Abstract
Wide scale use of fossil fuels in agriculture,
transportation, industries and other sectors are not only
creating global environmental problems but are also depleting
natural resources of energy. In recent years, the value of using
environment friendly, as well as, renewable fuels is gaining
worldwide attention. Biofuel or bio energy is currently
considered as a renewable energy source exhibiting significant
growth potential. It contains energy from plants and
microalgae. Jatropha Curcas (JC) is one of those popular
plants that have energy potential. Its seeds contain around 35-
45 percentage of oil that can be used as biodiesel. This plant
can grow easily and does not require very favorable weather
and soil conditions. In this study, geospatial techniques were
employed to identify suitable land for JC plantation. Landsat
satellite Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensor imageries and
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation
Model (DEM) were used. Important research parameters,
either derived from satellite data or gathered from other
sources included bare land, temperature, relative humidity (R.
Humidity), rainfall, soil type, land surface elevation and slope.
Information regarding bare land, elevation and slope of the
area were obtained through satellite image processing.
Weather and climate related data were acquired from National
Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). The overall
goal of this study was to evaluate and propose potential sites
suitable for Jatropha C. plantation with required climatic, soil
type and terrain parameters using geospatial technologies
(remote sensing and geographical information system). Thatta
tehsil can be divided into 3 classes of suitability for Jatropha C.
plantation; Most Suitable, Moderate Suitable and Less Suitable.
The areas under each category are 1,020.64, 767.58 and 16.34
square kilometers respectively.
Muhammad Arslan, Arjumand Z. Zaidi, Saad Malik. (2015) Identification of Suitable Sites for Plantation of Biofuel Source Jatropha C. using Geospatial Techniques, Journal of Space Technology , Volume 5, Issue 1.
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