Question:

In Alternatives 19, you indicate that biomass is the energy of the future. But if we use it for human needs, won't this create a problem for soil reconstitution? How is productivity evolving in terms of the amount of biomass produced per unit of surface area? Have studies been carried out on biomass sustainability?

Answer:

The "sustainable" use of biomass for energy does not rely on available inventory, but on annual production. Biomass production varies widely around the world. For example, industrialized countries grow special – and renewable – crops for agri-fuels, while the other extreme is unrestrained deforestation for domestic use in places like Indonesia, unaccompanied by replanting. Studies on productivity and sustainability can therefore only be local. In the São Paulo region of Brazil, for instance, the productivity of ethanol production per hectare of sugar cane has risen 33% since 1975.