Assessment of energy and greenhouse gas inventories of Sweet Sorghum for first and second generation bioethanol
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The assessment of energy and greenhouse gas balances is part of a larger effort by UN-Energy to provide decision making tools and aids to Governments and others involved in the planning and implementation of bioenergy development. The report’s choice of tools is based on the international state of discussions at the time of writing and presents a building block to the Environmental Assessment Framework currently under development at FAO. Following a joint FAO and IFAD consultation in 2007 on Swe et Sorghum development for bioethanol production (FAO, 2007), this report is a revised study originally prepared for discussions in preparation of the High-level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy (Rome, 2008) as a case study to give more precise environmental parameters for this promising energy and food crop. The study focuses on three main topics: — The energy and greenhouse gas balances of different Sweet Sorghum pathways are examined by mea ns of a quantitative analysis. For this purpose a so-called screening assessment is conducted which analyses the energy and greenhouse gas impacts along the entire life cycle of Sweet Sorghum for each examined production and use system. The results are compared to the environmental impacts of equivalent fossil fuels. — Additional environmental impacts from the cultivation of Sweet Sorghum are examined qualitatively. — Sweet Sorghum is compared to other crops available for biofuel production regarding selected technical aspects. The (advantageous or disadvantageous) outcome of the energy and greenhouse gas balances and other environmental impacts are clearly determined by the following parameters: the choice of land, of agricultural inputs, of production method, of yield, and the use of by-products. A number of recommendations are made in view of data gaps for detailed local analysis and for framework conditions to assure sustainability of Sweet Sorghum production and conversion. Detailed data are given for each scenario calculation.