Abstract
The impact of water use in areas with abundant freshwater resources should not be the same as areas with limited resources. This impact is quantified as water scarcity footprint. The monthly water stress index with reference to environmental water requirement is proposed as a characterization factor. The biofuel policies of Thailand—cassava and sugarcane for bioethanol, and oil palm for biodiesel—were selected for the assessment based on land expansion and displacement scenarios. Cultivation was found to be the most water intensive phase in producing both biodiesel and bioethanol. Thus, the proposed index was applied for assessing and selecting areas having low values of the water scarcity footprint. The results showed low values for expanding oil palm plantations on abandoned land and displacing plantation areas with low yields of maize and pineapple with sugarcane and cassava. Additionally, shifting the crop calendar could be considered to reduce the stress situation such as the central region can avoid the water scarcity footprint by 38% from shifting sugarcane cultivation. Consequently mitigating this potential impact and threats to the ecosystem based on specific circumstances and context would be achieved through applying the proposed index in water resource and land suitability planning.
Highlights
Adequate freshwater resources exist globally, on average, these are not distributed across all regions
high flow (HF) is defined at mean monthly flow (MMF) higher or equal to 80% of mean annual flow (MAF); the amount of environmental water requirement (EWR) is equal to 30% of MMF. 60% of MMF is estimated for the EWR in the period of low flow (LF) where MMF is lower than 40% of MAF
Pineapple can be cultivated in both wet and dry seasons depending on the weather and economic conditions; during January to April is recommended by the Department of Agriculture (DOA) [56]
Summary
Adequate freshwater resources exist globally, on average, these are not distributed across all regions. Different human and environmental demands for water depend on the local context; a balance between water demands for humans and environment needs to be fairly maintained To address these issues, the monthly WSI proposed in this study is further improved from the methodology developed earlier by Nilsalab et al, considering the case of Thailand [27]. The monthly WSI proposed in this study is further improved from the methodology developed earlier by Nilsalab et al, considering the case of Thailand [27] This modified WSI is applied as a screening criterion for assessing the water scarcity footprint when selecting an area for cultivation of agrofuel feedstocks based on considering of all demands for and availability of water. The implications on freshwater availability of the biofuel targets in AEDP 2015 are evaluated as a case study
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