
Lars Eklundh
Professor

Constraints on the availability of marginal land for bioenergy production in southern Sweden
Författare
Summary, in English
roduction of biomass for bioenergy on marginal land has been promoted to decrease the use of non-renewable energy without competing with food production. Previous estimates of marginal land and abandoned farmland in Sweden available for bioenergy production are based on general statistics and assumptions but lack in-depth analyses of potential alternative land-use values. Easily accessible public data only offer a coarse categorization of marginal land that may exaggerate the potential of using it for e.g. bioenergy production. This study assessed the regional availability and socioeconomic setting of marginal land in south Sweden. Our detailed analysis that combines easily accessible data with remote sensing shows that much of the land identified as marginal is already used for biomass production or has alternative use values, suggesting that using this land for additional bioenergy production may hamper other societal values, such as biodiversity conservation, food production, and recreation. In addition, the small size and lower productivity of the marginal land identified indicate challenges for cost-efficient biomass production. Thus, earlier assessments of bioenergy potential from marginal land have most likely overestimated the availability of suitable marginal land. We conclude that estimates of bioenergy production capacity on marginal land need to account for existing and potential alternative use values not included in easily available land use statistics, which limits the marginal land accessibility for renewable energy production.
Avdelning/ar
- Biodiversitet och evolution
- Centrum för miljö- och klimatvetenskap (CEC)
- Biodiversitet och bevarandevetenskap
- BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
- Institutionen för naturgeografi och ekosystemvetenskap
- MERGE: ModElling the Regional and Global Earth system
- LU profilområde: Naturbaserade framtidslösningar
Publiceringsår
2024-11
Språk
Engelska
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Biomass and Bioenergy
Volym
190
Länkar
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Elsevier
Ämne
- Environmental Sciences
- Energy Systems
Aktiv
Published
Forskningsgrupp
- Biodiversity and Conservation Science
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 0961-9534