Gis-based model to identify marginal soils for bioenergy production

Mariana Abreu, Alberto Reis, Ana Luisa Fernando, Lídia Quental, Pedro Patinha, Francisco Gírio

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

Energy crops are industrial species (woody, perennial and annual species, among others) that can generate biofuels, energy and bioproducts. Due to their tolerance, there is an interest to grow energy crops in marginal/contaminated/degraded soils, avoiding Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) burdens. Therefore, this study aims at the development and use of Geographic Information System (GIS) tools to spatially relate land use selection and optimal species allocation, as an useful decision support systems (DSS), modelled to determine adequate marginal areas, inadequate for food and feed crops. ArcGIS software was used as a GIS tool, and parameters associated with areas considered to be marginal in mainland Portugal were identified. To identify marginal soils, it is necessary to know what type of criteria applies. It was considered the Regulation EU(1305)2013 - Annex III, that details all the criteria and the respective parameters, that a marginal soil should present being these, the base of this work. Considering all these criteria, a search in several databases was realized to collect the data that exist and how all these could be utilized to determine marginal soils in mainland Portugal. The maps obtained show that marginal soils in Portugal represent less than 10% of the territory.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)275-280
Number of pages6
JournalEuropean Biomass Conference and Exhibition Proceedings
Publication statusPublished - 2023
Event31st European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, EUBCE 2023 - Bologna, Italy
Duration: 5 Jun 20238 Jun 2023

Keywords

  • bioenergy
  • biofuel
  • biomass
  • geographic information system (GIS)
  • marginal soils
  • model

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