Biofuel production in Thailand: The climate, environment, and - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Biofuel production in Thailand: The climate, environment, and food/income/energy security nexus IGES, Hayama, 3 April 2014 Dr. Jintana Kawasaki Natural Resources and Ecosystem Service Area (NRE), Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) E ‐ mail: jkawasaki@iges.or.jp

Impacts of biofuels production in Thailand • Under the Alternative Energy Development Plan, the Government of Thailand has set a target of increasing biofuels production. By 2021, Thailand aims to produce 9 million litre/day of bioethanol. • Agricultural areas under rice cultivation have been converted to biofuel feedstocks, due to the increased demand for bioethanol. • Biofuels can contribute to climate change mitigation by providing a substitute for fossil fuels, but biofuel production also impacts the livelihoods of farmers, in terms of both the financial benefits and the opportunity costs of alternative land uses. • Biofuels production can also impact the local environment through the chemical inputs required to achieve high crop yields. • A multidimensional framework for understanding the impacts of biofuels production in Thailand is required.

Goal: To develop and apply a comprehensive evaluation framework for sugarcane, cassava and wood biomass for bioenergy production covering GHG mitigation, environmental and socio ‐ economic issues, and contribute to the discussion on MRV for biofuels. Objectives: 1. Analyse the scale and location of land use changes associated with biofuels production ; 2. Assess advantages and disadvantages of each biofuel crop against alternative land uses in terms of environmental and socio ‐ economic factors, and mitigation potential ; 3. Contribute to the development of methodologies for estimating biofuel GHG mitigation potential by integrating analysis of land use change into life cycle assessment. Project duration: 10 months from May 2013~February 2014 Researchers: Jintana Kawasaki 1 , Thapat Silalertruksa 2 , Henry Scheyvens 1 , Makino Yamanoshita 1 , Taiji Fujisaki 1 1 Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Natural Resources and Ecosystem Service Area 2 King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment

GHG mitigation potential and sustainability of biofuel production Fossil fuel Global warming problem CO 2 GHG mitigation Fuel, Fertilizers, Fuel, Electricity, Fuel, Electricity, potential Fuel Agro ‐ chemicals, Chemicals, water Chemicals, water water Land use Feedstock Biofuel Feedstock Biofuel change processing conversion cultivation & harvesting By ‐ GHG emissions C ‐ stock loss, Emissions products, and wastes (e.g. fuel & chemical Food Emissions competition used, N ‐ fertilizer and wastes application) Sustainability of biofuel production Environmental Socio ‐ economic Food security Impacts welfare

Conceptual Framework Data for Assessment • Five questionnaires were designed to collect primary data • A total of 91 biofuel crop farmers cultivating sugarcane, cassava and eucalyptus were interviewed • The secondary data from statistical data and published institute sources The methodology proposed and tested for evaluating biofuels production in Thailand included: 1) Land use and land use change associated with biofuels production 2) Life cycle GHG emission calculation 3) Environmental impact assessment 4) Socio ‐ economic sustainability assessment

Life Cycle Emissions of Biofuel Production E = E ec + E l + E p + E td + E u ‐ E sca ‐ E crd E ec = Extraction or cultivation of input materials E l = Carbon stock changes caused by land ‐ use change and management E p = The process for producing the biofuel E td = Transport and distribution E u = The use of biofuel E sca = Emissions saving from soil carbon accumulation via improved agricultural practice E crd = emission savings from the biofuel production system such as savings associated with biogas recovery and excess electricity from co ‐ generation Net GHG reduction per unit fuel is determined by comparing GHG emissions related to biofuels production and utilization with conventional diesel and gasoline production

I. Land Use and Land Use Change Associated with Biofuels Production • Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has been used to assess land use change over the past decade • The two major land use changes are: (i) cropland remaining crop land, but change in crop type, and (ii) conversion of unused land to eucalyptus • There were ten major classes of land use. The land use and land use change • The carbon content of Eucalyptus camaldulenis in three districts in Khon Kaen Province Dehnh at age 1, 2, and 3 years eucalyptus was were presented estimated from data generated from 10 mx10 Change in crop types can impacts the • m sample plots in the study sites, and applying carbon stocks. Carbon stocks for the four allometric equation. main types of agricultural land use (rice, sugarcane, cassava and eucalyptus) were examined.

Land Use Change and Carbon Stocks Under Different Land Use Pattern in Kranuan District Legends <all other values> Abandoned field crop Other perennial Para rubber Rice paddy Sugarcane Cassava Eucalyptus Other field crops Orchard and horticulture Natural forest Forest plantation Water bodies Others including urban and built-up land, pasture and farm house, aquaculture land, and miscellaneous land

II. Lifecycle Emissions of Ethanol Production from Molasses E = E ec + E l + E p + E td + E u ‐ E sca ‐ E crd

The net GHG emissions of molasses ethanol production ‐ ISCC (2010) presents the reference GHG emissions from emissions of fossil fuel production compared to emission of biofuel production was 83.8 g CO 2 eq/MJ fossil fuel for transportation ‐ The use of molasses ethanol for transportation had the potential in GHG reduction over 14%

III. Environmental Impact Assessment Environmental aspects of biofuel feedstock farming ‐ The environmental impacts of agricultural practices were studied on the basis of farmers’ experiences over the past decade in the study sites in Khon Kaen. Through an interview survey of 91 farmers , farmers’ behaviour in applying synthetic chemical materials and farming practices were examined.

IV. Socio ‐ Economic Sustainability Assessment The economic benefits of growing biofuel • feedstocks are examined through the profitability of crop production, farm income, and production efficiency of agricultural raw materials and land uses.

Average annual income per household reported by the province in 2012 was 5,178 US Regression coefficient t value Constant 2.367 *** 5.864 Area (ha) 0.907 *** 16.629 Cost of fertilizers and pest control 0.146 ** 2.169 Sugarcane buds (US) 0.235 *** 4.078 R square 0.869 Note: ***Denotes significance at 1% level F value 170.226 ** Denotes significance at 5% level Durbin ‐ watson value 2.421 * Denotes significance at 10% level N 81

Conclusions: The study shows that increasing biofuel crop demand reduced the land available for • rice and other field crop cultivation in the study sites over the last decade. The expansion of the growing area of sugarcane, cassava, eucalyptus, and para rubber has been especially significant. The study analysed the amount of carbon stocks stored by the major biofuel crops in the study sites. The total carbon stock of • sugarcane was found to be the highest . • In terms of GHG emissions during cultivation, harvesting, transportation of raw materials to mill, and biofuel processing and transportation, biofuel processing was found to be the largest source for ethanol production using cassava, and the conversion of rice land to sugarcane was the largest source for ethanol production from molasses . This study showed that production of biofuels in Thailand can produce net GHG • emissions reductions , and so can be considered as part of an offsetting strategy. Of the biofuel processes studied, it appears that mitigation potential is highest for ethanol produced from molasses , followed by ethanol from cassava. Most of the surveyed farmers participate in farmer organizations , which provide production inputs and credit for • their farm activities. Economic analysis of biofuel crop farming revealed that the average cost of sugarcane farming was higher than • cassava and eucalyptus because of increased use of chemical inputs for improvement in yield and production efficiency. As a result of the chemical inputs, sugarcane cultivation has the highest negative impacts on the environment.

Recommendations: The following recommendations are based on these results: Biofuel crop cultivation is contributing to rural livelihoods and to meeting Thailand’s energy needs; however, the Thai Government should encourage • agricultural zoning to avoid deforestation and ensure that its policy on biofuels does not undermine its food security ; To increase the mitigation potential of biofuel production , ethanol processing plants should • substitute imported coal used in their operations with energy generated from biomass and/or biogas; The Thai Government should provide capacity to Thai farmers to use improved agricultural practices that increase yields, • reduce reliance on chemicals, and make use of cane trash and by ‐ products .

Thank you very much for your attention