Bioenergy from energy plants is expected to play an increasing role in the future energy system. Energy plant species including Cassava, Jatropha curcas L., Pistacia chinensis etc. are specified in the new energy development strategy in the Twelfth Five-year Plan. Evidence indicates that previous evaluations have generally overestimated bioenergy potential. Therefore, accurate assessments of the potential of energy plants have become an important topic of research.

Researchers from Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGSNRR-CAS) proposed a comprehensive assessment of the marginal land resources suitable for developing Pistacia chinensis-based biodiesel in China.

Spatial distribution, quality and the total amount of marginal land resources suitable for cultivating Pistacia chinensis were presented, using multiple datasets (natural habits data, remote sensing derived land use data, meteorological data and soil data) and geographic information techniques.

The results indicate that China’s total area of marginal land suitable for the growth of Pistacia chinensis is 19.90 million ha.. The suitable area is 7.10 million ha and the fairly suitable area is 12.79 million ha.. Approximately 56.85 million t of biodiesel can be produced. The results can be useful both for national and regional bio-energy planning.

The project is supported by grants from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KZZD-EW-08) and State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information Systems. The result of the research has been published on the Energies  (  Evaluating the Marginal Land Resources Suitable for Developing Pistacia chinensis-Based Biodiesel in China. Energies 2012, 5, 2165-2177).

CONTACT:
JIANG Dong
Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Beijing, China,
E-mail: jiangd@igsnrr.ac.cn