%0 Journal Article
%T Bioenergy Crops as a Promising Alternative to Fossil Fuels in Louisiana: A Geographic Information System (GIS) Perspective
%A Yaw A. Twumasi
%A Zhu H. Ning
%A John B. Namwamba
%A Abena B. Asare-Ansah
%A Edmund C. Merem
%A Harriet B. Yeboah
%A Judith Oppong
%A Matilda Anokye
%A Diana B. Frimpong
%A Priscilla M. Loh
%A Julia Atayi
%A Rechael N. D. Armah
%A Caroline Y. Apraku
%A Opeyemi I. Oladigbolu
%A Cynthia C. Ogbu
%A Leah W. Njeri
%A Joyce McClendon-Peralta
%J Journal of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems
%P 57-81
%@ 2165-4018
%D 2022
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/jsbs.2022.124005
%X Rising greenhouse gas emissions </span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\">are</span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"> causing climate change, and the worldĄŻs focus has
shifted to the need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. There has been a
rise in the published literature on the utilization of crops for bioenergy
production in Louisiana. However, very few scholarly documents have used <span>Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map the
distribution of potential </span>bioenergy crops in Louisiana.<b> </b>This
study seeks to fill the void<b> </b>by<b> </b>evaluating <span>the potential of bioenergy crops in Louisiana for
energy production using GIS. Given this objective,<b> </b>the agricultural
census data for 1999, 2009, 2019, and 2</span>020 obtained from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture were used in the <span>analysis.<b> </b>The quantities of various crops produced in the state were loaded</span> into an attribute table and joined to a shapefile using ArcGIS software. The
symbol<span>ogy toolĄŻs graduated option was used to
create five maps representing each of the bioenergy crops in Louisiana.<b> </b>The
findings of the GIS analysis show </span><span>that
some of the parishes, such as Franklin produced the most bushels of </span>corn
(13,795,416), Iberia produced the most tons of sugarcane (1,697,980), East
Carroll produced the most bushels of soybean (8,237,991), Tensas har<span>vested the most bales of cotton (80,898) and
Avoyelles produced the most</span> bushels of sorghum (630,694).<b> </b>The
abundance and availability of crops as raw <span>materials
for energy production will translate into lower prices in terms of</span> energy use, making bioenergy crops a promising alternative to fossil fuels. In
addition, gasoline price data from 1993-2022 was obtained from U.S. Energy
Information Administration. A regression model for the average annual gasoline
price over the years was constructed.<b> </b>The results show that the average
annual gasoline price variation with respect to years is statistically significant
(p</span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"> </span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\">&lt;</span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\"> </span><span style=\"font-family:&quot;\">0.05). This suggests that gasoline prices will
generally<b> </b>rise despite a price <span>drop<b> </b>over the years.<b> </b>The paper concludes by outlining policy recommenda</span>tions
in the form of assessing the availability and viability of other crop types,
such as wheat, oats, and rice,<b> </b>for energy production in the state.
%K Bioenergy Crops
%K Biomass
%K Fossil Fuel
%K Gasoline
%K Geographic Information Sys-tem (GIS)
%K Regression Analysis
%K Louisiana
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=120559