Environmental sustainability of oil palm cultivation in different regions of Thailand: Greenhouse gases and water use impact
Thapat Silalertruksa, Shabbir H. Gheewala, Patcharaporn Pongpat, Piyanon Kaenchan, Napapat Permpool, Naruetep Lecksiwilai, Rattanawan Mungkung
Journal of Cleaner Production · 2016
Environmental sustainability assessment of sugarcane bioenergy
Shabbir H. Gheewala, Sébastien Bonnet, Thapat Silalertruksa
2016
In response to energy security concerns resulting from fossil energy supply shortage and climate change issues, the production, conversion, and use of biomass materials for energy has been the subject of much development. Net energy balance (NEB) and life cycle assessment (LCA) are useful tools to evaluate environmental sustainability and identify opportunities for improvement of the environmental efficiency of biofuels. The life cycle environmental impacts associated with molasses ethanol production and five major impact categories: global warming potential, photo-oxidant formation, acidification, human toxicity, and eutrophication, are presented. For assessing the energy efficiency of biofuels, the NEB for the entire production system must be assessed in terms of the difference in energy content of the biofuel produced and fossil fuels and other energy sources required to produce it. The chapter presents the energy analysis based on an existing molasses ethanol plant in Thailand that is associated with a sugar mill.
Guideline for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculation of Bioenergy Feedstock Production and Land Use Change (LUC): A case study of Khon Kaen Province, Thailand
Thapat Silalertruksa, Jintana Kawasaki
2015
Developing REDD+ strategies in Thailand: A case study of drivers of deforestation, forest degradation and possible countermeasures in the Phu Wiang National Park (PWNP) area, Khon Kaen Province
Jintana Kawasaki, Adcharaporn Pagdee, Thapat Silalertruksa, Doungjai Waijaroen, Salila Iamittipon, Poirada Phumee
2015
Water Footprint and Impact of Water Consumption for Food, Feed, Fuel Crops Production in Thailand
Shabbir H. Gheewala, Thapat Silalertruksa, Pariyapat Nilsalab, Rattanawan Mungkung, Sylvain Perret, Nuttapon Chaiyawannakarn
Water · 2014
The proliferation of food, feed and biofuels demands promises to increase pressure on water competition and stress, particularly for Thailand, which has a large agricultural base. This study assesses the water footprint of ten staple crops grown in different regions across the country and evaluates the impact of crop water use in different regions/watersheds by the water stress index and the indication of water deprivation potential. The ten crops include major rice, second rice, maize, soybean, mungbean, peanut, cassava, sugarcane, pineapple and oil palm. The water stress index of the 25 major watersheds in Thailand has been evaluated. The results show that there are high variations of crop water requirements grown in different regions due to many factors. However, based on the current cropping systems, the Northeastern region has the highest water requirement for both green water (or rain water) and blue water (or irrigation water). Rice (paddy) farming requires the highest amount of irrigation water, i.e., around 10,489 million m3/year followed by the maize, sugarcane, oil palm and cassava. Major rice cultivation induces the highest water deprivation, i.e., 1862 million m3H2Oeq/year; followed by sugarcane, second rice and cassava. The watersheds that have high risk on water competition due to increase in production of the ten crops considered are the Mun, Chi and Chao Phraya watersheds. The main contribution is from the second rice cultivation. Recommendations have been proposed for sustainable crops production in the future.
Towards a comprehensive methodology to assess biofuels production as a climate change mitigation action: Climate Benefits and Environmental and Socio‐Economic Implications of Biofuels production in Thailand
Jintana Kawasaki, Thapat Silalertruksa, Henry Scheyvens, Makino Yamanoshita, Taiji Fujisaki
2014
Long-Term Bioethanol System and Its Implications on GHG Emissions: A Case Study of Thailand
Thapat Silalertruksa, Shabbir H. Gheewala
Environmental Science & Technology · 2011
The study evaluates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions performance of future bioethanol systems in Thailand to ascertain whether bioethanol for transport could help the country mitigate a global warming impact. GHG emission factors of bioethanol derived from cassava, molasses, and sugar cane are analyzed using 12 scenarios covering the critical variables possibly affecting the GHG performance, i.e., (1) the possible direct land use change caused by expanding feedstock cultivation areas; (2) types of energy carriers used in ethanol plants; and (3) waste utilization, e.g., biogas recovery and dry distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) production. The assessment reveals that GHG performance of a Thai bioethanol system is inclined to decrease in the long run due to the effects from the expansion of plantation areas to satisfy the deficit of cassava and molasses. Therefore, bioethanol will contribute to the country's strategic plan on GHG mitigation in the transportation sector only if the production systems are sustainably managed, i.e., coal replaced by biomass in ethanol plants, biogas recovery, and adoption of improved agricultural practices to increase crop productivity without intensification of chemical fertilizers. Achieving the year 2022 government policy targets for bioethanol with recommended measures would help mitigate GHG emissions up to 4.6 Gg CO(2)-eq per year.
The environmental and socio-economic impacts of bio-ethanol production in Thailand
Thapat Silalertruksa, Shabbir H. Gheewala
Energy Procedia · 2011
The study assesses the impacts of the bio-ethanol production to the environment and socio-economic development in Thailand. The key assessment elements include greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions performance, employment generation, and economic effects on gross domestic product (GDP) and trade balance of Thai economy. The results reveal that there are wide ranges of GHG emissions depending upon the production environment and especially when direct land-use change is included in the system boundary. GHG emissions for cassava and molasses ethanol range between 27 – 91 and 28 – 100 g CO2-eq per MJ ethanol, respectively. For socio-economic impacts, producing bio-ethanol requires about 17-20 times more workers than gasoline for the same amount of final energy. Direct employment in agriculture contributes to more than 90% of the total employment. In addition, production of 1 TJ bio-ethanol could result in an additional GDP around 0.7-0.9 M.THB and the increase of imported goods worth 0.7-1.8 M.THB. However, around 0.4-1.1 M.THB of imports would be saved per TJ from the promoting use of bio-ethanol to substitute gasoline. These obtained externalities raise the attractiveness of bio-ethanol in terms of net social benefit; however, it specifies to only in case that bio-ethanol production systems are sustainably managed.
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