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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) considers bioenergy an important part of the puzzle for mitigating climate change. This urgent call to move away from fossil fuels is increasing demand for growing biomass. At the same time we will also need to grow more food and animal feed, and require ever increasing quantities of other materials like wood and fibers. So how can we combine the production of all of these products while maintaining carbon stocks, conserving biodiversity and ensuring water availability? 

Anna Duden is a PhD researcher at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development. In this interview she tells us about her research building knowledge to reduce and avoid potential negative impacts of biomass, helping us better plan suitable locations for biomass cultivation. 

Bioenergy is a hotly contested topic. How does your research add to the debate?

I investigate how the increasing global demand for two different types of bioenergy interacts with demands for food, feed and materials. I look at how this is expected to impact the way land is used and the subsequent effect on water availability and biodiversity. I focus on wood pellets originating from the southeastern United States, and ethanol from sugarcane in Brazil.

A higher demand for bioenergy means more land for growing the plant biomass they’re made from. Sugarcane in the case of ethanol, and trees in the case of wood pellets. It’s important to look at this increase in the context of all the other pressures on the land, like urbanisation, agricultural expansion, demand for other materials, water shortages and the need to conserve more habitat for biodiversity. 

Tell us more about how this plays out with sugarcane in Brazil

Apart from a growing demand for sugarcane for ethanol fuel, Brazil also is also experiencing an increase in demand for soy to feed cattle. Droughts are a problem too: the highly urbanised area of Sao Paulo has already experienced many issues with water availability. Furthermore, there is a rich biodiversity, but several unique biomes and a large number of species are already under threat. 

I use models to project where land use changes in Brazil are expected to occur. I look at the combined effects of increasing demands for food, feed and energy on land use, and then look at the impacts of changes in land use on biodiversity and water.

So how does your work help reduce the negative impacts of biomass production?

We can project which areas would be susceptible to biodiversity loss, drought and decreasing ecosystem services, as well as areas where the production of biomass for energy can create opportunities for improved ecosystem services.

This knowledge helps us better plan for where it is suitable to grow biomass, reducing negative impacts and boosting positive impacts of this increasing demand for biomass. 

Great! And what’s next for you?

I recently started working on an exciting postdoc project project on reforestation of the Atlantic Forest area in Brazil. You can read more about that project here.

Further reading

Duden, A.S., Verweij, P.A., Faaij, A.P.C., Baisero, D., Rondinini, C. & van der Hilst, F. (2020). Land, 9(1), 12.

Duden, A.S., Rubino, M.J., Tarr, N.M., Verweij, P.A., Faaij, A.P.C. & van der Hilst, F. (2018). . GCB Bioenergy, 10(11), 841-860.

Duden, A.S., Verweij, P.A., Junginger, H.M., Abt, R.C., Henderson, J.D., Dale, V.H., Kline, K.L., Karssenberg, D., Verstegen, J.A., Faaij, A.P.C. & van der Hilst, F. (2017). . Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, 11(6), 1007-1029.