A multi-product landscape life-cycle assessment approach for evaluating local climate mitigation potential
Abstract
Increasing demand for land-based climate mitigation requires more efficient management of agricultural landscapes for competing objectives. Here we develop methods for assessing trade-offs and synergies between intensification and carbon-sequestering conservation measures in annual crop production landscapes using the DayCent ecosystem model and the Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies (GREET) life-cycle assessment (LCA) model. We compiled county-scaled crop yields, fertilizer application rates, and tillage intensity for a corn-soybean farming case study landscape in the US state of Iowa. Using DayCent, we estimated a baseline soil organic carbon (SOC) accrual rate of 0.29 Mg C ha- 1 y-1 driven by historical increases in crop productivity and reductions in tillage intensity. We then simulated the effects of management interventions targeted toward intensification (stover removal) and SOC sequestration (tillage intensity reduction and winter cover crop addition) individually and in combination. We propose a new multi-product landscape-LCA approach that analyzes marginal changes in corn grain, corn stover, and soybean production from the landscape in terms of their value for biofuel production (corn ethanol, soy biodiesel, and cellulosic ethanol from stover) and associated net displacement of conventional fossil-derived fuel use. This enables us to evaluate both intensification and sequestration effects in commonmore »
- Authors:
-
- Queenslanbd Univ. of Technology, Brisbane (Australia); Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
- Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1866662
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1880240
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725; AC02-06CH11357; 2017-67019-26327
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Cleaner Production
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 354; Journal Issue: NA; Journal ID: ISSN 0959-6526
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; life cycle assessment; sustainable intensification; soil carbon; biofuels; landscape design; mitigation costs; Climate Mitigation; Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Life-cycle analysis; Natural Solution
Citation Formats
Nguyen, Trung H., Field, John L., Kwon, Hoyoung, Hawkins, Troy R., Paustian, Keith, and Wang, Michael Q. A multi-product landscape life-cycle assessment approach for evaluating local climate mitigation potential. United States: N. p., 2022.
Web. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131691.
Nguyen, Trung H., Field, John L., Kwon, Hoyoung, Hawkins, Troy R., Paustian, Keith, & Wang, Michael Q. A multi-product landscape life-cycle assessment approach for evaluating local climate mitigation potential. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131691
Nguyen, Trung H., Field, John L., Kwon, Hoyoung, Hawkins, Troy R., Paustian, Keith, and Wang, Michael Q. Sat .
"A multi-product landscape life-cycle assessment approach for evaluating local climate mitigation potential". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131691. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1866662.
@article{osti_1866662,
title = {A multi-product landscape life-cycle assessment approach for evaluating local climate mitigation potential},
author = {Nguyen, Trung H. and Field, John L. and Kwon, Hoyoung and Hawkins, Troy R. and Paustian, Keith and Wang, Michael Q.},
abstractNote = {Increasing demand for land-based climate mitigation requires more efficient management of agricultural landscapes for competing objectives. Here we develop methods for assessing trade-offs and synergies between intensification and carbon-sequestering conservation measures in annual crop production landscapes using the DayCent ecosystem model and the Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies (GREET) life-cycle assessment (LCA) model. We compiled county-scaled crop yields, fertilizer application rates, and tillage intensity for a corn-soybean farming case study landscape in the US state of Iowa. Using DayCent, we estimated a baseline soil organic carbon (SOC) accrual rate of 0.29 Mg C ha- 1 y-1 driven by historical increases in crop productivity and reductions in tillage intensity. We then simulated the effects of management interventions targeted toward intensification (stover removal) and SOC sequestration (tillage intensity reduction and winter cover crop addition) individually and in combination. We propose a new multi-product landscape-LCA approach that analyzes marginal changes in corn grain, corn stover, and soybean production from the landscape in terms of their value for biofuel production (corn ethanol, soy biodiesel, and cellulosic ethanol from stover) and associated net displacement of conventional fossil-derived fuel use. This enables us to evaluate both intensification and sequestration effects in common CO2-equivalent mitigation units. We also used DayCentsimulated yields under the different land management scenarios to estimate farm-level costs and revenues. Our results show that intensification via collecting 30% of corn stover for biofuel production would increase the total greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential of this landscape by 0.93 Mg CO2e ha- 1 y-1 and provide $49 ha- 1 y-1 of additional net revenue from biomass sales, but would reduce the baseline SOC accumulation rate by approximately 40%. In contrast, integrated approaches that include co-adoption of winter cover cropping and/or tillage intensity reduction would result in increased rates of SOC accumulation above the baseline, achieving simultaneous improvements in both farm profits and the overall GHG mitigation potential of the landscape.},
doi = {10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131691},
journal = {Journal of Cleaner Production},
number = NA,
volume = 354,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Apr 09 00:00:00 EDT 2022},
month = {Sat Apr 09 00:00:00 EDT 2022}
}
Works referenced in this record:
Mapping Conservation Management Practices and Outcomes in the Corn Belt Using the Operational Tillage Information System (OpTIS) and the Denitrification–Decomposition (DNDC) Model
journal, October 2020
- Hagen, Stephen C.; Delgado, Grace; Ingraham, Peter
- Land, Vol. 9, Issue 11
Climate adaptation by crop migration
journal, March 2020
- Sloat, Lindsey L.; Davis, Steven J.; Gerber, James S.
- Nature Communications, Vol. 11, Issue 1
Climate-smart soils
journal, April 2016
- Paustian, Keith; Lehmann, Johannes; Ogle, Stephen
- Nature, Vol. 532, Issue 7597
General model for N 2 O and N 2 gas emissions from soils due to dentrification
journal, December 2000
- Del Grosso, S. J.; Parton, W. J.; Mosier, A. R.
- Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 14, Issue 4
Biofuels from crop residue can reduce soil carbon and increase CO2 emissions
journal, April 2014
- Liska, Adam J.; Yang, Haishun; Milner, Maribeth
- Nature Climate Change, Vol. 4, Issue 5
Do alternative energy sources displace fossil fuels?
journal, March 2012
- York, Richard
- Nature Climate Change, Vol. 2, Issue 6
Assessing the Soil Carbon, Biomass Production, and Nitrous Oxide Emission Impact of Corn Stover Management for Bioenergy Feedstock Production Using DAYCENT
journal, February 2014
- Campbell, Eleanor E.; Johnson, Jane M. F.; Jin, Virginia L.
- BioEnergy Research, Vol. 7, Issue 2
High-resolution multi-objective optimization of feedstock landscape design for hybrid first and second generation biorefineries
journal, March 2019
- Nguyen, Trung H.; Granger, Julien; Pandya, Deval
- Applied Energy, Vol. 238
Robust paths to net greenhouse gas mitigation and negative emissions via advanced biofuels
journal, August 2020
- Field, John L.; Richard, Tom L.; Smithwick, Erica A. H.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 117, Issue 36
Land management change greatly impacts biofuels’ greenhouse gas emissions
journal, February 2018
- Qin, Zhangcai; Canter, Christina E.; Dunn, Jennifer B.
- GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 10, Issue 6
Current and Potential U.S. Corn Stover Supplies
journal, January 2007
- Graham, R. L.; Nelson, R.; Sheehan, J.
- Agronomy Journal, Vol. 99, Issue 1
Environmental and Economic Trade-Offs in a Watershed When Using Corn Stover for Bioenergy
journal, February 2013
- Gramig, Benjamin M.; Reeling, Carson J.; Cibin, Raj
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 47, Issue 4
Impact of second‐generation biofuel agriculture on greenhouse‐gas emissions in the corn‐growing regions of the US
journal, July 2011
- Davis, Sarah C.; Parton, William J.; Grosso, Stephen J. Del
- Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Vol. 10, Issue 2
Natural climate solutions for the United States
journal, November 2018
- Fargione, Joseph E.; Bassett, Steven; Boucher, Timothy
- Science Advances, Vol. 4, Issue 11
High-resolution trade-off analysis and optimization of ecosystem services and disservices in agricultural landscapes
journal, September 2018
- Nguyen, Trung H.; Cook, Maxwell; Field, John L.
- Environmental Modelling & Software, Vol. 107
Indirect fuel use change (IFUC) and the lifecycle environmental impact of biofuel policies
journal, January 2011
- Rajagopal, D.; Hochman, G.; Zilberman, D.
- Energy Policy, Vol. 39, Issue 1
DAYCENT model analysis of past and contemporary soil NO and net greenhouse gas flux for major crops in the USA
journal, August 2005
- Delgrosso, S.; Mosier, A.; Parton, W.
- Soil and Tillage Research, Vol. 83, Issue 1
An integrative modeling framework to evaluate the productivity and sustainability of biofuel crop production systems: EVALUATE SUSTAINABILITY OF BIOFUEL
journal, September 2010
- Zhang, X.; Izaurralde, R. C.; Manowitz, D.
- GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 2, Issue 5
Bioenergy crop greenhouse gas mitigation potential under a range of management practices
journal, March 2014
- Hudiburg, Tara W.; Davis, Sarah C.; Parton, William
- GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 7, Issue 2
Counting carbon on the farm: Reaping the benefits of carbon offset programs
journal, January 2009
- Paustian, K.; Brenner, J.; Easter, M.
- Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Vol. 64, Issue 1
The greenhouse gas intensity and potential biofuel production capacity of maize stover harvest in the US Midwest
journal, August 2017
- Jones, Curtis D.; Zhang, Xuesong; Reddy, Ashwan D.
- GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 9, Issue 10
Greenhouse gas emissions and crop yield in no-tillage systems: A meta-analysis
journal, December 2018
- Huang, Yawen; Ren, Wei; Wang, Lixin
- Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Vol. 268
Biofuel production and soil GHG emissions after land-use change to switchgrass and giant reed in the U.S. Southeast
journal, December 2017
- Nocentini, Andrea; Field, John; Monti, Andrea
- Food and Energy Security, Vol. 7, Issue 1
A global meta‐analysis of soil organic carbon response to corn stover removal
journal, May 2019
- Xu, Hui; Sieverding, Heidi; Kwon, Hoyoung
- GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 11, Issue 10
Enacting Responsibilities in Landscape Design: The Case of Advanced Biofuels
journal, November 2018
- Di Lucia, Lorenzo; Ribeiro, Barbara
- Sustainability, Vol. 10, Issue 11
Comparison of DAYCENT-Simulated and Measured Nitrous Oxide Emissions from a Corn Field
journal, September 2008
- Jarecki, Marek K.; Parkin, Timothy B.; Chan, Alvarus S. K.
- Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 37, Issue 5
Ecosystem model parameterization and adaptation for sustainable cellulosic biofuel landscape design
journal, February 2016
- Field, John L.; Marx, Ernie; Easter, Mark
- GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 8, Issue 6
Historical nitrogen fertilizer use in agricultural ecosystems of the contiguous United States during 1850–2015: application rate, timing, and fertilizer types
journal, January 2018
- Cao, Peiyu; Lu, Chaoqun; Yu, Zhen
- Earth System Science Data, Vol. 10, Issue 2
Nitrous oxide and methane emissions from long-term tillage under a continuous corn cropping system in Ohio
journal, July 2009
- Ussiri, David A. N.; Lal, Rattan; Jarecki, Marek K.
- Soil and Tillage Research, Vol. 104, Issue 2
A critical review of the impacts of cover crops on nitrogen leaching, net greenhouse gas balance and crop productivity
journal, May 2019
- Abdalla, Mohamed; Hastings, Astley; Cheng, Kun
- Global Change Biology, Vol. 25, Issue 8
Incorporating bioenergy into sustainable landscape designs
journal, April 2016
- Dale, Virginia H.; Kline, Keith L.; Buford, Marilyn A.
- Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 56
Cover crops promote primary crop yield in China: A meta-regression of factors affecting yield gain
journal, September 2021
- Fan, Fan; van der Werf, Wopke; Makowski, David
- Field Crops Research, Vol. 271
Global food demand and the sustainable intensification of agriculture
journal, November 2011
- Tilman, D.; Balzer, C.; Hill, J.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 108, Issue 50
Life Cycle Assessment of Fertilization of Corn and Corn-Soybean Rotations with Swine Manure and Synthetic Fertilizer in Iowa
journal, March 2014
- Griffing, Evan Michael; Schauer, Richard Lynn; Rice, Charles W.
- Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 43, Issue 2
Environmental aspects of ethanol derived from no-tilled corn grain: nonrenewable energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions
journal, May 2005
- Kim, Seungdo; Dale, Bruce E.
- Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 28, Issue 5
Natural climate solutions
journal, October 2017
- Griscom, Bronson W.; Adams, Justin; Ellis, Peter W.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 114, Issue 44
Replacing bare fallows with cover crops in fertilizer-intensive cropping systems: A meta-analysis of crop yield and N dynamics
journal, January 2006
- Tonitto, C.; David, M. B.; Drinkwater, L. E.
- Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Vol. 112, Issue 1
The contentious nature of soil organic matter
journal, November 2015
- Lehmann, Johannes; Kleber, Markus
- Nature, Vol. 528, Issue 7580
Soil carbon storage informed by particulate and mineral-associated organic matter
journal, November 2019
- Cotrufo, M. Francesca; Ranalli, Maria Giovanna; Haddix, Michelle L.
- Nature Geoscience, Vol. 12, Issue 12
Climate impact and energy efficiency of woody bioenergy systems from a landscape perspective
journal, January 2019
- Hammar, Torun; Stendahl, Johan; Sundberg, Cecilia
- Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 120
Soil carbon saturation: Implications for measurable carbon pool dynamics in long-term incubations
journal, February 2009
- Stewart, Catherine E.; Paustian, Keith; Conant, Richard T.
- Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Vol. 41, Issue 2
Bioenergy technologies for carbon abatement
journal, October 2006
- Ravindranath, N.; Balachandra, P.; Dasappa, S.
- Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 30, Issue 10
Simulated effects of dryland cropping intensification on soil organic matter and greenhouse gas exchanges using the DAYCENT ecosystem model
journal, March 2002
- Del Grosso, S.; Ojima, D.; Parton, W.
- Environmental Pollution, Vol. 116
The New International Standards for Life Cycle Assessment: ISO 14040 and ISO 14044
journal, January 2006
- Finkbeiner, Matthias; Inaba, Atsushi; Tan, Reginald
- The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, Vol. 11, Issue 2
Crop residue removal effects on soil carbon: Measured and inter-model comparisons
journal, October 2012
- Smith, W. N.; Grant, B. B.; Campbell, C. A.
- Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Vol. 161
Valuation of ecosystem services in alternative bioenergy landscape scenarios
journal, March 2019
- Mishra, Shruti K.; Negri, Maria Cristina; Kozak, Justin
- GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 11, Issue 6
Surrogate-based multi-objective optimization of management options for agricultural landscapes using artificial neural networks
journal, May 2019
- Nguyen, Trung H.; Nong, Duy; Paustian, Keith
- Ecological Modelling, Vol. 400
Designing a Dedicated Energy Crop Supply System in Tennessee: A Multiobjective Optimization Analysis
journal, August 2014
- Yu, T. Edward; Wang, Zidong; English, Burton C.
- Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Vol. 46, Issue 3
Annual Net Returns to Cover Crops in Iowa
journal, November 2018
- Plastina, Alejandro; Liu, Fangge; Sawadgo, Wendiam
- Journal of Applied Farm Economics, Vol. 2, Issue 2
Satellite detection of cover crops and their effects on crop yield in the Midwestern United States
journal, June 2018
- Seifert, Christopher A.; Azzari, George; Lobell, David B.
- Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 13, Issue 6
The impact of the rebound effect of the use of first generation biofuels in the EU on greenhouse gas emissions: A critical review
journal, October 2014
- Smeets, Edward; Tabeau, Andrzej; van Berkum, Siemen
- Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 38
Global potential of biospheric carbon management for climate mitigation
journal, November 2014
- Canadell, Josep G.; Schulze, E. Detlef
- Nature Communications, Vol. 5, Issue 1
Stabilization mechanisms of soil organic matter: Implications for C-saturation of soils
journal, January 2002
- Six, J.; Conant, R. T.; Paul, E. A.
- Plant and Soil, Vol. 241, Issue 2, p. 155-176
Shifting agricultural practices to produce sustainable, low carbon intensity feedstocks for biofuel production
journal, July 2020
- Liu, Xinyu; Kwon, Hoyoung; Northrup, Daniel
- Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 15, Issue 8
Life-Cycle Assessment of net Greenhouse-Gas flux for Bioenergy Cropping Systems
journal, April 2007
- Adler, Paul R.; Grosso, Stephen J. Del; Parton, William J.
- Ecological Applications, Vol. 17, Issue 3
Building Up Organic Matter in a Subtropical Paleudult under Legume Cover-Crop-Based Rotations
journal, September 2009
- Vieira, F. C. B.; Bayer, C.; Zanatta, J. A.
- Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 73, Issue 5
Satellite mapping of tillage practices in the North Central US region from 2005 to 2016
journal, February 2019
- Azzari, George; Grassini, Patricio; Edreira, Juan Ignacio Rattalino
- Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 221
A model of nitrous oxide evolution from soil driven by rainfall events: 1. Model structure and sensitivity
journal, June 1992
- Li, Changsheng; Frolking, Steve; Frolking, Tod A.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 97, Issue D9
DAYCENT National-Scale Simulations of Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Cropped Soils in the United States
journal, January 2006
- Del Grosso, S. J.; Parton, W. J.; Mosier, A. R.
- Journal of Environment Quality, Vol. 35, Issue 4
Crop yields under no-till farming in China: A meta-analysis
journal, March 2017
- Zhao, Xin; Liu, Sheng-Li; Pu, Chao
- European Journal of Agronomy, Vol. 84
Considering the influence of sequestration duration and carbon saturation on estimates of soil carbon capacity
journal, December 2006
- West, Tristram O.; Six, Johan
- Climatic Change, Vol. 80, Issue 1-2
Allocation procedure in ethanol production system from corn grain i. system expansion
journal, July 2002
- Kim, Seungdo; Dale, Bruce E.
- The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, Vol. 7, Issue 4
21st‐century biogeochemical modeling: Challenges for Century‐based models and where do we go from here?
journal, August 2020
- Berardi, Danielle; Brzostek, Edward; Blanc‐Betes, Elena
- GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 12, Issue 10
When does no-till yield more? A global meta-analysis
journal, November 2015
- Pittelkow, Cameron M.; Linquist, Bruce A.; Lundy, Mark E.
- Field Crops Research, Vol. 183
Production costs of potential corn stover harvest and storage systems
journal, July 2013
- Vadas, Peter A.; Digman, Matthew F.
- Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 54
Opinion: Soil carbon sequestration is an elusive climate mitigation tool
journal, November 2018
- Amundson, Ronald; Biardeau, Léopold
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 115, Issue 46
Unifying soil organic matter formation and persistence frameworks: the MEMS model
journal, January 2019
- Robertson, Andy D.; Paustian, Keith; Ogle, Stephen
- Biogeosciences, Vol. 16, Issue 6
High-resolution techno–ecological modelling of a bioenergy landscape to identify climate mitigation opportunities in cellulosic ethanol production
journal, February 2018
- Field, John L.; Evans, Samuel G.; Marx, Ernie
- Nature Energy, Vol. 3, Issue 3