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Book (stand-alone)Technical bookBiofuel co-products as livestock feed - Opportunities and challenges 2012
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No results found.Climate change and predicted shortages of fossil fuels present major challenges. Currently, biofuel production is from agricultural crops grown primarily on arable land. Conflict with the traditional use of arable land, itself a limited resource, to produce food and animal feed must be avoided and economic sustainability assured. At present cereals, especially maize and wheat, and sugar cane are used for ethanol production, with soybean, oil palm and rapeseed for biodiesel production. The expa nding transport industry requires increasing amounts of biofuels, and an increasing market for co-products has generated a need for new feedstocks. Cellulosic material, often available from sub-prime land with minimal inputs, and other non-conventional sources are being investigated. Before being used as feeds, some seeds and cakes will require detoxification. The contribution of micro-algae, production of which can be achieved in coastal waters, is likely to grow in importance. These developmen ts are mirrored the broadening of the animal species receiving the co-products, from ruminants, especially cattle, and pigs to poultry and fish (aquaculture). Further developments include enhancement of the use of existing co-products and the introduction of new ones. This publication collates, discusses and summarizes state-of-the-art knowledge on the use as livestock feed and future availability of co-products from the biofuel industry. The levels at which the co-products could be safely use d in livestock diets are also presented. Throughout the book, gaps in knowledge and research topics needed to address them have been identified. These include standardization of product quality to assist ration formulation; testing of new products; development of detoxification procedures; research on micro-algae; and life cycle analysis linked to traditional nutritional appraisal. This publication covers a wide array of co-products and is a timely contribution, as people's aspirations are ris ing, evident from the increasing demand for livestock products and an ever greater reliance on transport, coupled with the challenge of maintaining agricultural production when faced with global warming. We hope that the information here synthesized will be useful to policy-makers, researchers, the feed industry, science managers and NGOs, supporting them in making information- based decisions on issues such as food-feed-fuel competition. Hopefully it will help confront the emerging challenges o f global warming, in addition to making efficient use as livestock feed of a wide range of currently available and future co-products from the biofuel industry. -
Book (stand-alone)Technical bookBiofuel co-products as livestock feed - Opportunities and challenges, Technical summary 2014
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No results found.Distillers grains (DG), a by-product of the alcoholic drink and beverages production, have been fed to livestock for several years, initially to pigs and dairy cows. The upsurge in the use of DG was spearheaded by the search for transport fuel other than that from fossil fuels, which in recent years has been supported by a large increase in research funding into the use of co-products. The co-products are the residues after extraction of the biofuel – ethanol or biodiesel. Currentl y, these coproducts are an important feed resource in over 50 countries, for ruminants, non-ruminants and fish. Biofuels contribute to the twin objectives of increasing fuel security and as a tool in the reduction of emissions of green house gases (GHG). As the majority of currently used feedstocks to produce biofuels are crops grown on agricultural land, the requirements for food, feed and fuel must be balanced so that the quest for biofuels does not result in an inflationary ri se in the cost, or shortage, of food or feed. This raises the question of second generation feedstocks from cellulosic sources, the use of crop residues and stubbles and woody material grown on marginal land with a minimum of resources, including irrigation. Also it raises the potential for promoting little-used feeds, from non-conventional feedstocks, of which some may require detoxifying to produce safe livestock feed. The co-products produced by the biofuel industry are disc ussed below in two main headings: a) produced along with the ethanol production, and b) produced along with the biodiesel production. -
Book (stand-alone)Technical studyAlgae-based biofuels: a Review of Challenges and Opportunities for Developing Countries 2009
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No results found.In October 2008, the FAO Interdepartmental Working Group on Bioenergy recommended the preparation of this review paper on algae-based biofuels as a reference platform for possible future work of the Organization. Algae have recently received a lot of attention as a new biomass source for the production of renewable energy. Some of the main characteristics which set algae apart from other biomass sources are that algae (can) have a high biomass yield per unit of light and area, can have a high oi l or starch content, do not require agricultural land, fresh water is not essential and nutrients can be supplied by wastewater and CO2 by combustion gas.
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Book (stand-alone)Technical bookSoil erosion: the greatest challenge for sustainable soil management 2019
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Despite almost a century of research and extension efforts, soil erosion by water, wind and tillage continues to be the greatest threat to soil health and soil ecosystem services in many regions of the world. Our understanding of the physical processes of erosion and the controls on those processes has been firmly established. Nevertheless, some elements remain controversial. It is often these controversial questions that hamper efforts to implement sound erosion control measures in many areas of the world. This book, released in the framework of the Global Symposium on Soil Erosion (15-17 May 2019) reviews the state-of-the-art information related to all topics related to soil erosion. -
Book (series)FlagshipThe State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020
Transforming food systems for affordable healthy diets
2020Updates for many countries have made it possible to estimate hunger in the world with greater accuracy this year. In particular, newly accessible data enabled the revision of the entire series of undernourishment estimates for China back to 2000, resulting in a substantial downward shift of the series of the number of undernourished in the world. Nevertheless, the revision confirms the trend reported in past editions: the number of people affected by hunger globally has been slowly on the rise since 2014. The report also shows that the burden of malnutrition in all its forms continues to be a challenge. There has been some progress for child stunting, low birthweight and exclusive breastfeeding, but at a pace that is still too slow. Childhood overweight is not improving and adult obesity is on the rise in all regions.The report complements the usual assessment of food security and nutrition with projections of what the world may look like in 2030, if trends of the last decade continue. Projections show that the world is not on track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030 and, despite some progress, most indicators are also not on track to meet global nutrition targets. The food security and nutritional status of the most vulnerable population groups is likely to deteriorate further due to the health and socio economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.The report puts a spotlight on diet quality as a critical link between food security and nutrition. Meeting SDG 2 targets will only be possible if people have enough food to eat and if what they are eating is nutritious and affordable. The report also introduces new analysis of the cost and affordability of healthy diets around the world, by region and in different development contexts. It presents valuations of the health and climate-change costs associated with current food consumption patterns, as well as the potential cost savings if food consumption patterns were to shift towards healthy diets that include sustainability considerations. The report then concludes with a discussion of the policies and strategies to transform food systems to ensure affordable healthy diets, as part of the required efforts to end both hunger and all forms of malnutrition. -
Book (stand-alone)High-profileStatus of the World's Soil Resources: Main Report 2015
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No results found.The SWSR is a reference document on the status of global soil resources that provides regional assessments of soil change. The information is based on peer-reviewed scientific literature, complemented with expert knowledge and project outputs. It provides a description and a ranking of ten major soil threats that endanger ecosystem functions, goods and services globally and in each region separately. Additionally, it describes direct and indirect pressures on soils and ways and means to combat s oil degradation. The report contains a Synthesis report for policy makers that summarizes its findings, conclusions and recommendations.The full report has been divided into sections and individual chapters for ease of downloading: