This chapter focuses on the ‘food vs fuel’ controversy around biofuel production, demonstrating ways in which the two can be supportive rather than in conflict. This competition between food and fuel can be avoided, in particular by using crops for which their use in the human food chain is not in conflict with their use as a sources of biofuels. Many biofuel production methods can be configured to produce food as well as fuel. Also, many food production methods can be configured to produce bioenergy as well as food. These together are known as ‘Integrated Food-Energy Systems’ (IFES). As a biofuel crop, the mangrove palm Nypa fruticans has the distinction of being the only sugar palm that grows in saline environments, since it is the only mangrove species that is also a palm tree. This makes it suitable for areas where food crops would not be grown, avoiding the greatest arguments against liquid biofuel production.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118350553.ch8Altmetric score:
Dimensions Citation Count:
Publication year
2017
Authors
Jamieson C B; Rasco E T; Lasco R D
Language
English
Keywords
mangrove palm, biofuels, food crops, sugar palms
