Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The irrigable area in EU increased from 12.3 million ha to 13.8 million ha between 1990
and 2000. In the Mediterranean countries like France, Greece and Spain, the irrigable area
increased by 29 % during the same period. Irrigation is also important for arable production in
the south eastern EU [60]. Yang et al. [61] pointed out that in China meeting the biofuels
targets for 2020 will be difficult since extremely small per capita arable land in China; it is
very difficult to spare this amount of land from currently cultivated land for feedstock. The
associated water requirement further lowers the possibility because much of the northern land
already endures serious water shortage. Meanwhile Renouf et al. [62] find out that sugar beet
show great advantages according to low eutrophication potential due to other crops like
sugarcane or corn. In EU there is a recent trend towards reducing pesticide residue in water.
Nevertheless, the occurrence of pesticides in water bodies above regulated standards remains
a problem. The main negative effects of pesticide pollution are on aquatic, terrestrial flora and
fauna [60, 63]. Therefore carful crop selection can affect both water use and quality by
reducing the need to irrigate, and lowering if not elimination the need for chemical fertilizers
and pesticides, meaning that the water draining from their soils will have lower
concentrations of chemicals [64].
Agricultural Operations
The quality of land use practices strongly influences habitat and biodiversity aspects, as
well as soil, water and air quality [65]. Expansion of monocultures could irreversibly destroy
the unique and complex ecosystems [19]. Soil erosion risks are particularly high in the
Mediterranean region, which is characterised by long dry periods followed by heavy bursts of
rainfall falling on steep slopes with unstable soils. As a result of dry summers in these areas,
soil cover is also limited in summer which increases the risk of erosion in autumn when
rainfall starts. In northern parts of Europe erosion by water is not such a problem as rainfall is
spread out more evenly over the year and there are fewer regions with steep slopes and
shallow soils. Severe erosion incidents were observed in Northeast Germany, with soil losses
of more than 40 t/ha/yr [60]. The risk of soil compaction depends on the use of heavy
machinery, soil texture, soil particle size and characteristics of plant rooting. Compaction can
reduce water infiltration capacity and increase erosion risk by accelerating run off. In
addition, it has adverse effects on the soil biodiversity and soil structure and may lead to
problems such disturbed root growth [60]. Associated emissions also vary depending upon
where the feedstock is grown because climate, solar resources and soil productivity all affect
crop yields and fertilizer application rates [39]. Biomass feedstocks are generally transported
from fields to bio refineries by truck, travelling a few dozen to a few hundred kilometres [66].
Transport by train or pipeline, where feasible, could significantly reduce associated
emissions, but today the fuels requirements and associated emissions are minimal for
distribution of biofuels to the refuelling station [67]. Hamelinck et al. [14] concluded that
shipping of refined solid biomass and biofuels is possible at relatively low costs and modest
energy losses. Most important will be minimizing the transport of wet untreated biomass [14].
Environmental Impacts Related to Bioethanol Consumption
For Europe, ethanol production from sugar beets is important, due to its high dominance
in several European countries.
