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Abstract

Some people may argue that global demand for renewable energy such as maize-derived biofuels, especially in the industrialized countries, could lead to high maize grain prices worldwide. The affordability of maize seeds by the poor may be affected in the short term by high prices, thereby increasing hunger and malnutrition. Alternatively an increase of maize prices can also create new options for investing in farming that may translate into the long term of promoting economic growth, which will help many maize farmers in the developing world to move out of poverty. A spike in maize grain prices could however reduce its demand as raw material for ethanol because of low profi t margins. Life cycle analysis (LCA) suggests that maize ethanol can decrease greenhouse gas emissions vis à vis petrol in some factory settings. Furthermore, maize stover, which is a major source of biomass residue and among the largest in some highly productive agro-ecosystems, could become an important biomass resource for the generation of renewable liquid fuels (e.g., cellulosic ethanol) without causing soil erosion or the depletion of soil carbon. Nonetheless, maize stover may not be competitive as cellulosic ethanol source because there may be extra high costs for collecting and transporting it over large distances to supply processing factories. Complicating these scenarios further is the need to balance the bioenergy demands with national food security. These policies will vary country-by-country and will be shaped by infrastructure in addition to technology development. In this regard, crop yields must increase signifi cantly but sustainably using existing farmland to meet this challenge. Data-driven maize breeding, which combines both conventional and genomics-based approaches, may assist further to increase acreage under cultivation by modifying these plants to grow on challenged soils not currently under agriculture.

Keywords

maize; ethanol; fuel policy; emissions; land use change

Published in

Compendium of bioenergy plants
2014, pages: 255-267
Title: Compendium of bioenergy plants: corn
Publisher: CRC Press

SLU Authors

Global goals (SDG)

SDG1 No poverty
SDG2 Zero hunger
SDG7 Affordable and clean energy

UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science

Publication identifier

  • ISBN: 978-1-4822-1058-3

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/52194