Abstract
Bio-based energy sources have received increasing interest in recent years as petroleum prices have risen, geo-political instability has increased, and climate change has been in evidence. Extensive farming systems producing bio-based feedstocks, such as maize and sugarcane, are the models most widely used. Similar models are planned for dedicated cellulose crops such as miscanthus and eucalyptus. Bioenergy feedstock production that follows the current commercial agricultural model may inefficiently employ capital as the spatial density of the system, and the relative gravimetric density of the feedstock and volumetric density of the fuel products are low. The example of ethanol production in Mato Grosso, Brazil demonstrates the key concepts of density and capital intensity that are so critical to the efficient use of capital.
An earlier version of this paper was presented at “The Socio-Economic Impacts of Energy in the Past, Present, and Future: A Comparison of Brazil and the United States,” November 21-24, 2008, Ilhabela, Sao Paulo, Brazil
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Goldsmith, P., Rasmussen, R., Signorini, G., Martines, J., Guimaraes, C. (2010). The Capital Efficiency Challenge of Bioenergy Models: The Case of Flex Mills in Brazil. In: Khanna, M., Scheffran, J., Zilberman, D. (eds) Handbook of Bioenergy Economics and Policy. Natural Resource Management and Policy, vol 33. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0369-3_11
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