The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, 126 Prachauthit Rd., Bangmod, Tungkru, Bangkok 10140, Thailand; Center of Excellence on Energy Technology and Environment, PERDO, Bangkok, Thailand.
The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, 126 Prachauthit Rd., Bangmod, Tungkru, Bangkok 10140, Thailand; Center of Excellence on Energy Technology and Environment, PERDO, Bangkok, Thailand.
Sci Total Environ. 2019 Oct 15;687:867-876. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.465. Epub 2019 Jun 4.
Water, energy, and food are the most basic and essential sectors for human welfare. However, an inextricable nexus and competition exists among these sectors. Production of molasses-based bioethanol is an interesting case resulting in the production of different food and energy materials while consuming water, energy, land, and other raw materials, throughout its life cycle. This paper briefly describes the nexus among water, energy, and food for bioethanol in Pakistan and its environmental implications. A life cycle approach has been used for evaluating four footprint categories including the carbon, ecological, water scarcity, and energy footprints along with an energy analysis of bioethanol. In comparison to conventional gasoline, bioethanol would have benefits in terms of lesser greenhouse gas emissions, better use of productive land, and superior energy performance, but, this will be at the expense of higher impacts in terms of water scarcity. Therefore, considering only a single aspect could result in inadvertent trade-offs that may go unnoticed. The quantified values would help accomplish integrated resource management along with their utilization within limits so as to be available for other uses. This study could help in developing strategies for optimal management of resources to maximize the synergies and minimize the possible trade-offs.
水、能源和粮食是人类福祉最基本和最关键的领域。然而，这些领域之间存在着不可分割的联系和竞争。生产以糖蜜为基础的生物乙醇就是一个有趣的例子，它在整个生命周期中消耗水、能源、土地和其他原材料的同时，还会生产出不同的食品和能源材料。本文简要描述了巴基斯坦生物乙醇的水、能源和粮食之间的关系及其环境影响。本研究采用生命周期方法评估了包括碳足迹、生态足迹、水资源短缺足迹和能源足迹在内的四个足迹类别，并对生物乙醇进行了能源分析。与传统汽油相比，生物乙醇在温室气体排放方面具有优势，更能有效地利用生产性土地，并且在能源方面表现出色，但这将以更高的水资源短缺影响为代价。因此，仅考虑单一因素可能会导致无意中的权衡，而这些权衡可能会被忽视。量化的值将有助于实现资源的综合管理及其在限制内的利用，以便为其他用途提供资源。本研究可以帮助制定最佳资源管理策略，以最大限度地发挥协同作用，最小化可能的权衡。
