Bioenergy crop productivity and potential climate change mitigation from marginal lands in the United States: An ecosystem modeling perspective

Qin, Zhangcai; Zhuang, Qianlai; Cai, Ximing

doi:10.1111/gcbb.12212

Title: Bioenergy crop productivity and potential climate change mitigation from marginal lands in the United States: An ecosystem modeling perspective

Journal Article · Mon Jun 16 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Global Change Biology. Bioenergy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12212· OSTI ID:1435596

^[1]; Zhuang, Qianlai ^[1]; Cai, Ximing ^[2]

Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL (United States)

Growing biomass feedstocks from marginal lands is becoming an increasingly attractive choice for producing biofuel as an alternative energy to fossil fuels. Here, we used a biogeochemical model at ecosystem scale to estimate crop productivity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from bioenergy crops grown on marginal lands in the United States. Two broadly tested cellulosic crops, switchgrass, and Miscanthus, were assumed to be grown on the abandoned land and mixed crop–vegetation land with marginal productivity. Production of biomass and biofuel as well as net carbon exchange and nitrous oxide emissions were estimated in a spatially explicit manner. We found that, cellulosic crops, especially Miscanthus could produce a considerable amount of biomass, and the effective ethanol yield is high on these marginal lands. For every hectare of marginal land, switchgrass and Miscanthus could produce 1.0–2.3 kl and 2.9–6.9 kl ethanol, respectively, depending on nitrogen fertilization rate and biofuel conversion efficiency. Nationally, both crop systems act as net GHG sources. Switchgrass has high global warming intensity (100–390 g CO₂eq l^–1 ethanol), in terms of GHG emissions per unit ethanol produced. Miscanthus, however, emits only 21–36 g CO₂eq to produce every liter of ethanol. To reach the mandated cellulosic ethanol target in the United States, growing Miscanthus on the marginal lands could potentially save land and reduce GHG emissions in comparison to growing switchgrass. Furthermore, the ecosystem modeling is still limited by data availability and model deficiencies, further efforts should be made to classify crop–specific marginal land availability, improve model structure, and better integrate ecosystem modeling into life cycle assessment.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

View Accepted Manuscript (Publisher)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Earth and Environmental Systems Science Division

Grant/Contract Number:: FG02-08ER64599; NSF-1028291; NSF-0630319

OSTI ID:: 1435596

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1400662

Journal Information:: Global Change Biology. Bioenergy, Vol. 7, Issue 6; ISSN 1757-1693

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 32 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (53)

Miscanthus biomass production for energy in Europe and its potential contribution to decreasing fossil fuel carbon emissions Clifton-brown, John C.; Stampfl, Paul F.; Jones, Michael B. Global Change Biology, Vol. 10, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8817.2003.00749.x	journal	April 2004
Indirect Emissions from Biofuels: How Important? Melillo, J. M.; Reilly, J. M.; Kicklighter, D. W. Science, Vol. 326, Issue 5958 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1180251	journal	October 2009
Switchgrass selection as a “model” bioenergy crop: A history of the process Wright, Lynn; Turhollow, Anthony Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 34, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2010.01.030	journal	June 2010
Land-use change to bioenergy production in Europe: implications for the greenhouse gas balance and soil carbon Don, Axel; Osborne, Bruce; Hastings, Astley GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 4, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1757-1707.2011.01116.x	journal	September 2011
Agro-C: A biogeophysical model for simulating the carbon budget of agroecosystems Huang, Yao; Yu, Yongqiang; Zhang, Wen Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Vol. 149, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2008.07.013	journal	January 2009
Performance of Annual and Perennial Biofuel Crops: Yield during the First Two Years Propheter, J. L.; Staggenborg, S. A.; Wu, X. Agronomy Journal, Vol. 102, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2009.0301	journal	January 2010
The contribution of switchgrass in reducing GHG emissions Monti, Andrea; Barbanti, Lorenzo; Zatta, Alessandro GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 4, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1757-1707.2011.01142.x	journal	December 2011
A Novel Framework to Classify Marginal Land for Sustainable Biomass Feedstock Production Gopalakrishnan, Gayathri; Cristina Negri, M.; Snyder, Seth W. Journal of Environment Quality, Vol. 40, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2010.0539	journal	January 2011
The Ecological Impact of Biofuels Fargione, Joseph E.; Plevin, Richard J.; Hill, Jason D. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, Vol. 41, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102209-144720	journal	December 2010
Carbon and nitrogen dynamics in bioenergy ecosystems: 2. Potential greenhouse gas emissions and global warming intensity in the conterminous United States Qin, Zhangcai; Zhuang, Qianlai; Zhu, Xudong GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12106	journal	August 2013
Potential Net Primary Productivity in South America: Application of a Global Model Raich, J. W.; Rastetter, E. B.; Melillo, J. M. Ecological Applications, Vol. 1, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.2307/1941899	journal	November 1991
Comparative Biogeochemical Cycles of Bioenergy Crops Reveal Nitrogen-Fixation and Low Greenhouse Gas Emissions in a Miscanthus × giganteus Agro-Ecosystem Davis, Sarah C.; Parton, William J.; Dohleman, Frank G. Ecosystems, Vol. 13, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-009-9306-9	journal	December 2009
Carbon and nitrogen dynamics in bioenergy ecosystems: 1. Model development, validation and sensitivity analysis Qin, Zhangcai; Zhuang, Qianlai; Zhu, Xudong GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 6, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12107	journal	August 2013
Life-cycle analysis and the ecology of biofuels Davis, Sarah C.; Anderson-Teixeira, Kristina J.; DeLucia, Evan H. Trends in Plant Science, Vol. 14, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2008.12.006	journal	March 2009
Climate change and health costs of air emissions from biofuels and gasoline Hill, Jason; Polasky, Stephen; Nelson, Erik Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 106, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0812835106	journal	February 2009
Environmental and Economic Trade-Offs in a Watershed When Using Corn Stover for Bioenergy Gramig, Benjamin M.; Reeling, Carson J.; Cibin, Raj Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 47, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1021/es303459h	journal	February 2013
Land-use change and greenhouse gas emissions from corn and cellulosic ethanol Dunn, Jennifer B.; Mueller, Steffen; Kwon, Ho-young Biotechnology for Biofuels, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1186/1754-6834-6-51	journal	January 2013
Meeting US biofuel goals with less land: the potential of Miscanthus Heaton, Emily A.; Dohleman, Frank G.; Long, Stephen P. Global Change Biology, Vol. 14, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01662.x	journal	September 2008
Impacts of land use change due to biofuel crops on carbon balance, bioenergy production, and agricultural yield, in the conterminous United States Qin, Zhangcai; Zhuang, Qianlai; Chen, Min GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 4, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1757-1707.2011.01129.x	journal	October 2011
How biotech can transform biofuels Lynd, Lee R.; Laser, Mark S.; Bransby, David Nature Biotechnology, Vol. 26, Issue 2, p. 169-172 https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0208-169	journal	February 2008
Biomass energy: the scale of the potential resource Field, C.; Campbell, J.; Lobell, D. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Vol. 23, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2007.12.001	journal	February 2008
Switchgrass for forage and bioenergy: harvest and nitrogen rate effects on biomass yields and nutrient composition Guretzky, John A.; Biermacher, Jon T.; Cook, Billy J. Plant and Soil, Vol. 339, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0376-4	journal	April 2010
Development and optimization of an Agro-BGC ecosystem model for C4 perennial grasses Di Vittorio, Alan V.; Anderson, Ryan S.; White, Joseph D. Ecological Modelling, Vol. 221, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2010.05.013	journal	August 2010
Land Clearing and the Biofuel Carbon Debt Fargione, J.; Hill, J.; Tilman, D. Science, Vol. 319, Issue 5867 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1152747	journal	February 2008
A multi-criteria based review of models that predict environmental impacts of land use-change for perennial energy crops on water, carbon and nitrogen cycling Thomas, Amy R. C.; Bond, Alan J.; Hiscock, Kevin M. GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 5, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1757-1707.2012.01198.x	journal	July 2012
The ecology and agronomy of Miscanthus sinensis , a species important to bioenergy crop development, in its native range in Japan: a review Stewart, J. Ryan; Toma, Yo; FernÁNdez, FabiÁN G. GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 1, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1757-1707.2009.01010.x	journal	April 2009
Carbon Consequences and Agricultural Implications of Growing Biofuel Crops on Marginal Agricultural Lands in China Qin, Zhangcai; Zhuang, Qianlai; Zhu, Xudong Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 45, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1021/es2024934	journal	December 2011
Environmental, economic, and energetic costs and benefits of biodiesel and ethanol biofuels Hill, J.; Nelson, E.; Tilman, D. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 103, Issue 30 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0604600103	journal	July 2006
A General, Process-Oriented Model for Two Competing Plant Species Transactions of the ASAE, Vol. 35, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.28665	journal	January 1992
Modeling Miscanthus in the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to Simulate Its Water Quality Effects As a Bioenergy Crop Ng, Tze Ling; Eheart, J. Wayland; Cai, Ximing Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 44, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1021/es9039677	journal	September 2010
The impact of biomass crop cultivation on temperate biodiversity: BIOMASS CROPS AND BIODIVERSITY Dauber, Jens; Jones, Michael B.; Stout, Jane C. GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 2, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1757-1707.2010.01058.x	journal	November 2010
How do soil emissions of N2O, CH4 and CO2 from perennial bioenergy crops differ from arable annual crops? Drewer, Julia; Finch, Jon W.; Lloyd, Colin R. GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 4, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1757-1707.2011.01136.x	journal	October 2011
The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Farr, Tom G.; Rosen, Paul A.; Caro, Edward Reviews of Geophysics, Vol. 45, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005RG000183	journal	January 2007
Land Availability for Biofuel Production Cai, Ximing; Zhang, Xiao; Wang, Dingbao Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 45, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1021/es103338e	journal	January 2011
Interactions between carbon and nitrogen dynamics in estimating net primary productivity for potential vegetation in North America McGuire, A. D.; Melillo, J. M.; Joyce, L. A. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 6, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1029/92GB00219	journal	June 1992
Development of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) as a bioenergy feedstock in the United States McLaughlin, Samuel B.; Adams Kszos, Lynn Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 28, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2004.05.006	journal	June 2005
The development and current status of perennial rhizomatous grasses as energy crops in the US and Europe Lewandowski, Iris; Scurlock, Jonathan M. O.; Lindvall, Eva Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 25, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0961-9534(03)00030-8	journal	October 2003
Long-term yield potential of switchgrass-for-biofuel systems Fike, John H.; Parrish, David J.; Wolf, Dale D. Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 30, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2005.10.006	journal	March 2006
A quantitative review comparing the yields of two candidate C4 perennial biomass crops in relation to nitrogen, temperature and water Heaton, E. Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 27, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2003.10.005	journal	July 2004
Use of U.S. Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases Through Emissions from Land-Use Change Searchinger, T.; Heimlich, R.; Houghton, R. A. Science, Vol. 319, Issue 5867 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1151861	journal	February 2008
Soil Carbon Change and Net Energy Associated with Biofuel Production on Marginal Lands: A Regional Modeling Perspective Bandaru, Varaprasad; Izaurralde, R. César; Manowitz, David Journal of Environment Quality, Vol. 42, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2013.05.0171	journal	January 2013
Implications for the hydrologic cycle under climate change due to the expansion of bioenergy crops in the Midwestern United States Le, P. V. V.; Kumar, P.; Drewry, D. T. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 108, Issue 37 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1107177108	journal	August 2011
Sustainable bioenergy production from marginal lands in the US Midwest Gelfand, Ilya; Sahajpal, Ritvik; Zhang, Xuesong Nature, Vol. 493, Issue 7433 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11811	journal	January 2013
Lifecycle greenhouse gas implications of US national scenarios for cellulosic ethanol production Scown, Corinne D.; Nazaroff, William W.; Mishra, Umakant Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/7/1/014011	journal	January 2012
Beneficial Biofuels--The Food, Energy, and Environment Trilemma Tilman, D.; Socolow, R.; Foley, J. A. Science, Vol. 325, Issue 5938 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1177970	journal	July 2009
Carbon cycling in extratropical terrestrial ecosystems of the Northern Hemisphere during the 20th century: a modeling analysis of the influences of soil thermal dynamics Zhuang, Q.; McGUIRE, A. D.; Melillo, J. M. Tellus B, Vol. 55, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0889.2003.00060.x	journal	July 2003
Biofuel, land and water: maize, switchgrass or Miscanthus ? Zhuang, Qianlai; Qin, Zhangcai; Chen, Min Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 8, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015020	journal	February 2013
Nitrogen fertilization of switchgrass increases biomass yield and improves net greenhouse gas balance in northern Michigan, U.S.A Nikièma, Paligwende; Rothstein, David E.; Min, Doo-Hong Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 35, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2011.08.006	journal	October 2011
Modelling the role of agriculture for the 20th century global terrestrial carbon balance Bondeau, Alberte; Smith, Pascalle C.; Zaehle, SÖNke Global Change Biology, Vol. 13, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2006.01305.x	journal	March 2007
Carbon dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau during the 20th century: an analysis with a process-based biogeochemical model: Carbon dynamics on the Tibetan Plateau Zhuang, Q.; He, J.; Lu, Y. Global Ecology and Biogeography https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00559.x	journal	June 2010
The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission E., Alsdorf, Douglas; Douglas, Burbank,; Michael, Oskin, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries https://doi.org/10.17615/vvap-cx70	text	January 2005
-Land-Use Change and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Corn and Cellulosic Ethanol Gikonyo, Barnabas Fuel Production from Non-Food Biomass https://doi.org/10.1201/b18437-19	book	May 2015
Carbon cycling in extratropical terrestrial ecosystems of the Northern Hemisphere during the 20th century: a modeling analysis of the influences of soil thermal dynamics Zhuang, Q.; McGuire, A. D.; Melillo, J. M. Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology, Vol. 55, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v55i3.16368	journal	December 2011

Cited By (5)

Lignocellulosic-based bioenergy and water quality parameters: a review Acharya, Bharat Sharma; Blanco-Canqui, Humberto GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 10, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12508	journal	May 2018
Effect of Land Use and Land Cover Change in Context of Growth Enhancements in the United States Since 1700: Net Source or Sink? Felzer, Benjamin S.; Jiang, Mingkai Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Vol. 123, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1029/2017jg004378	journal	November 2018
Growing Dedicated Energy Crops on Marginal Lands and Ecosystem Services Blanco-Canqui, Humberto Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 80, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2016.03.0080	journal	January 2016
Trade-offs for food production, nature conservation and climate limit the terrestrial carbon dioxide removal potential Boysen, Lena R.; Lucht, Wolfgang; Gerten, Dieter Global Change Biology, Vol. 23, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13745	journal	May 2017
Microtopography-induced transient waterlogging affects switchgrass (Alamo) growth in the lower coastal plain of North Carolina, USA Tian, Shiying; Fischer, Milan; Chescheir, George M. GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 10, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12510	journal	April 2018

Similar Records

Biomass and biofuels in China: Toward bioenergy resource potentials and their impacts on the environment

Journal Article · Thu Aug 31 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · OSTI ID:1435596

Qin, Zhangcai; Zhuang, Qianlai; Cai, Ximing; +7 more

Influence of spatially dependent, modeled soil carbon emission factors on life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of corn and cellulosic ethanol

Journal Article · Thu Mar 03 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Global Change Biology. Bioenergy · OSTI ID:1435596

Qin, Zhangcai; Dunn, Jennifer B.; Kwon, Hoyoung; +2 more

A multi-product landscape life-cycle assessment approach for evaluating local climate mitigation potential

Journal Article · Sat Apr 09 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Journal of Cleaner Production · OSTI ID:1435596

Nguyen, Trung H.; Field, John L.; Kwon, Hoyoung; +3 more

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Biofuel
Switchgrass
Global Waring Potential
Greenhouse Gas Emission
Land Use Change
Life Cycle Assessment
Miscanthus
Nitrous Oxide

Title: Bioenergy crop productivity and potential climate change mitigation from marginal lands in the United States: An ecosystem modeling perspective

Citation Formats

References (53)

Cited By (5)

Similar Records

Related Subjects