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The bioenergy and water nexus
Author(s) -
Gheewala Shabbir H.,
Berndes Göran,
Jewitt Graham
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
biofuels, bioproducts and biorefining
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.931
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1932-1031
pISSN - 1932-104X
DOI - 10.1002/bbb.295
Subject(s) - bioenergy , biomass (ecology) , nexus (standard) , natural resource economics , environmental science , greenhouse gas , promotion (chess) , water scarcity , business , economic shortage , water resources , environmental protection , biofuel , waste management , engineering , ecology , economics , linguistics , philosophy , government (linguistics) , politics , political science , law , biology , embedded system
Promotion of energy from biomass for reducing greenhouse gas emissions has led to increased usage of freshwater, especially during the cultivation of biomass. This has raised concerns about the increase in water stress, particularly in countries that are already facing water shortages. Attempts are being made to characterize the effect of water demand induced inter alia by increased bioenergy usage. Also, alternatives are being developed to mitigate such impacts by improved management so that bioenergy can be beneficially utilized. Future studies on bioenergy will need to take into consideration the water aspect so that the trade‐offs between climate change mitigation and water stress are addressed. © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd