Bioenergy crop production potential and carbon mitigation from marginal and degraded lands of India.

Bioenergy production from marginal and degraded lands is getting worldwide attention due to its potential for renewable energy, land restoration, soil carbon sequestration and also for meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. However, majority of the literature reported the bioenergy production prospect based on a single bioenergy crop production system. Therefore, the present article utilizes a multi-criteria analysis to identify India's potential marginal and degraded lands (P ml) and their suitability for bioenergy crop production based on a polyculture zonation technique (PZT) with the projections for bioenergy and carbon mitigation potentials. Ten multipurpose bioenergy crops have been studied, out of which seven hardwood tree species were further selected based on ecological and climate suitability. Results suggested that India accounted for 45.13 million ha (Mha) of P ml , and it could produce 96.82 Mt y−1 of biomass and 6.16 Mt y−1 of biofuel, considering half utilization of the plantation areas. Such productions represent 2.22 EJ y−1 (equivalent to 618 TW h y−1) of bioenergy potential. Around 64 Mt C y−1 can also be sequestered by these plantations and additionally help in meeting carbon sequestration over 2800 MtCO 2 by 2030, corresponding to India's nationally determined contribution. According to the spatial validation results via centroid coinciding approach, 14 randomly generated points out of 24 coincided on the centroids of randomly identified land parcels, which were further validated through the ortho-imagery from Google Earth. Our study results can be used for framing suitable strategies for exploring bioenergy production from similar agroecological conditions and also for attaining India's national and international commitments related to land restoration and renewable energy production. [Display omitted] • India accounts for 45.13 Mha of marginal land suitable for bioenergy crop production. • A multi-criteria analysis explores the suitability of bioenergy production. • Seven tree species can produce 96.82 Mt y−1 of biomass and 6.16 Mt y−1 of biofuel. • This represents 2.22 EJ y−1 equivalent to 618 TW h y−1 of bioenergy potential. • The study reflects >2800 MtCO 2 mitigation by 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]