| Title |
The Impact of First-Generation Biofuels on the Depletion of the Global Phosphorus Reserve
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Ambio, February 2012
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s13280-012-0253-x |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Lars Hein, Rik Leemans |
| Abstract |
The large majority of biofuels to date is "first-generation" biofuel made from agricultural commodities. All first-generation biofuel production systems require phosphorus (P) fertilization. P is an essential plant nutrient, yet global reserves are finite. We argue that committing scarce P to biofuel production involves a trade-off between climate change mitigation and future food production. We examine biofuel production from seven types of feedstock, and find that biofuels at present consume around 2% of the global inorganic P fertilizer production. For all examined biofuels, with the possible exception of sugarcane, the contribution to P depletion exceeds the contribution to mitigating climate change. The relative benefits of biofuels can be increased through enhanced recycling of P, but high increases in P efficiency are required to balance climate change mitigation and P depletion impacts. We conclude that, with the current production systems, the production of first-generation biofuels compromises food production in the future. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profile of 1 X user who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 1 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 132 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 2 | 2% |
| Sweden | 1 | <1% |
| India | 1 | <1% |
| Mexico | 1 | <1% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
| Thailand | 1 | <1% |
| Croatia | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 124 | 94% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 31 | 23% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 27 | 20% |
| Researcher | 15 | 11% |
| Student > Bachelor | 8 | 6% |
| Professor | 5 | 4% |
| Other | 17 | 13% |
| Unknown | 29 | 22% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental Science | 30 | 23% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 26 | 20% |
| Engineering | 10 | 8% |
| Chemistry | 6 | 5% |
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 5 | 4% |
| Other | 24 | 18% |
| Unknown | 31 | 23% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 06 September 2018.
All research outputs
#15,245,883
of 22,668,244 outputs
Outputs from Ambio
#1,424
of 1,619 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#99,437
of 155,010 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Ambio
#30
of 36 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,668,244 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 22nd percentile – i.e., 22% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,619 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 14.0. This one is in the 7th percentile – i.e., 7% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 155,010 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 24th percentile – i.e., 24% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 36 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 5th percentile – i.e., 5% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.