Nitrogen fertilization challenges the climate benefit of cellulosic biofuels
Abstract
Cellulosic biofuels are intended to improve future energy and climate security. Nitrogen (N) fertilizer is commonly recommended to stimulate yields but can increase losses of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) and other forms of reactive N, including nitrate. We measured soil N2O emissions and nitrate leaching along a switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) high resolution N-fertilizer gradient for three years post-establishment. Results revealed an exponential increase in annual N2O emissions that each year became stronger (R2 > 0.9, P < 0.001) and deviated further from the fixed percentage assumed for IPCC Tier 1 emission factors. Concomitantly, switchgrass yields became less responsive each year to N fertilizer. Nitrate leaching (and calculated indirect N2O emissions) also increased exponentially in response to N inputs, but neither methane (CH4) uptake nor soil organic carbon changed detectably. Overall, N fertilizer inputs at rates greater than crop need curtailed the climate benefit of ethanol production almost two-fold, from a maximum mitigation capacity of–5.71 ± 0.22 Mg CO2e ha–1 yr–1 in switchgrass fertilized at 56 kgNha–1 to only –2.97 ± 0.18 MgCO2e ha–1 yr–1 in switchgrass fertilized at 196 kgNha–1. In conclusion, minimizing N fertilizer use will be an important strategy for fully realizing the climate benefits ofmore »
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1310264
- Grant/Contract Number:
- FC02-07ER64494
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Environmental Research Letters
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 11; Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 1748-9326
- Publisher:
- IOP Publishing
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; 09 BIOMASS FUELS; nitrous oxide (N2O); nitrate leaching; switchgrass; methane (CH4); oxidation; nitrogen fertilizer; life cycle analysis; IPCC emission factor
Citation Formats
Ruan, Leilei, Bhardwaj, Ajay K., Hamilton, Stephen K., and Robertson, G. Philip. Nitrogen fertilization challenges the climate benefit of cellulosic biofuels. United States: N. p., 2016.
Web. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064007.
Ruan, Leilei, Bhardwaj, Ajay K., Hamilton, Stephen K., & Robertson, G. Philip. Nitrogen fertilization challenges the climate benefit of cellulosic biofuels. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064007
Ruan, Leilei, Bhardwaj, Ajay K., Hamilton, Stephen K., and Robertson, G. Philip. Wed .
"Nitrogen fertilization challenges the climate benefit of cellulosic biofuels". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064007. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1310264.
@article{osti_1310264,
title = {Nitrogen fertilization challenges the climate benefit of cellulosic biofuels},
author = {Ruan, Leilei and Bhardwaj, Ajay K. and Hamilton, Stephen K. and Robertson, G. Philip},
abstractNote = {Cellulosic biofuels are intended to improve future energy and climate security. Nitrogen (N) fertilizer is commonly recommended to stimulate yields but can increase losses of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) and other forms of reactive N, including nitrate. We measured soil N2O emissions and nitrate leaching along a switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) high resolution N-fertilizer gradient for three years post-establishment. Results revealed an exponential increase in annual N2O emissions that each year became stronger (R2 > 0.9, P < 0.001) and deviated further from the fixed percentage assumed for IPCC Tier 1 emission factors. Concomitantly, switchgrass yields became less responsive each year to N fertilizer. Nitrate leaching (and calculated indirect N2O emissions) also increased exponentially in response to N inputs, but neither methane (CH4) uptake nor soil organic carbon changed detectably. Overall, N fertilizer inputs at rates greater than crop need curtailed the climate benefit of ethanol production almost two-fold, from a maximum mitigation capacity of–5.71 ± 0.22 Mg CO2e ha–1 yr–1 in switchgrass fertilized at 56 kgNha–1 to only –2.97 ± 0.18 MgCO2e ha–1 yr–1 in switchgrass fertilized at 196 kgNha–1. In conclusion, minimizing N fertilizer use will be an important strategy for fully realizing the climate benefits of cellulosic biofuel production.},
doi = {10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064007},
journal = {Environmental Research Letters},
number = 6,
volume = 11,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
Other availability
Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Cited by: 65 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:
Figure 1.: Switchgrass yields in response to N fertilization for the first three harvest years (2009–2011); stands were not harvested in their establishment year (2008). Error bars represent standard errors of the means (n = 4 replicate plots).
All figures and tables
(5 total)
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.
Works referenced in this record:
Nitrous oxide emission from denitrification in stream and river networks
journal, December 2010
- Beaulieu, Jake J.; Tank, Jennifer L.; Hamilton, Stephen K.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 108, Issue 1
The yield and composition of switchgrass and coastal panic grass grown as a biofuel in Southern England
journal, June 2002
- Christian, D.
- Bioresource Technology, Vol. 83, Issue 2, p. 115-124
N2O release from agro-biofuel production negates global warming reduction by replacing fossil fuels
journal, January 2007
- Crutzen, P. J.; Mosier, A. R.; Smith, K. A.
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, Vol. 7, Issue 4
Nitrogen and biofuels; an overview of the current state of knowledge
journal, June 2009
- Erisman, Jan Willem; van Grinsven, Hans; Leip, Adrian
- Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, Vol. 86, Issue 2
Ethanol Can Contribute to Energy and Environmental Goals
journal, January 2006
- Farrell, A. E.
- Science, Vol. 311, Issue 5760
Sustainable bioenergy production from marginal lands in the US Midwest
journal, January 2013
- Gelfand, Ilya; Sahajpal, Ritvik; Zhang, Xuesong
- Nature, Vol. 493, Issue 7433
Carbon debt of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grasslands converted to bioenergy production
journal, August 2011
- Gelfand, I.; Zenone, T.; Jasrotia, P.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 108, Issue 33
Life-Cycle Assessment of Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Soybean-Derived Biodiesel and Renewable Fuels
journal, February 2009
- Huo, Hong; Wang, Michael; Bloyd, Cary
- Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 43, Issue 3
Whole-Profile Soil Carbon Stocks: The Danger of Assuming Too Much from Analyses of Too Little
journal, January 2011
- Kravchenko, A. N.; Robertson, G. P.
- Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 75, Issue 1
Production, oxidation, emission and consumption of methane by soils: A review
journal, January 2001
- Le Mer, Jean; Roger, Pierre
- European Journal of Soil Biology, Vol. 37, Issue 1
Towards Standardization of Life-Cycle Metrics for Biofuels: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Mitigation and Net Energy Yield
journal, September 2008
- Liska, Adam J.; Cassman, Kenneth G.
- Journal of Biobased Materials and Bioenergy, Vol. 2, Issue 3
Development of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) as a bioenergy feedstock in the United States
journal, June 2005
- McLaughlin, Samuel B.; Adams Kszos, Lynn
- Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 28, Issue 6
Yield and Breakeven Price of ‘Alamo’ Switchgrass for Biofuels in Tennessee
journal, January 2009
- Mooney, Daniel F.; Roberts, Roland K.; English, Burton C.
- Agronomy Journal, Vol. 101, Issue 5
Biomass Production in Switchgrass across the United States: Database Description and Determinants of Yield
journal, January 2010
- Wullschleger, S. D.; Davis, E. B.; Borsuk, M. E.
- Agronomy Journal, Vol. 102, Issue 4
Management of Switchgrass-Dominated Conservation Reserve Program Lands for Biomass Production in South Dakota
journal, January 2006
- Mulkey, V. R.; Owens, V. N.; Lee, D. K.
- Crop Science, Vol. 46, Issue 2
Nitrogen fertilization of switchgrass increases biomass yield and improves net greenhouse gas balance in northern Michigan, U.S.A
journal, October 2011
- Nikièma, Paligwende; Rothstein, David E.; Min, Doo-Hong
- Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 35, Issue 10
Nitrous oxide emissions during establishment of eight alternative cellulosic bioenergy cropping systems in the North Central United States
journal, May 2015
- Oates, Lawrence G.; Duncan, David S.; Gelfand, Ilya
- GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 8, Issue 3
The Biology and Agronomy of Switchgrass for Biofuels
journal, September 2005
- Parrish, David J.; Fike, John H.
- Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, Vol. 24, Issue 5-6
Modeling Corn Ethanol and Climate: A Critical Comparison of the BESS and GREET Models
journal, June 2009
- Plevin, Richard J.
- Journal of Industrial Ecology, Vol. 13, Issue 4
Stratospheric ozone depletion due to nitrous oxide: influences of other gases
journal, May 2012
- Portmann, R. W.; Daniel, J. S.; Ravishankara, A. R.
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 367, Issue 1593
Soil water balance and plant water stress
book, January 1998
- Ritchie, J. T.
- Understanding Options for Agricultural Production
AGRICULTURE: Sustainable Biofuels Redux
journal, October 2008
- Robertson, G. P.; Dale, V. H.; Doering, O. C.
- Science, Vol. 322, Issue 5898
The biogeochemistry of bioenergy landscapes: carbon, nitrogen, and water considerations
journal, June 2011
- Robertson, G. Philip; Hamilton, Stephen K.; Del Grosso, Stephen J.
- Ecological Applications, Vol. 21, Issue 4
Greenhouse Gases in Intensive Agriculture: Contributions of Individual Gases to the Radiative Forcing of the Atmosphere
journal, September 2000
- Robertson, G. P.
- Science, Vol. 289, Issue 5486
Nitrogen in Agriculture: Balancing the Cost of an Essential Resource
journal, November 2009
- Robertson, G. Philip; Vitousek, Peter M.
- Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Vol. 34, Issue 1
Initial nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and methane costs of converting conservation reserve program grassland to row crops under no-till vs. conventional tillage
journal, May 2013
- Ruan, Leilei; Philip Robertson, G.
- Global Change Biology, Vol. 19, Issue 8
Growing season greenhouse gas flux from switchgrass in the northern great plains
journal, October 2012
- Schmer, M. R.; Liebig, M. A.; Hendrickson, J. R.
- Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 45
Net energy of cellulosic ethanol from switchgrass
journal, January 2008
- Schmer, M. R.; Vogel, K. P.; Mitchell, R. B.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 105, Issue 2
Global metaanalysis of the nonlinear response of soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions to fertilizer nitrogen
journal, June 2014
- Shcherbak, I.; Millar, N.; Robertson, G. P.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 111, Issue 25
Reduced Nitrogen Losses after Conversion of Row Crop Agriculture to Perennial Biofuel Crops
journal, January 2013
- Smith, Candice M.; David, Mark B.; Mitchell, Corey A.
- Journal of Environment Quality, Vol. 42, Issue 1
The role of N 2 O derived from crop-based biofuels, and from agriculture in general, in Earth's climate
journal, May 2012
- Smith, Keith A.; Mosier, Arvin R.; Crutzen, Paul J.
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 367, Issue 1593
Modeling Soil Water Redistribution during Second-Stage Evaporation
journal, March 2003
- Suleiman, A. A.; Ritchie, J. T.
- Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 67, Issue 2
Modifications to the Dssat Vertical Drainage Model for more Accurate soil Water Dynamics Estimation
journal, January 2004
- Suleiman, Ayman A.; Ritchie, Joe T.
- Soil Science, Vol. 169, Issue 11
Long-term nitrate loss along an agricultural intensity gradient in the Upper Midwest USA
journal, March 2012
- Syswerda, S. P.; Basso, B.; Hamilton, S. K.
- Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Vol. 149
Agricultural Management and Soil Carbon Storage in Surface vs. Deep Layers
journal, January 2011
- Syswerda, S. P.; Corbin, A. T.; Mokma, D. L.
- Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 75, Issue 1
Carbon-Negative Biofuels from Low-Input High-Diversity Grassland Biomass
journal, December 2006
- Tilman, D.; Hill, J.; Lehman, C.
- Science, Vol. 314, Issue 5805
Switchgrass Biomass Production in the Midwest USA
journal, January 2002
- Vogel, Kenneth P.; Brejda, John J.; Walters, Daniel T.
- Agronomy Journal, Vol. 94, Issue 3
Effect of nitrogen fertilizer application rate on yield, methane and nitrous oxide emissions from switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.) and reed canarygrass ( Phalaris arundinacea L.)
journal, May 2014
- Wile, Adam; Burton, David L.; Sharifi, Mehdi
- Canadian Journal of Soil Science, Vol. 94, Issue 2
Data from: Nitrogen fertilization challenges the climate benefit of cellulosic biofuels
dataset, March 2017
- Ruan, L.; Bhardwaj, A. K.; Hamilton, S. K.
- Dryad, 291.5 Kb
Data from: Nitrogen fertilization challenges the climate benefit of cellulosic biofuels
dataset, March 2017
- Ruan, L.; Bhardwaj, A. K.; Hamilton, S. K.
- Dryad, 291.5 Kb
Works referencing / citing this record:
Environmental performance of crop cultivation at different sites and nitrogen rates in Sweden
journal, May 2019
- Henryson, Kajsa; Hansson, Per-Anders; Kätterer, Thomas
- Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, Vol. 114, Issue 2
Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Responses to Nitrogen Fertilizer and Harvesting Rates in Switchgrass Cropping Systems
journal, January 2017
- Valdez, Zachary P.; Hockaday, William C.; Masiello, Caroline A.
- BioEnergy Research, Vol. 10, Issue 2
Perennial Bioenergy Crop Yield and Quality Response to Nitrogen Fertilization
journal, November 2019
- Wang, Sichao; Sanford, Gregg R.; Robertson, G. Philip
- BioEnergy Research, Vol. 13, Issue 1
Soil Temperature Dynamics Modulate N 2 O Flux Response to Multiple Nitrogen Additions in an Alpine Steppe
journal, October 2018
- Peng, Yunfeng; Wang, Guanqin; Li, Fei
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Vol. 123, Issue 10
Nitrogen Fertilization Restructured Spatial Patterns of Soil Organic Carbon and Total Nitrogen in Switchgrass and Gamagrass Croplands in Tennessee USA
journal, January 2020
- Li, Jianwei; Jian, Siyang; Lane, Chad S.
- Scientific Reports, Vol. 10, Issue 1
Sustainable intensification of high-diversity biomass production for optimal biofuel benefits
journal, November 2018
- Yang, Yi; Tilman, David; Lehman, Clarence
- Nature Sustainability, Vol. 1, Issue 11
Changing views of nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soil: key controlling processes and assessment at different spatial scales: N
journal, January 2017
- Smith, K. A.
- European Journal of Soil Science, Vol. 68, Issue 2
Diverse lignocellulosic feedstocks can achieve high field-scale ethanol yields while providing flexibility for the biorefinery and landscape-level environmental benefits
journal, July 2018
- Zhang, Yaoping; Oates, Lawrence G.; Serate, Jose
- GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 10, Issue 11
Soil nitrous oxide flux following land-use reversion from Miscanthus and SRC willow to perennial ryegrass
journal, August 2018
- McCalmont, Jon P.; Rowe, Rebecca; Elias, Dafydd
- GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 10, Issue 12
Cellulosic biofuel crops alter evapotranspiration and drainage fluxes: Direct quantification using automated equilibrium tension lysimeters
journal, January 2019
- Parish, Autumn L.; Kendall, Anthony D.; Thompson, Anita M.
- GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 11, Issue 3
Management controls the net greenhouse gas outcomes of growing bioenergy feedstocks on marginally productive croplands
journal, December 2019
- Jin, Virginia L.; Schmer, Marty R.; Stewart, Catherine E.
- Science Advances, Vol. 5, Issue 12
Cellulosic biofuel contributions to a sustainable energy future: Choices and outcomes
journal, June 2017
- Robertson, G. Philip; Hamilton, Stephen K.; Barham, Bradford L.
- Science, Vol. 356, Issue 6345
Nitrate Leaching from Continuous Corn, Perennial Grasses, and Poplar in the US Midwest
journal, January 2019
- Hussain, Mir Zaman; Bhardwaj, Ajay K.; Basso, Bruno
- Journal of Environment Quality, Vol. 48, Issue 6
Data from: Nitrogen fertilization challenges the climate benefit of cellulosic biofuels
dataset, March 2017
- Ruan, L.; Bhardwaj, A. K.; Hamilton, S. K.
- Dryad, 291.5 Kb
Data from: Nitrogen fertilization challenges the climate benefit of cellulosic biofuels
dataset, March 2017
- Ruan, L.; Bhardwaj, A. K.; Hamilton, S. K.
- Dryad, 291.5 Kb
Figures / Tables found in this record:
Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.