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The areas of agricultural land on this globe that in the future possibly are available for biomass production for energy use and the potential global production of biomass were calculated: These available land areas increased when the global potential for food production (dependent on agricultural system acid available land areas for agriculture) became higher in comparison to the global food requirement (dependent on population growth arid mean consumption pattern). This. study shows that 55% of the present agricultural land area at the global scale is needed for food production in the future (i.e. year 2050), if a high external input system of agriculture is applied. The remaining 45% can be used for other purposes, such as biomass production. If all potentially suitable land-areas would be cultivated, the global potential for biomass production becomes about two times as large. If a low external input system is applied at the global scale for food production, however, no land area is available for biomass production. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.