Biofuel production and soil GHG emissions after land-use change to switchgrass and giant reed in the U.S. Southeast

The use of agricultural-based biofuels has expanded. Discussions on how to assess green house gas (GHG) emissions from biofuel policies, specifically on (non-observed) land-use change (LUC) effects involve two main topics: (i) the limitations on the existing methodologies, and (ii) how to isolate the effects of biofuels. This paper discusses the main methodologies currently used by policy-makers to take decisions on how to quantify LUCs owing to biofuel production expansion. It is our opinion that the concerns regarding GHG emissions associated with LUCs should focus on the agricultural sector as a whole rather than concentrating on biofuel production. Actually, there are several limitations of economic models and deterministic methodologies for simulating and explaining LUCs resulting from the expansion of the agricultural sector. However, it is equally true that there are avenues of possibilities to improve models and make them more accurate and precise in order to be used for policy-making. Models available need several improvements to reach perfection. Any top model requires a concentration of interdisciplinary designers in order to replicate empirical evidence and capture correctly the agricultural sector dynamics for different countries and regions. Forgetting those limitations means that models will be used for the wrong purposes.

Download Full-text

Environmental implications of higher ethanol production and use in the U.S.: A literature review. Part II – Biodiversity, land use change, GHG emissions, and sustainability

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews ◽

10.1016/j.rser.2017.05.052 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 81 ◽

pp. 3159-3177 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

S. Kent Hoekman ◽

Amber Broch

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Literature Review ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Ethanol Production ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Environmental Implications ◽

The U.S

Download Full-text

MODELING LAND-USE CHANGE IMPACTS OF BIOFUELS IN THE GTAP-BIO FRAMEWORK

Climate Change Economics ◽

10.1142/s2010007812500157 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 03 (03) ◽

pp. 1250015 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

ALLA A. GOLUB ◽

THOMAS W. HERTEL

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Computable General Equilibrium ◽

Bilateral Trade ◽

Crop Yields ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Biofuel Production ◽

Cge Models

This paper reviews an analysis of land use change impacts of expanded biofuel production with GTAP-BIO computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. It describes the treatment of energy substitution, the role of biofuel by-products, specification of bilateral trade, the determination of land cover changes in response to increased biofuel feedstock production, and changes in crop yields – both at the intensive and extensive margins. The paper responds to some of the criticisms of GTAP-BIO and provides insights into the sensitivity of land use change and GHG emissions to changes in key parameters and assumptions. In particular, it considers an alternative specification of acreage response that takes into account the degree of land heterogeneity within agro-ecological zone (AEZ) for different AEZs and countries. The paper concludes with the discussion of alternative specifications of land mobility across uses employed in CGE models and the agenda for further research to narrow parametric and structural uncertainty to improve the model's performance.

Download Full-text

LAND-USE AND GREENHOUSE GAS IMPLICATIONS OF BIOFUELS: ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY AND POLICY

Climate Change Economics ◽

10.1142/s2010007812500133 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 03 (03) ◽

pp. 1250013 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

XIAOGUANG CHEN ◽

HAIXIAO HUANG ◽

MADHU KHANNA

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Carbon Price ◽

Price Policy ◽

Biofuel Production ◽

Tax Credit ◽

Cellulosic Biofuels ◽

Cellulosic Biofuel ◽

The U.S ◽

Ghg Savings

This paper examines the changes in land use in the U.S. likely to be induced by biofuel and climate policies and the implications of these policies for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the 2007–2022 period. The policies considered here include a modified Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) by itself as well as combined with a cellulosic biofuel tax credit or a carbon price policy. We use a dynamic, spatial, multi-market equilibrium model, Biofuel and Environmental Policy Analysis Model (BEPAM), to endogenously determine the effects of these policies on cropland allocation, food and fuel prices, and the mix of first- and second-generation biofuels. We find that the RFS could be met by diverting 6% of cropland for biofuel production and would result in corn prices increasing by 16% in 2002 relative to the business-as-usual baseline. The reduction in GHG emissions in the U.S. due to the RFS is about 2%; these domestic GHG savings can be severely eroded by emissions due to indirect land-use changes and the increase in gasoline consumption in the rest of the world. Supplementing the RFS with a carbon price policy or a cellulosic biofuel tax credit induces a switch away from corn ethanol to cellulosic biofuels and achieves the mandated level of biofuel production with a smaller adverse impact on crop prices. These supplementary policies enhance the GHG savings achieved by the RFS alone, although through different mechanisms; greater production of cellulosic biofuels with the tax credit but larger reduction in fossil fuel consumption with a carbon tax.

Download Full-text

Impact of agricultural-based biofuel production on greenhouse gas emissions from land-use change: Key modelling choices

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews ◽

10.1016/j.rser.2014.10.026 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

pp. 344-360 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Luis Panichelli ◽

Edgard Gnansounou

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Biofuel Production ◽

Gas Emissions

Download Full-text

Mapping land use on Irish raised bogs using Sentinel-2 imagery and Google Earth Engine

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-9262 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Wahaj Habib ◽

John Connolly ◽

Kevin McGuiness

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

High Resolution ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Optical Sensors ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Google Earth ◽

Good Prospect ◽

Raised Bogs ◽

Google Earth Engine ◽

Sentinel 2

Peatlands are one of the most space-efficient terrestrial carbon stores. They cover approximately 3 % of the terrestrial land surface and account for about one-third of the total soil organic carbon stock. Peatlands have been under severe strain for centuries all over the world due to management related activities. In Ireland, peatlands span over approximately 14600 km2, and 85 % of that has already been degraded to some extent. To achieve temperature goals agreed in the Paris agreement and fulfil the EU&#8217;s commitment to quantifying the Carbon/Green House Gases (C/GHG) emissions from land use, land use change forestry, accurate mapping and identification of management related activities (land use) on peatlands is important.High-resolution multispectral satellite imagery by European Space Agency (ESA) i.e., Sentinel-2 provides a good prospect for mapping peatland land use in Ireland. However, due to persistent cloud cover over Ireland, and the inability of optical sensors to penetrate the clouds makes the acquisition of clear sky imagery a challenge and hence hampers the analysis of the landscape. Google Earth Engine (a cloud-based planetary-scale satellite image platform) was used to create a cloud-free image mosaic from sentinel-2 data was created for raised bogs in Ireland (images collected for the time period between 2017-2020). A preliminary analysis was conducted to identify peatland land use classes, i.e., grassland/pasture, crop/tillage, built-up, cutover, cutaway and coniferous, broadleaf forests using this mosaicked image. The land-use classification results may be used as a baseline dataset since currently, no high-resolution peatland land use dataset exists for Ireland. It can also be used for quantification of land-use change on peatlands. Moreover, since Ireland will now be voluntarily accounting the GHG emissions from managed wetlands (including bogs), this data could also be useful for such type of assessment.

Download Full-text