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Title: Energy farming in Brazil: the role of agroforestry on the production of food and energy from biomass in southeast Bahia

Journal Article · · Resour Manage. Optim.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6248653

This paper analyzes the problem of fuel production from plants, on the basis of information drawn from the literature and from case studies conducted in Brazil. Special reference is made to the production of charcoal and the production of alcohol and vegetable oils to replace gasoline and diesel fuel. The potential and socioeconomic implications of energy farming are discussed. Diversified plant communities are more stable than monocropping systems in terms of prevention of soil degradation by erosion and leaching, and consequently agroforestry is the safest and the most attractive system for the combined production of food and energy from plants in the humid tropics. Agroforestry is especially interesting in the establishment of perennial energy crops, because it provides earlier cash returns.

OSTI ID:
6248653
Journal Information:
Resour Manage. Optim.; (United States), Vol. 3:1
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English