Can agricultural biomass energy provide an alternative energy source for karst rocky desertification areas in Southwestern China? investigating Guizhou Province as example

Abstract

Karst in southwestern China forms a rocky desertification area with a particularly vulnerable ecological environment. Studying the potential of agricultural available biomass energy in this region is of great significance for the construction of the rural energy industry and ecological environment protection in karst mountains. This study investigated three regions with different degrees of rocky desertification in the karst mountains of southwestern China. The characteristics of rural energy consumption and their impact on the ecology of Karst region were analyzed. Moreover, the total available agricultural biomass energy resources in the study area were estimated via residue to product ratio, ecological returning coefficient, collection coefficient, conversion coefficient, and by-product coefficient. The research results indicate that the fragile karst ecological environment and the over-consumption of fuelwood resources are the most important reasons for the evolution of rocky desertification in this region, which exposes karst rocky desertification areas and increases the risk of rocky desertification. Given abundant agricultural biomass energy reserves in karst regions of southwestern China, promoting biomass energy as an alternative for fuelwood carries great significance for ecological protection of karst regions. This can serve as an important measure to promote ecological restoration in karst rocky desertification areas.