83M hectares of abandoned cropland could produce biofuels

January 25, 2021 |

In Norway, researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology are studying a way to put less pressure on food production and plant and animal life – growing perennial grasses on abandoned cropland for biofuels – and calculating the extent of areas available for this type of grass cultivation.

“We can grow perennial grasses in areas that until recently were used for growing food but that are no longer used for that purpose,” explains Jan Sandstad Næss, a PhD candidate at the Industrial Ecology Programme at NTNU. These areas are usually still potentially cultivable and have the advantage that they are already connected to farms, which means that the infrastructure is in place and they are close to markets.

Until now, no one has calculated the extent of areas available for this type of grass cultivation. Næss and his colleagues Professor Francesco Cherubini and researcher Otávio Cavalett investigated the question by examining satellite images from around the world.

“We found 83 million hectares, or 830 000 square kilometres, of areas that until recently were used for food production but now no longer are,” Sandstad Næss said.

Category: Research

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