Willow Biomass Crops Are a Carbon Negative or Low-Carbon Feedstock Depending on Prior Land Use and Transportation Distances to End Users

Yang, Sheng; Volk, Timothy; Fortier, Marie-Odile

doi:10.3390/en13164251

Title: Willow Biomass Crops Are a Carbon Negative or Low-Carbon Feedstock Depending on Prior Land Use and Transportation Distances to End Users

Journal Article · Mon Aug 17 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Energies

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/en13164251· OSTI ID:1647875

Yang, Sheng;

;

Few life cycle assessments (LCAs) on willow biomass production have investigated the effects of key geographically specific parameters. This study uses a spatial LCA model for willow biomass production to determine spatially explicit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy return on investment (EROI), including land use conversion from pasture and cropland or grassland. There were negative GHG emissions on 92% of the land identified as suitable for willow biomass production, indicating this system’s potential for climate change mitigation. For willow planted on cropland or pasture, life cycle GHG emissions ranged from –53.2 to –176.9 kg CO_2eq Mg^-1. When willow was grown on grassland the projected decrease in soil organic carbon resulted in a slightly positive GHG balance. Changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) associated with land use change, transportation distance, and willow yield had the greatest impacts on GHG emissions. Results from the uncertainty analysis exhibited large variations in GHG emissions between counties arising from differences in these parameters. The average EROI across the entire region was 19.2. Willow biomass can be a carbon negative or low-carbon energy source with a high EROI in regions with similar infrastructure, transportation distances, and growing conditions such as soil characteristics, land cover types, and climate.

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Research Organization:: State Univ. of New York (SUNY), Albany, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office; US Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0002992; EE0006638; 30713; 2012-68005-19703

OSTI ID:: 1647875

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1799224

Journal Information:: Energies, Journal Name: Energies Vol. 13 Journal Issue: 16; ISSN 1996-1073

Publisher:: MDPI AGCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: Switzerland

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 16 works

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09 BIOMASS FUELS
Energy & Fuels
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soil organic carbon
life cycle assessment
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Title: Willow Biomass Crops Are a Carbon Negative or Low-Carbon Feedstock Depending on Prior Land Use and Transportation Distances to End Users

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References (42)

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