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Grass biomass as biofuel feedstock –sustainable or not?

Björnsson, Lovisa LU ; Lantz, Mikael LU and Prade, Thomas LU (2017) 25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition (EUBCE) In European Biomass Conference and Exhibition Proceedings 2017. p.39-40
Abstract

Low carbon input due to increasing specialization, intensification and reduced use of bio-fertilizer, leads to soil organic carbon (SOC) decreases in arable land. This is an emerging problem in Europe in general, where 45% of the EU soils have low and declining SOC content. SOC losses from agricultural soils influence soil fertility, putting food security at risk, and contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An agricultural practice rendering loss of SOC is thus not sustainable in the long term, and measures must be taken to reverse this trend. However, existing policies for agriculture and biofuels address these issues in isolation, SOC impact is not considered when sustainability criteria for biofuels are defined in the EU... (More)

Low carbon input due to increasing specialization, intensification and reduced use of bio-fertilizer, leads to soil organic carbon (SOC) decreases in arable land. This is an emerging problem in Europe in general, where 45% of the EU soils have low and declining SOC content. SOC losses from agricultural soils influence soil fertility, putting food security at risk, and contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An agricultural practice rendering loss of SOC is thus not sustainable in the long term, and measures must be taken to reverse this trend. However, existing policies for agriculture and biofuels address these issues in isolation, SOC impact is not considered when sustainability criteria for biofuels are defined in the EU renewable energy directive (RED). The aim of this study was to illustrate the relevance of SOC impact on integrated production of food and grass as energy crop for biofuel production. This diversification of current cereal dominated crop rotations proved an efficient tool to reverse SOC losses, simultaneously producing a grass-based biofuel with low climate impact. Since SOC-related aspects are excluded in EU RED, the GHG reduction calculated according to the directive does, however, not meet the 60% GHG reduction demand. This narrow perspective causes potentially interesting double benefits to be missed.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Agriculture, Biofuel, Food security, Greenhouse gas, Soil organic carbon
host publication
European Biomass Conference and Exhibition Proceedings, 25thEUBCE, June 2017
series title
European Biomass Conference and Exhibition Proceedings
volume
2017
pages
2 pages
publisher
ETA-Florence Renewable Energies
conference name
25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition (EUBCE)
conference location
Stockholm, Sweden
conference dates
2017-06-12 - 2017-06-15
external identifiers
  • scopus:85043789318
ISSN
2282-5819
ISBN
978-88-89407-17-2
DOI
10.5071/25thEUBCE2017-1AO.4.5
project
Energy@LTH
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8caccb21-4c62-4044-95cc-6f42a4891f7c
date added to LUP
2018-03-28 07:12:57
date last changed
2022-03-09 17:53:41
@inproceedings{8caccb21-4c62-4044-95cc-6f42a4891f7c,
  abstract     = {{<p>Low carbon input due to increasing specialization, intensification and reduced use of bio-fertilizer, leads to soil organic carbon (SOC) decreases in arable land. This is an emerging problem in Europe in general, where 45% of the EU soils have low and declining SOC content. SOC losses from agricultural soils influence soil fertility, putting food security at risk, and contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An agricultural practice rendering loss of SOC is thus not sustainable in the long term, and measures must be taken to reverse this trend. However, existing policies for agriculture and biofuels address these issues in isolation, SOC impact is not considered when sustainability criteria for biofuels are defined in the EU renewable energy directive (RED). The aim of this study was to illustrate the relevance of SOC impact on integrated production of food and grass as energy crop for biofuel production. This diversification of current cereal dominated crop rotations proved an efficient tool to reverse SOC losses, simultaneously producing a grass-based biofuel with low climate impact. Since SOC-related aspects are excluded in EU RED, the GHG reduction calculated according to the directive does, however, not meet the 60% GHG reduction demand. This narrow perspective causes potentially interesting double benefits to be missed.</p>}},
  author       = {{Björnsson, Lovisa and Lantz, Mikael and Prade, Thomas}},
  booktitle    = {{European Biomass Conference and Exhibition Proceedings, 25thEUBCE, June 2017}},
  isbn         = {{978-88-89407-17-2}},
  issn         = {{2282-5819}},
  keywords     = {{Agriculture; Biofuel; Food security; Greenhouse gas; Soil organic carbon}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  pages        = {{39--40}},
  publisher    = {{ETA-Florence Renewable Energies}},
  series       = {{European Biomass Conference and Exhibition Proceedings}},
  title        = {{Grass biomass as biofuel feedstock –sustainable or not?}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5071/25thEUBCE2017-1AO.4.5}},
  doi          = {{10.5071/25thEUBCE2017-1AO.4.5}},
  volume       = {{2017}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}