficient allocation of resources will require that energy prices are related to their marginal costs. This simple prescription may have to be modified to allow for the achievement of other objectives, such as profitability and income distribution.
This factual and occasionally philosophical book examines the intimate relations between mankind and energy. The major goal of the volume is to provide readers with the knowledge necessary to make decisions on energy policies. The impact of energy throughout the history of man is traced. The present energy source options are described, as are the processes of energy conversion for human use, and methods to estimate future costs of energy sources. The conflicts of interest between conservationists and the power industry are discussed from a neutral perspective. Chapters are included on the following topics: Energy in Human History; How Mankind Uses Energy; Sources of Energy; Energy and Economics; New Fuels from Old...
In 1982-1983, a 70 ha energy forest project was established in an arable landscape in southern Sweden. Many aspects of the energy forest system were investigated. This paper reports mainly on the aesthetic impacts of the project at a landscape level. One effect is an increasing variation in the views and the aesthetic values of the arable land. The Salix crops introduce new colours into the arable landscape. The green colour of the Salix fields lasts longer in the autumn. Also, from year to year a spatial Variation appears. The increasing wildlife shelter seems to make the fauna richer. Viewed as an energy crop only, the commercial competitiveness of energy forests is often low. However. if the benefits of energy...
Land managers are responsible for developing effective strategies for conserving and restoring Great Basin ecosystems in the face of invasive species, conifer expansion, and altered fire regimes. A warming climate is magnifying the effects of these threats and adding urgency to implementation of management practices that will maintain or improve ecosystem functioning. This Factsheet Series was developed to provide land managers with brief summaries of the best available information on contemporary management issues to facilitate science delivery and foster effective management. Each peer-reviewed factsheet was developed as a collaborative effort among knowledgeable scientists and managers. The series begins with...
Biomass remains a key energy source for several billion people living in developing countries, and the production of liquid biofuels for transportation is growing rapidly. However, both traditional biomass energy and crop-based biofuels technologies have negative environmental and social impacts. The overall research challenge for bioenergy is to develop the technologies to produce useful products at low costs while minimizing the use of scarce resources such as arable land and water. This requires substantial advancements in modern biomass power generation and the success of liquid biofuel technologies that permit the use of lignocellulosic feedstocks or possibly algae. With such technologies, biomass resources...
Biomass remains a key energy source for several billion people living in developing countries, and the production of liquid biofuels for transportation is growing rapidly. However, both traditional biomass energy and crop-based biofuels technologies have negative environmental and social impacts. The overall research challenge for bioenergy is to develop the technologies to produce useful products at low costs while minimizing the use of scarce resources such as arable land and water. This requires substantial advancements in modern biomass power generation and the success of liquid biofuel technologies that permit the use of lignocellulosic feedstocks or possibly algae. With such technologies, biomass resources...
In 1982-1983, a 70 ha energy forest project was established in an arable landscape in southern Sweden. Many aspects of the energy forest system were investigated. This paper reports mainly on the aesthetic impacts of the project at a landscape level. One effect is an increasing variation in the views and the aesthetic values of the arable land. The Salix crops introduce new colours into the arable landscape. The green colour of the Salix fields lasts longer in the autumn. Also, from year to year a spatial Variation appears. The increasing wildlife shelter seems to make the fauna richer. Viewed as an energy crop only, the commercial competitiveness of energy forests is often low. However. if the benefits of energy...
In 1982-1983, a 70 ha energy forest project was established in an arable landscape in southern Sweden. Many aspects of the energy forest system were investigated. This paper reports mainly on the aesthetic impacts of the project at a landscape level. One effect is an increasing variation in the views and the aesthetic values of the arable land. The Salix crops introduce new colours into the arable landscape. The green colour of the Salix fields lasts longer in the autumn. Also, from year to year a spatial Variation appears. The increasing wildlife shelter seems to make the fauna richer. Viewed as an energy crop only, the commercial competitiveness of energy forests is often low. However. if the benefits of energy...
There are unconventional fuels that may serve as near term major replacements for conventional mineral oil and natural gas. These include fuels from oil shale and bitumen, liquid fuels from coal, methane from methane hydrates, biofuels and the secondary fuel hydrogen. Here, these fuels will be reviewed as to their presumable stocks and life cycle wastes, emissions and inputs of natural resources. The unconventional fuels are usually characterized by a relatively poor source-to-burner energy efficiency when compared with current conventional mineral oil and gas. Apart from some varieties of hydrogen and biofuel, their life cycles are characterized by relatively large water inputs, emissions, and wastes. The unconventional...
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The purpose of this paper is to quantify climatic controls on the area burned by fire in different vegetation types in the Western United States. We demonstrate that wildfire area burned (WFAB) in the American West was controlled by climate during the 20th century (1916-2003). Persistent ecosystem-specific correlations between climate and WFAB are grouped by vegetation type (ecoprovinces). Most mountainous ecoprovinces exhibit strong year-of-fire relationships with low precipitation, low Palmer drought severity index (PDSI), and high temperature. Grass- and shrub-dominated ecoprovinces had positive relationships with antecedent precipitation or PDST. For 1977-2003, a few climate variables explain 33 to 87 percent...
The purpose of this paper is to quantify climatic controls on the area burned by fire in different vegetation types in the Western United States. We demonstrate that wildfire area burned (WFAB) in the American West was controlled by climate during the 20th century (1916-2003). Persistent ecosystem-specific correlations between climate and WFAB are grouped by vegetation type (ecoprovinces). Most mountainous ecoprovinces exhibit strong year-of-fire relationships with low precipitation, low Palmer drought severity index (PDSI), and high temperature. Grass- and shrub-dominated ecoprovinces had positive relationships with antecedent precipitation or PDST. For 1977-2003, a few climate variables explain 33 to 87 percent...
Biomass remains a key energy source for several billion people living in developing countries, and the production of liquid biofuels for transportation is growing rapidly. However, both traditional biomass energy and crop-based biofuels technologies have negative environmental and social impacts. The overall research challenge for bioenergy is to develop the technologies to produce useful products at low costs while minimizing the use of scarce resources such as arable land and water. This requires substantial advancements in modern biomass power generation and the success of liquid biofuel technologies that permit the use of lignocellulosic feedstocks or possibly algae. With such technologies, biomass resources...
In 1982-1983, a 70 ha energy forest project was established in an arable landscape in southern Sweden. Many aspects of the energy forest system were investigated. This paper reports mainly on the aesthetic impacts of the project at a landscape level. One effect is an increasing variation in the views and the aesthetic values of the arable land. The Salix crops introduce new colours into the arable landscape. The green colour of the Salix fields lasts longer in the autumn. Also, from year to year a spatial Variation appears. The increasing wildlife shelter seems to make the fauna richer. Viewed as an energy crop only, the commercial competitiveness of energy forests is often low. However. if the benefits of energy...
Biomass remains a key energy source for several billion people living in developing countries, and the production of liquid biofuels for transportation is growing rapidly. However, both traditional biomass energy and crop-based biofuels technologies have negative environmental and social impacts. The overall research challenge for bioenergy is to develop the technologies to produce useful products at low costs while minimizing the use of scarce resources such as arable land and water. This requires substantial advancements in modern biomass power generation and the success of liquid biofuel technologies that permit the use of lignocellulosic feedstocks or possibly algae. With such technologies, biomass resources...
There are unconventional fuels that may serve as near term major replacements for conventional mineral oil and natural gas. These include fuels from oil shale and bitumen, liquid fuels from coal, methane from methane hydrates, biofuels and the secondary fuel hydrogen. Here, these fuels will be reviewed as to their presumable stocks and life cycle wastes, emissions and inputs of natural resources. The unconventional fuels are usually characterized by a relatively poor source-to-burner energy efficiency when compared with current conventional mineral oil and gas. Apart from some varieties of hydrogen and biofuel, their life cycles are characterized by relatively large water inputs, emissions, and wastes. The unconventional...
Pollination is a critical ecosystem service affected by various drivers of land-use change, such as policies and programs aimed at land resources, market values for crop commodities, local land-management decisions, and shifts in climate. The United States is the world's most active market for pollination services by honey bees, and the Northern Great Plains provide the majority of bee colonies used to meet the Nation's annual pollination needs. Legislation requiring increased production of biofuel crops, increasing commodity prices for crops of little nutritional value for bees in the Northern Great Plains, and reductions in government programs aimed at promoting land conservation are converging to alter the regional...
    map background search result map search result map Climate and wildfire area burned in western U.S. ecoprovinces, 1916–2003 Climate and wildfire area burned in western U.S. ecoprovinces, 1916–2003