A comprehensive study of essential properties of Conocarpus Erectus as a potential bioenergy crop

The aim of this study was to investigate the essential aspects of Conocarpus erectus as a potential fuel wood. The results show that the tree can produce acceptable biomass (13.5 MT ha−1) with relatively low water consumption (approximately 44 m3 ha−1). Conocarpus erectus is completely compatible with the climate of Khuzestan and can be planted in the desert areas of the province to deal with desertification. The appropriate proximate and ultimate properties of the tree wood such as heating value (18 MJ kg−1), fresh and dry bulk density (943 and 592 kg m−3, respectively), moisture content and moisture loss behavior, compatible wood and ash elemental contents, which are comparable to those of some common energy crops such as Paulownia, Populus, and Switch-grass, make the tree a potential for bioelectricity generation. The results of the LCA study showed that the environmental impacts of Conocarpus-based electricity are significantly improved in almost all studied categories. Also, compared to the environmental effects of natural gas-based electricity, the environmental damages of Conocarpus-based electricity are improved in all three impact categories of “Human Health”, “Ecosystem”, and “Resources” by 97, 97 and 98%, respectively. If the deserts of Khuzestan are used for the construction of farms and the urban wastewater is used for irrigation, not only this situation will improve even more, but also obvious environmental benefits will follow, including the fight against desertification.