Potential of cereal-based agricultural residues available for bioenergy production

This data article ranks 294 countries worldwide with more potential available, of cereal based agricultural residues for bioenergy production. Nine different cereal-based agricultural waste products (barley, wheat, millet, oat, rice, and rye straw, sorghum straw/stalk, and maize cob) are used. The tables and figures are grouped by the most prevalent Köppen-Geiger climate classification (tropical/megathermal, dry (desert and semi-arid), temperate/mesothermal, continental/microthermal), continent and region. The data was collected by the authors from FAO bioenergy and food security rapid appraisal tool (excel-based tools) that uses crop yields and production with 10 years (2005–2014) average annual production to estimate the residue yield (t/ha), by feedstock.


Data
Due to the increase of the energy production mainly from non-renewable energy sources, there is a search for biobased solutions that will decrease the share of fossil fuels in the final energy mix. Biofuel or biogas production using cereal based agricultural waste as a feedstock can be used as a strategy to manage the large quantity of these residues. Table 1-Table 4 rank the countries (by continent) with the highest potential available for bioenergy, by K€ oppen-Geiger climate classification, continent and region. Figs. 1e4 illustrate the potential available for bioenergy production (t/ha) by K€ oppen-Geiger climate classification and region. The total area of the pie charts is proportional to the overall amount of straw produced, meaning that bigger countries (with bigger production) have proportionally bigger pies.

Experimental design, materials, and methods
The data was obtained by the authors from FAO agricultural residues tool, which belongs to a series of Excel-based tools used to access the biomass potential of agricultural residues, wood fuel and wood residues, and crops.

Subject area
Renewable energy, Agriculture More specific subject area Bioenergy, waste, residue yield, cereal Type of data Tables and figures How data was acquired The data were obtained from FAO bioenergy and food security rapid appraisal tool (Excel-based tools) [

1] Data format
Raw data were filtered and processed Experimental factors Yield (t/ha) of different cereal-based agricultural waste (barley, wheat, millet, oat, rice, and rye straw, sorghum straw/stalk, and maize cob) for bioenergy production Experimental features Aggregated by K€ oppen-Geiger climate classification, continent and region Data source location The data (from 294 countries worldwide) were collected from FAO bioenergy and food security rapid appraisal tool (Excel-based tools) [1]

Value of the Data
Nowadays great attention has been paid to biorefinery concepts using lignocellulosic biomass as a feedstock. However, the costs of bioethanol production are still high mainly due to the energy input that is required to break down the plant cell well. Therefore, there is a search for alternative methods and feedstocks that will improve the energy output from the biomass [2]. The production of energy in the form of methane has been reported as an effective method for the valorization of the lignocellulosic waste stream and as way of adding value to the bioethanol production chain [3,4]. From the feedstock perspective, cereal based agricultural waste can also be utilized for bioethanol production. This solution can be used not only as a way of fully valorize all the waste streams from agricultural production, but also as a way of handle agricultural waste and minimize its impacts. The dataset compiles 10-years average annual production of different cereal agricultural residues (at country level) to estimate its potential for bioenergy production. The data can be used to study the different management strategies (at local level) for cereal agricultural waste, based on its potential, geographic location and climate classification. Local scientific communities can study the best handling options (for the residues available in their region), that will increase the energy output from the biomass (e.g. biofuel or biogas production).      The tables were grouped by the authors by K€ oppen-Geiger climate classification (A, B, C, and D), continent and region, using a simple excel spreadsheet.
The figures were drawn in the software ArcMap (version 10.6). For this, a worldwide base map was added to ArcMAP. The results were imported from the tables and pie charts were plotted (by region). The pie charts represent the potential of the different feedstocks available for bioenergy production.   . 3. Potential available for bioenergy production (t/ha) (by K€ oppen-Geiger climate classification C, continent and region).