Title: In silico assessment of the potential of basalt amendments to reduce N ₂ O emissions from bioenergy crops

Abstract

Abstract The potential of large‐scale deployment of basalt to reduce N ₂ O emissions from cultivated soils may contribute to climate stabilization beyond the CO ₂ ‐removal effect from enhanced weathering. We used 3 years of field observations from maize ( Zea mays ) and miscanthus ( Miscanthus  ×  giganteus ) to improve the nitrogen (N) module of the DayCent model and evaluate the potential of basalt amendments to reduce N losses and increase yields from two bioenergy crops. We found 20%–60% improvement in our N ₂ O flux estimates over previous model descriptions. Model results predict that the application of basalt would reduce N ₂ O emissions by 16% in maize and 9% in miscanthus. Lower N ₂ O emissions responded to increases in the N ₂ :N ₂ O ratio of denitrification with basalt‐induced increases in soil pH, with minor contributions from the impact of P additions (a minor component of some basalts) on N immobilization. The larger reduction of N ₂ O emissions in maize than in miscanthus was likely explained by a synergistic effect between soil pH and N content, leading to a higher sensitivity of the N ₂ :N ₂ O ratio to changes in pHmore » in heavily fertilized maize. Basalt amendments led to modest increases in modeled yields and the nitrogen use efficiency (i.e., fertilizer‐N recover in crop production) of maize but did not affect the productivity of miscanthus. However, enhanced soil P availability maintained the long‐term productivity of crops with high nutrient requirements. The alleviation of plant P limitation led to enhanced plant N uptake, thereby contributing to lower microbial N availability and N ₂ O emissions from crops with high nutrient requirements. Our results from the improved model suggest that the large‐scale deployment of basalt, by reducing N ₂ O fluxes of cropping systems, could contribute to the sustainable intensification of agriculture and enhance the climate mitigation potential of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage strategies.« less

Authors:

Blanc‐Betes, Elena  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Blanc‐Betes, Elena"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-2049-4613"

Kantola, Ilsa B. ^[2]; Gomez‐Casanovas, Nuria  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Gomez‐Casanovas, Nuria"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-4784-3585"

Hartman, Melennie D. ^[3]; Parton, William J. ^[3]; Lewis, Amy L. ^[4]; Beerling, David J.  ^[4];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Beerling, David J."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-1869-4314"

DeLucia, Evan H.  ^[5]

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-3400-6286"

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana IL USA, Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana IL USA, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana IL USA
2. Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana IL USA, Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana IL USA, Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Department of Animal and Plant Sciences University of Sheffield Sheffield UK
3. Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory Colorado State University Fort Collins CO USA
4. Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Department of Animal and Plant Sciences University of Sheffield Sheffield UK
5. Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana IL USA, Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana IL USA, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana IL USA, Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Department of Animal and Plant Sciences University of Sheffield Sheffield UK, Department of Plant Biology University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana IL USA

Publication Date:

Wed Nov 04 00:00:00 EST 2020

Research Org.:

Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI), Urbana, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Leverhulme Trust

OSTI Identifier:

1702736

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1786907; OSTI ID: 1787560

Grant/Contract Number:  

DE‐SC 18420; SC0018420; RC-2015-029

Resource Type:

Published Article

Journal Name:

Global Change Biology. Bioenergy

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Name: Global Change Biology. Bioenergy Journal Volume: 13 Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1757-1693

Publisher:

Wiley-Blackwell

Country of Publication:

United Kingdom

Language:

English

Subject:

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; agriculture; biogeochemical model; greenhouse gases; nitrogen cycle; soil phosphorus