Ecosystems & Biogeochemical Dynamics Laboratory - GBIOS - Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences - Purdue University Skip to main content
Ecosystems & Biogeochemical Dynamics Laboratory Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences

GBIOS

Global Biomass and Bioenergy Supply in a Coupled Natural and Human System

Duration:01/2007 - 12/2007
Award Amount:$50,000

Participants
Purdue University, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences and Agronomy
Qianlai Zhuang
Purdue University, Agricultural economics
Dr. Wally Tyner

Project Objectives

A large-scale global implementation of biomass projects presents a major challenge for and perhaps opportunities for sustainable human development, particularly in the developing world. Bioenergy demand may increase dramatically in the future. Consequently, the rapid expansion of land-use for biomass supply and intensification of agricultural production will lead to profound economic, environmental, and social consequences. Current studies do not provide much insight into how the expanding bioenergy sector will interact with other land uses, such as nature conservation and carbon sequestration. The studies have not provided a sufficient analysis on environmental or economic consequences of realization of the future bioenergy potentials. Most of the world’s poverty is in rural areas. Added demand from the energy sector will increase commodity prices and likely farm incomes in rural areas. But the added pressure on land and other natural resources will also bring about other important consequences. Despite the fact that these issues are absolutely critical, little has been done to assess likely impacts in a comprehensive manner. An integrated framework of an ecosystem and energy and economic models such as the Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (TEM) and the models of Global Trading Analysis Project (GTAP) will be an ideal tool for comprehensively assessing the prospects for future sustainable global biomass and bioenergy.

We integrate the global TEM model and global datasets and analytical tools of GTAP to conduct a comprehensive analysis of global biomass and bioenergy supply and its consequences for climate and land-use and land-cover as well as human activities. The analysis is innovative in that we will also consider carbon sequestration while we evaluate the biomass supply as responses to changes of climate and human systems.