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Greenhouse gas emissions from four bioenergy crops in England and Wales: integrating spatial estimates of yield and soil carbon balance in life cycle analyses

Greenhouse gas emissions from four bioenergy crops in England and Wales: integrating spatial estimates of yield and soil carbon balance in life cycle analyses
Greenhouse gas emissions from four bioenergy crops in England and Wales: integrating spatial estimates of yield and soil carbon balance in life cycle analyses
Accurate estimation of the greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential of bioenergy crops requires the integration of a significant component of spatially varying information. In particular, crop yield and soil carbon (C) stocks are variables which are generally soil type and climate dependent. Since gaseous emissions from soil C depend on current C stocks, which in turn are related to previous land management it is important to consider both previous and proposed future land use in any C accounting assessment.

We have conducted a spatially explicit study for England and Wales, coupling empirical yield maps with the RothC soil C turnover model to simulate soil C dynamics. We estimate soil C changes under proposed planting of four bioenergy crops, Miscanthus (Miscanthus×giganteus), short rotation coppice (SRC) poplar (Populus trichocarpa Torr. & Gray ×P. trichocarpa, var. Trichobel), winter wheat, and oilseed rape. This is then related to the former land use – arable, pasture, or forest/seminatural, and the outputs are then assessed in the context of a life cycle analysis (LCA) for each crop.

By offsetting emissions from management under the previous land use, and considering fossil fuel C displaced, the GHG balance is estimated for each of the 12 land use change transitions associated with replacing arable, grassland, or forest/seminatural land, with each of the four bioenergy crops. Miscanthus and SRC are likely to have a mostly beneficial impact in reducing GHG emissions, while oilseed rape and winter wheat have either a net GHG cost, or only a marginal benefit. Previous land use is important and can make the difference between the bioenergy crop being beneficial or worse than the existing land use in terms of GHG balance.
bioenergy, greenhouse gas, LCA, miscanthus, poplar, rothC, short rotation coppice
1757-1693
267-281
Hillier, Jonathan
2c246b73-6162-42d6-abf2-3ec78f560e34
Whittaker, Carly
49674a37-7090-4ac9-9187-73e91f392af6
Dailey, Gordon
8b126b29-c6a7-4272-baef-5cd39451bdf3
Aylott, Matthew
4735cbfc-a1ed-46e9-a7a1-0db13b64bd91
Casella, Eric
3a60adce-ddba-4e72-97e2-5ca161f32954
Richter, Goetz M.
7324bbb4-2826-4caf-8643-e288bc084436
Riche, Andrew
0fded447-d8b9-4780-862c-c1d9746c3d19
Murphy, Richard
c0b17558-fd51-4617-a307-9e92549c360e
Taylor, Gail
Smith, Pete
a8a5c7c1-faf6-4b75-b125-ec8c73d104a2
Hillier, Jonathan
2c246b73-6162-42d6-abf2-3ec78f560e34
Whittaker, Carly
49674a37-7090-4ac9-9187-73e91f392af6
Dailey, Gordon
8b126b29-c6a7-4272-baef-5cd39451bdf3
Aylott, Matthew
4735cbfc-a1ed-46e9-a7a1-0db13b64bd91
Casella, Eric
3a60adce-ddba-4e72-97e2-5ca161f32954
Richter, Goetz M.
7324bbb4-2826-4caf-8643-e288bc084436
Riche, Andrew
0fded447-d8b9-4780-862c-c1d9746c3d19
Murphy, Richard
c0b17558-fd51-4617-a307-9e92549c360e
Taylor, Gail
Smith, Pete
a8a5c7c1-faf6-4b75-b125-ec8c73d104a2

Hillier, Jonathan, Whittaker, Carly, Dailey, Gordon, Aylott, Matthew, Casella, Eric, Richter, Goetz M., Riche, Andrew, Murphy, Richard, Taylor, Gail and Smith, Pete (2009) Greenhouse gas emissions from four bioenergy crops in England and Wales: integrating spatial estimates of yield and soil carbon balance in life cycle analyses. Global Change Biology Bioenergy, 1 (4), 267-281. (doi:10.1111/j.1757-1707.2009.01021.x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Accurate estimation of the greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential of bioenergy crops requires the integration of a significant component of spatially varying information. In particular, crop yield and soil carbon (C) stocks are variables which are generally soil type and climate dependent. Since gaseous emissions from soil C depend on current C stocks, which in turn are related to previous land management it is important to consider both previous and proposed future land use in any C accounting assessment.

We have conducted a spatially explicit study for England and Wales, coupling empirical yield maps with the RothC soil C turnover model to simulate soil C dynamics. We estimate soil C changes under proposed planting of four bioenergy crops, Miscanthus (Miscanthus×giganteus), short rotation coppice (SRC) poplar (Populus trichocarpa Torr. & Gray ×P. trichocarpa, var. Trichobel), winter wheat, and oilseed rape. This is then related to the former land use – arable, pasture, or forest/seminatural, and the outputs are then assessed in the context of a life cycle analysis (LCA) for each crop.

By offsetting emissions from management under the previous land use, and considering fossil fuel C displaced, the GHG balance is estimated for each of the 12 land use change transitions associated with replacing arable, grassland, or forest/seminatural land, with each of the four bioenergy crops. Miscanthus and SRC are likely to have a mostly beneficial impact in reducing GHG emissions, while oilseed rape and winter wheat have either a net GHG cost, or only a marginal benefit. Previous land use is important and can make the difference between the bioenergy crop being beneficial or worse than the existing land use in terms of GHG balance.

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Published date: 24 August 2009
Keywords: bioenergy, greenhouse gas, LCA, miscanthus, poplar, rothC, short rotation coppice

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 160021
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/160021
ISSN: 1757-1693
PURE UUID: 529c7724-0814-42ca-8f94-da16e5706f5e

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Date deposited: 09 Jul 2010 13:25
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 01:56

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Contributors

Author: Jonathan Hillier
Author: Carly Whittaker
Author: Gordon Dailey
Author: Matthew Aylott
Author: Eric Casella
Author: Goetz M. Richter
Author: Andrew Riche
Author: Richard Murphy
Author: Gail Taylor
Author: Pete Smith

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