ENERGY EXPANSION THROUGH BIORESOURCE PRODUCTION, CONVERSION AND USE.

Adaptive research will be conducted in selected LDC"s to produce bioresource materials for subsequent conversion. Focus will be on silviculture, aquatic plants, bushes, grasses, and if feasible, biowaste; appropriate species and sites will be identified. Research will be conducted in dry matter production, harvesting, transporting, managing, and storing bioresources and in ecosystem management. Efforts will be made to draw local people into the program. Technologies for converting bioresources for industrial and electrical use will be demonstrated through adaptation of conversion techniques (e.g., direct combustion, char-oil production) and of systems for converting heat and chemical products to mechanical work. Research will also be conducted to improve fuel quality and transportability, as well as the systems designed for biomass use. Other study areas will include: the feasibility of expanding biomass into the fuel oil market; the uses of biomass, especially methanol and ethanol, as transport fuel (e.g., through use of gasifiers), and as chemicals; and potential biomass use by small urban/rural enterprises (e.g., bakeries). Priorities for future research are gasification, bagasse driers, and oil extraction. The project will also fund workshops and seminars to disseminate bioresource information, long- and short-term TA for field activities, training, reference materials, state of the art papers, and a bioresource strategy paper. Amendment of 8/4/81 extends project through FY84 and changes its title to Bioenergy Systems and Technology to reflect greater stress on implementation. Current activities will be continued and expanded: case studies will be conducted in cooperation with LDC institutions, and workshops held to strengthen institutional linkages. The project will now also support R&D on problems in adopting bioenergy technologies to LDC"s in order to provide the information necessary for full feasibility studies of particular bioenergy systems. (PD-AAJ-047) Amendment of 5/15/87 extends PACD to 9/30/89, and provides funds for (1) research, feasibility, and marketing studies (related to energy generation from cane and rice residues, new alcohol technologies, and the use of energy markets to sustain tropical forests); (2) and activities to facilitate private investment in cane and rice systems. (PD-AAW-473)