Danai Pornamnuaylap, Atsamon Limsakul, Pitayakon Limtong and Amnat Chidthaisong*

Abstract: We analyzed the 30-years trends of temperatures during 1983-2012 and evaluated the potential impacts of daily maximum temperature on rainfed rice production in northeast Thailand. The temperatures records at 19 meteorological stations of the Thai Meteorological Department in the region were used for this purpose. We found that the average daily maximum, mean, and minimum temperatures had significant increased with increasing rate per decade of 0.16°C (p≤0.01), 0.11°C (p≤0.05), and 0.28°C (p≤0.01), respectively. Using the temperature indices derived from daily maximum temperature of ≥35°C, at which adverse effects on rice production have been suggested, it was revealed that rice cultivation in northeast Thailand would have experienced high temperature stress. However, the overall impacts were considered as low for all stations except at Kosum Phisai station where the impact level was moderate. On the monthly basis it was found that the potential impacts of high temperature on rice production were especially high during February-May (vegetative growth state of rice), and in November (reproductive stage). In most cases the impacts for these months were moderate, except in Kosum Phisai where this was high. Our analysis indicates that daily maximum temperature both in terms of magnitude and frequency may have exerted the adverse impacts on rice production in northeast Thailand. Further in-depth analysis with sufficient observation data will further improve our understanding of potential impacts as well as provide guidance for counter measures in the future.

Keywords: northeast Thailand, rainfed rice, impacts of high temperature.

Tait Chandler, Amanda Drake, Evan Brown, Huston Julian, Nicole Simonsen, Christiana Ade, Komsilp Wangyao, Richard M. Kamens and Shabbir H. Gheewala*

Thanonphat Boonman, Savitri Garivait*, Sebastien Bonnet and Agapol Junpen

Abstract: This study developed a methodology to estimate air pollutant emissions from biomass open burning in Thailand during 2009-2011 using country specific data and the 500-meter MODIS burned area product (MCD45A1) from MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS). The spatial and temporal distributions of biomass open burning emissions were analyzed and displayed in the form of a 1 km × 1 km grid density map. The MCD45A1 burned area data were validated by ground checking. The results showed that between 2009 and 2011, the total area of burning ranged from 332,723 ha in 2009, to 410,636 ha in 2010 and to 144,419 ha in 2011, respectively. Also, it was found that forests and paddy fields constituted the most burned vegetation. Most of burned forests were situated in the northern and northeastern regions, and burned paddy fields were located in the central part of the country. Additionally, the peak period of biomass open burning was found to during December to April. The estimation of emissions of open biomass burning from 2009 to 2011 indicated that the amounts of CO₂, CO, CH₄, N₂O, and NO_X emitted were approximately 2,150,077 tons, 163,175 tons, 7,704 tons, 221 tons and 2,841 tons, respectively. They also emitted particulate matters PM_2.5, PM₁₀, and black carbon (BC) at amounts of 10,469 tons, 16,571 tons and 1,014 tons, respectively.

Keywords: Emission inventory, Agricultural burning, Forest Fire, MODIS product.

Kritana Prueksakorn, Shabbir H. Gheewala*, Masayuki Sagisaka and Yuki Kudoh

Abstract: This paper considers the effect of different allocation methods on life cycle assessment (LCA) results of products derived from a sugarcane biorefinery complex in Thailand. Issues from various allocation methods to a system of sugarcane-based production in the case of closed-loop recycling were discussed as an example for further applying with such a bioenergy system. The greenhouse gas (GHG) associated with the production of sugar, electricity, steam, ethanol, and organic fertilizer originated from sugarcane was investigated, considering all methods guided by ISO (2006) for partitioning emissions from the process i.e. avoiding allocation, mass allocation and economic allocation as well as approaches of recent allocation like energy allocation , exergy allocation , and hybrid allocation. The study also considered a case assuming that wasted steam remaining from the overall process is totally utilized, to observe the decrease of emissions shared to each product after this positive change as a potential process improvement, since it is the largest energy lost according to the company’s recommendation. The results show large variations in GHG amount for each case and order of contributor can be sensitively changed depending on which allocation method is selected. was found to be most suited to the system while irrational characteristics were unveiled for the others.

Keywords: Sugarcane biorefinery, industrial ecology, life cycle assessment (LCA), greenhouse gas (GHG), allocation method.