Emerging role of Geographical Information System (GIS), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and spatial LCA (GIS-LCA) in sustainable bioenergy planning.
Sustainability of a bioenergy project depends on precise assessment of biomass resource, planning of cost-effective logistics and evaluation of possible environmental implications. In this context, this paper reviews the role and applications of geo-spatial tool such as Geographical Information System (GIS) for precise agro-residue resource assessment, biomass logistic and power plant design. Further, application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in understanding the potential impact of agro-residue bioenergy generation on different ecosystem services has also been reviewed and limitations associated with LCA variability and uncertainty were discussed. Usefulness of integration of GIS into LCA (i.e. spatial LCA) to overcome the limitations of conventional LCA and to produce a holistic evaluation of the environmental benefits and concerns of bioenergy is also reviewed. Application of GIS, LCA and spatial LCA can help alleviate the challenges faced by ambitious bioenergy projects by addressing both economics and environmental goals.
School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India. Electronic address: hiloidhari@gmail.com.
Moonmoon
M
Hiloidhari
Department of Energy, Tezpur University, Tezpur 784028, Assam, India. Electronic address: baruahd@tezu.ernet.in.
D C
DC
Baruah
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi 110016, India. Electronic address: apsinghenv@gmail.com.
Anoop
A
Singh
Department of Energy, Tezpur University, Tezpur 784028, Assam, India. Electronic address: sam.kataki@gmail.com.
Sampriti
S
Kataki
School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India. Electronic address: kristi0310@gmail.com.
Kristina
K
Medhi
Centre for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India. Electronic address: shilpidas.iit@gmail.com.
Shilpi
S
Kumari
Energy and Wetland Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India. Electronic address: cestvr@ces.iisc.ernet.in.
T V
TV
Ramachandra
Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, University of California Davis, California 95616, USA. Electronic address: bmjenkins@ucdavis.edu.
B M
BM
Jenkins
School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India. Electronic address: isthakur@hotmail.com.
Indu Shekhar
IS
Thakur
D056804:Biofuels; D018533:Biomass; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D040362:Geographic Information Systems
D056804:Biofuels
Agro-residue biomass; Bioenergy; Geographical Information System; Life Cycle Assessment; Spatial LCA