Production of electricity from energy cane in small tropical islands: an ex ante agro-environmental, economic and industrial

Interest in renewable energy from agricultural biomass has increased in recent years. Among renewable energy sources, biomass is considered indeed as an attractive option for sustainable energy production. This is particularly true in the case of small tropical island states, where energy demand is increasing and the energy mix currently heavily relies on fossil imported resources. Diversifying and orientating the energy mix toward locally grown energy crops could therefore be a promising sustainable option. However, the introduction of such bioenergy systems under existing conditions and current agricultural models is still rather uncertain and requires achieving several sustainable goals. In order to build new sustainable energy systems, assessing the conditions for a sustainable and profitable biomass supply is a critical step prior to industrial investment. In this paper we present the results of an interdisciplinary research program aimed at identifying the agro-environmental, economic and industrial conditions for producing electricity from energy cane in Guadeloupe.