Cultivation of energy plants on set-aside mining sites in Viet Nam - pilot project II
The predecessor project demonstrated the potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the cultivation of energy crops at former mining sites. It also enabled the recultivation of these areas and the expansion of local carbon reservoirs. The project builds on these results and demonstrates by growing cassava for bioethanol production within a sustainable cultivation system on mining wastelands in the province of Lam Dong. Furthermore, it supports the integration of climate aspects of energy crop cultivation and recultivation measures on post-mining areas into existing and new legislation. Additionally, it records other marginal areas in order to show the potential for these previously unused areas. Further activities include communication and training measures with stakeholders, including responsible Vietnamese ministries and other authorities, experts and industry. The project results are supposed to be applied beyond Vietnam, all over South-East-Asia.
- Countries
- Viet Nam
- IKI funding
- 1,134,564.42 €
- Duration
- 05/2020 till 08/2025
- Status
- open
- Implementing organisation
- Unabhängiges Institut für Umweltfragen e.V. (UfU)
- Political Partner
-
- Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) - Viet Nam
- Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA)
- Implementing Partner
-
- Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) - Viet Nam
- Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA)
State of implementation/results
- The survey of marginal land suitable for energy crop cultivation in the provinces of Dong Nai and Đà Nẵng has been completed and evaluated. A total of 1,180 marginal areas were recorded in the study area, of which 800 areas were ultimately classified as potentially suitable for the cultivation of energy crops, bringing the total area of potential marginal sites in the study area to 22,185 ha.
- Delegation trip to Vietnam in October 2023 with representatives of the Federal Ministry for the Environment of the Federal Republic of Germany (BMUV) and organisation of workshops on the topic of "Soil protection and climate change mitigation - review and current and future challenges in Vietnam".
- At the beginning of July 2023, 6 representatives of the Vietnamese mining companies VINACOMIN and Nui Phao went on a one-week study trip to Germany. The aim of the study trip was to show the participants approaches to the topics of recultivation of mining areas, bioeconomy and energy transition in Germany.
- In April 2023, the second cassava planting was carried out on the trial site in Lam Dong. However, an infestation with CMD (Cassava Mosaic Virus Disease) and above-average rainfall during the summer months destroyed the entire plantation. Both events underline the need to test concepts on a pilot scale.
- In February 2023, the first foresight workshop was held with representatives from VINACOMIN, LDA (Lam Dong Aluminium), VEA (Vietnam Environment Administration), DONRE Lam Dong (Department of Natural Resources and Environment) and Da Lat University.
- In September 2022, the second round of discussions took place in Hanoi regarding the opportunities and challenges for environmentally sound restoration of post-mining sites through energy crops. Among others, staff members of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) as well as from scientific institutions were invited to the workshop. As a result, the 25 participants noted that promising results have already been achieved through CPEP I and II. At the same time, there is still a lot of potential to advance the reclamation of post-mining landscapes in Vietnam.
- At the trial site in Nui Phao, a random harvest of 15 acacia trees took place in June 2022. In addition to the determination of calorific value and biomass, an analysis of trace metal content in biomass and soil was carried out. With regard to the effect pathway soil-plant, a relocation of trace metals from the soil into the plant can be determined. The extent of the relocation depends strongly on the trace element and plant part (root, stem, leaf) under consideration.
- In January 2022, the first harvest of cassava took place on the experimental plot in Lam Dong. Harvesting was carried out separately for above-ground and below-ground biomass, as only the latter is relevant for the production of bioethanol. The area-averaged yield of cassava roots was 8.73 t/h, which corresponds to about 44% of the average yield in the Bao Lam region. Chemical analyses of the cassava roots showed a starch content sufficient for bioethanol production. In general, a transfer of trace metals from the soil into the plant can be observed, with an accumulation preferentially in the above-ground biomass.
- The first round of talks on the current situation and challenges regarding the production of biofuels in Vietnam took place in December. In addition to employees of MONRE, MARD and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), scientists from universities and representatives of NGOs were also invited to the round of talks. The discussion focused on site-specific conditions that need to be taken into account when planting energy crops and possible political fields of action to promote the cultivation of energy crops on marginal sites in Vietnam. Deficits in the establishment of local markets for the sale of energy crops were identified as a possible problem area during the round of talks.
Latest Update:
02/2025
Further links
- Newsletter: Promising results from the harvest of cassava grown on post-mining areas as feedstock for bioethanol production. IKI Vietnam Newsletter, Issue 13, April 2022
- UfU-Paper 01/2023: Cultivating energy crops on former mining sites: A sustainable option for bioenergy use in Vietnam?
- Newsletter: Energy crop cultivation could play a strong role in the recultivation of mining areas in Vietnam in future. IKI Vietnam Newsletter, November 2022
Project relations
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