Abstract
All forms of cropping influence the environment, and bioenergy cropping is no exception. The main potential environmental benefit is the net reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the substitution of fossil fuels, while the main potential harm is increased pressure on land use, which can lead to competition for food production, loss of forests and the release of large amounts of carbon from soils and vegetation. The major approaches to environmental risk evaluation are experiments, environmental risk assessment, life cycle analysis, ecosystem services and post-market monitoring; while none are ideal, all these have a potential role in evaluating bioenergy cropping. Major environmental impacts vary greatly between crops, countries and management regimes. Bioenergy cropping has the most positive environmental impact when the crops are productive, have low water and nutrient requirements and can be grown on low-grade and abandoned agricultural land in arrangements that promote biodiversity. Such cropping may be able to supply around 8% of the global energy demand: bioenergy cropping should be seen as one element in a wider strategy for efficient use of land, energy, food and water.
Keywords
- Ecosystem Service
- Life Cycle Assessment
- Environmental Risk Assessment
- Water Footprint
- Bioenergy Production
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Several other environmental and sustainability analyses are similar to the ecosystems approach, in scope and intention, if not in method. The jargon can be quite confusing, not least because some words, e.g. sustainability, mean very different things to different people [33].
References
Arnold JEM, Jongma J (1978) Fuelwood and charcoal in developing countries: an economic survey. Unasylva 29(118):2–9
Ladanai S, Vinterback J (2009) Global potential of sustainable biomass for energy. Report 013. Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala
Sorda G, Banse M, Kemfert C (2010) An overview of biofuel policies across the world. Energy Policy 38(11):6977–6988. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2010.06.066
Godfray HCJ, Beddington JR, Crute IR, Haddad L, Lawrence D, Muir JF, Pretty J, Robinson S, Thomas SM, Toulmin C (2010) Food security: the challenge of feeding 9 billion people. Science 327(5967):812–818. doi:10.1126/science.1185383
Prochnow A, Heiermann M, Plochl M, Linke B, Idler C, Amon T, Hobbs PJ (2009) Bioenergy from permanent grassland - a review: 1. biogas. Bioresour Technol 100(21):4931–4944. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2009.05.070
Prochnow A, Heiermann M, Plochl M, Amon T, Hobbs PJ (2009) Bioenergy from permanent grassland - a review: 2. combustion. Bioresour Technol 100(21):4945–4954. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2009.05.069
Tilman D, Hill J, Lehman C (2006) Carbon-negative biofuels from low-input high-diversity grassland biomass. Science 314(5805):1598–1600
Singh A, Nigam PS, Murphy JD (2011) Renewable fuels from algae: an answer to debatable land based fuels. Bioresour Technol 102(1):10–16. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2010.06.032
IEA (2010) World total primary energy supply. IEA Energy Statistics. http://www.iea.org/stats/pdf_graphs/29TPES.pdf
Krebs JR, Wilson JD, Bradbury RB, Siriwardena GM (1999) The second silent spring? Nature 400(6745):611–612
Firbank LG, Heard MS, Woiwod IP, Hawes C, Haughton AJ, Champion GT, Scott RJ, Hill MO, Dewar AM, Squire GR, May MJ, Brooks DR, Bohan DA, Daniels RE, Osborne JL, Roy DB, Black HIJ, Rothery P, Perry JN (2003) An introduction to the Farm Scale Evaluations of genetically modified herbicide-tolerant crops. J Appl Ecol 40(1):2–16
Perry JN, Rothery P, Clark SJ, Heard MS, Hawes C (2003) Design, analysis and statistical power of the Farm Scale Evaluations of genetically modified herbicide-tolerant crops. J Appl Ecol 40(1):17–31
Firbank LG (2008) Assessing the ecological impacts of bioenergy projects. Bioenerg Res 1(1):12–19
Haughton AJ, Bond AJ, Lovett AA, Dockerty T, Sunnenberg G, Clark SJ, Bohan DA, Sage RB, Mallott MD, Mallott VE, Cunningham MD, Riche AB, Shield IF, Finch JW, Turner MM, Karp A (2009) A novel, integrated approach to assessing social, economic and environmental implications of changing rural land-use: a case study of perennial biomass crops. J Appl Ecol 46(2):315–322. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2009.01623.x
Firbank L, Lonsdale M, Poppy G (2005) Reassessing the environmental risks of GM crops. Nat Biotechnol 23(12):1475–1476
Qi A, Perry JN, Pidgeon JD, Haylock LA, Brooks DR (2008) Cost-efficacy in measuring farmland biodiversity - lessons from the Farm Scale Evaluations of genetically modified herbicide-tolerant crops. Ann Appl Biol 152(1):93–101. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7348.2007.00193.x
Clark SJ, Rothery P, Perry JN, Heard MS (2007) Farm Scale Evaluations of herbicide-tolerant crops: assessment of within-field variation and sampling methodology for arable weeds. Weed Res 47(2):157–163
Wolt JD, Keese P, Raybould A, Fitzpatrick JW, Burachik M, Gray A, Olin SS, Schiemann J, Sears M, Wu F (2010) Problem formulation in the environmental risk assessment for genetically modified plants. Transgenic Res 19(3):425–436. doi:10.1007/s11248-009-9321-9
Gibbons DW, Bohan DA, Rothery P, Stuart RC, Haughton AJ, Scott RJ, Wilson JD, Perry JN, Clark SJ, Dawson RJG, Firbank LG (2006) Weed seed resources for birds in fields with contrasting conventional and genetically modified herbicide-tolerant crops. Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 273(1596):1921–1928
Butler SJ, Vickery JA, Norris K (2007) Farmland biodiversity and the footprint of agriculture. Science 315(5810):381–384
Storkey J, Bohan DA, Haughton AJ, Champion GT, Perry JN, Poppy GM, Woiwod IP (2008) Providing the evidence base for environmental risk assessments of novel farm management practices. Environ Sci Policy 11(7):579–587. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2008.06.001
Pidgeon JD, May MJ, Perry JN, Poppy GM (2007) Mitigation of indirect environmental effects of GM crops. Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 274(1617):1475–1479. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.0401
Wilkinson MJ, Davenport IJ, Charters YM, Jones AE, Allainguillaume J, Butler HT, Mason DC, Raybould AF (2000) A direct regional scale estimate of transgene movement from genetically modified oilseed rape to its wild progenitors. Mol Ecol 9(7):983–991
Sears MK, Hellmich RL, Stanley-Horn DE, Oberhauser KS, Pleasants JM, Mattila HR, Siegfried BD, Dively GP (2001) Impact of Bt corn pollen on monarch butterfly populations: a risk assessment. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 98(21):11937–11942
EU (2009) Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC European Union, Brussels
Davis SC, Anderson-Teixeira KJ, DeLucia EH (2009) Life-cycle analysis and the ecology of biofuels. Trends Plant Sci 14(3):140–146. doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2008.12.006
Zah R, Faist M, Reinhard J, Birchmeier D (2009) Standardized and simplified life-cycle assessment (LCA) as a driver for more sustainable biofuels. J Clean Prod 17:S102–S105. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2009.04.004
Chiaramonti D, Recchia L (2010) Is life cycle assessment (LCA) a suitable method for quantitative CO2 saving estimations? the impact of field input on the LCA results for a pure vegetable oil chain. Biomass Bioenerg 34(5):787–797. doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2010.01.022
Rettenmaier N, Koppen S, Gartner SO, Reinhardt GA (2010) Life cycle assessment of selected future energy crops for Europe. Biofuels Bioprod Bioref 4(6):620–636. doi:10.1002/bbb.245
Fisher B, Turner RK (2008) Ecosystem services: classification for valuation. Biol Conserv 141(5):1167–1169. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2008.02.019
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) Synthesis report. Island Press, Washington
Costanza R, d’Arge R, de Groot R, Farber S, Grasso M, Hannon B, Limburg K, Naeem S, Oneill RV, Paruelo J, Raskin RG, Sutton P, van den Belt M (1997) The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387(6630):253–260
Buchholz T, Luzadis VA, Volk TA (2009) Sustainability criteria for bioenergy systems: results from an expert survey. J Clean Prod 17:S86–S98. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2009.04.015
Kumar P (ed) (2010) The economics of ecosystems and biodiversity: ecological and economic foundations. Earthscan, London
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2003) Ecosystems and human well being: a framework for assessment. Island Press, Washington
Firbank LG, Bradbury RB, McCracken DI, Stoate C (2011) Enclosed farmland. In: UK National Ecosystem Assessment: technical report. UNEP- WCMC, Cambridge, pp 197--240
Chamberlain DE, Fuller RJ, Bunce RGH, Duckworth JC, Shrubb M (2000) Changes in the abundance of farmland birds in relation to the timing of agricultural intensification in England and Wales. J Appl Ecol 37(5):771–788
Preston CD, Pearman DA, Dines TD (2002) New atlas of the British and Irish flora. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Firbank LG, Petit S, Smart S, Blain A, Fuller RJ (2008) Assessing the impacts of agricultural intensification on biodiversity: a British perspective. Philos Trans R Soc B Biol Sci 363(1492):777–787. doi:10.1098/rstb.2007.2183
Lattimore B, Smith CT, Titus BD, Stupak I, Egnell G (2009) Environmental factors in woodfuel production: opportunities, risks, and criteria and indicators for sustainable practices. Biomass Bioenerg 33(10):1321–1342. doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2009.06.005
Johnston M, Foley JA, Holloway T, Kucharik C, Monfreda C (2009) Resetting global expectations from agricultural biofuels. Environ Res Lett 4(1):1–9. doi:01400410.1088/1748-9326/4/1/014004
Foresight (2011) The future of food and farming: challenges and choices for global sustainability. The Government Office for Science, London
Tilman D, Socolow R, Foley JA, Hill J, Larson E, Lynd L, Pacala S, Reilly J, Searchinger T, Somerville C, Williams R (2009) Beneficial biofuels-the food, energy, and environment trilemma. Science 325(5938):270–271. doi:10.1126/science.1177970
Miller SA (2010) Minimizing land use and nitrogen intensity of bioenergy. Environ Sci Technol 44(10):3932–3939. doi:10.1021/es902405a
Lovett AA, Sunnenberg GM, Richter GM, Dailey AG, Riche AB, Karp A (2009) Land use implications of increased biomass production identified by GIS-based suitability and yield mapping for Miscanthus in England. Bioenerg Res 2(1–2):17–28. doi:10.1007/s12155-008-9030-x
Campbell JE, Lobell DB, Genova RC, Field CB (2008) The global potential of bioenergy on abandoned agriculture lands. Environ Sci Technol 42(15):5791–5794. doi:10.1021/es800052w
Fargione J, Hill J, Tilman D, Polasky S, Hawthorne P (2008) Land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt. Science 319(5867):1235–1238. doi:10.1126/science.1152747
Crutzen PJ, Mosier AR, Smith KA, Winiwarter W (2008) N2O release from agro-biofuel production negates global warming reduction by replacing fossil fuels. Atmos Chem Phys 8(2):389–395
Adler PR, Del Grosso SJ, Parton WJ (2007) Life-cycle assessment of net greenhouse-gas flux for bioenergy cropping systems. Ecol Appl 17(3):675–691
Goodlass G, Green M, Hilton B, McDonough S (2007) Nitrate leaching from short-rotation coppice. Soil Use Manag 23(2):178–184. doi:10.1111/j.1475-2743.2006.00080.x
Momose A, Ohtake N, Sueyoshi K, Sato T, Nakanishi Y, Akao S, Ohyama T (2009) Nitrogen fixation and translocation in young sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) plants associated with endophytic nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Microbes Environ 24(3):224–230. doi:10.1264/jsme2.ME09105
Scarlat N, Martinov M, Dallemand J-F (2010) Assessment of the availability of agricultural crop residues in the European Union: Potential and limitations for bioenergy use. Waste Manag 30(10):1889–1897. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2010.04.016
Hanjra MA, Qureshi ME (2010) Global water crisis and future food security in an era of climate change. Food Policy 35(5):365–377. doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2010.05.006
Gerbens-Leenes W, Hoekstra AY, van der Meer TH (2009) The water footprint of bioenergy. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 106(25):10219–10223. doi:10.1073/pnas.0812619106
Gerbens-Leenes PW, Hoekstra AY, van der Meer T (2009) The water footprint of energy from biomass: A quantitative assessment and consequences of an increasing share of bio-energy in energy supply. Ecol Econ 68(4):1052–1060. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.07.013
McIsaac GF, David MB, Mitchell CA (2010) Miscanthus and switchgrass production in central illinois: impacts on hydrology and inorganic nitrogen leaching. J Environ Qual 39(5):1790–1799. doi:10.2134/jeq2009.0497
Dimitriou I, Busch G, Jacobs S, Schmidt-Walter P, Lamersdorf N (2009) A review of the impacts of short rotation coppice cultivation on water issues. Landbauforsch Volk 59(3):197–206
Somerville C, Youngs H, Taylor C, Davis SC, Long SP (2010) Feedstocks for lignocellulosic biofuels. Science 329(5993):790–792. doi:10.1126/science.1189268
Dauber J, Jones MB, Stout JC (2010) The impact of biomass crop cultivation on temperate biodiversity. GCB Bioenerg 2(6):289–309. doi:10.1111/j.1757-1707.2010.01058.x
Witt ABR (2010) Biofuels and invasive species from an African perspective - a review. GCB Bioenerg 2(6):321–329. doi:10.1111/j.1757-1707.2010.01063.x
Sage R, Cunningham M, Boatman N (2006) Birds in willow short-rotation coppice compared to other arable crops in central England and a review of bird census data from energy crops in the UK. Ibis 148(s1):184–197
Sage R, Cunningham M, Haughton AJ, Mallott MD, Bohan DA, Riche A, Karp A (2010) The environmental impacts of biomass crops: use by birds of Miscanthus in summer and winter in Southwestern England. Ibis 152(3):487–499
Sotherton NW (1991) Conservation headlands: a practical combination of intensive cereal farming and conservation. In: Firbank LG, Carter N, Darbyshire JF, Potts GR (eds) The ecology of temperate cereal fields, 32nd symposium of the British Ecological Society. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, pp 373–397
Phalan B (2009) The social and environmental impacts of biofuels in Asia: an overview. Appl Energy 86:S21–S29. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2009.04.046
Fitzherbert EB, Struebig MJ, Morel A, Danielsen F, Bruhl CA, Donald PF, Phalan B (2008) How will oil palm expansion affect biodiversity? Trends Ecol Evol 23(10):538–545. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2008.06.012
Najera A, Simonetti JA (2010) Can oil palm plantations become bird friendly? Agrofor Syst 80(2):203–209. doi:10.1007/s10457-010-9278-y
Edwards DP, Hodgson JA, Hamer KC, Mitchell SL, Ahmad AH, Cornell SJ, Wilcove DS (2010) Wildlife-friendly oil palm plantations fail to protect biodiversity effectively. Conserv Lett 3(4):236–242. doi:10.1111/j.1755-263X.2010.00107.x
Benton TG, Vickery JA, Wilson JD (2003) Farmland biodiversity: is habitat heterogeneity the key? Trends Ecol Evol 18(4):182–188
Meehan TD, Hurlbert AH, Gratton C (2010) Bird communities in future bioenergy landscapes of the upper midwest. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 107(43):18533–18538. doi:10.1073/pnas.1008475107
Struebig MJ (2010) Reassessing the “real scenario” regarding the environmental sustainability of palm oil. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 14(8):2443–2444. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2010.02.016
Martinelli LA, Filoso S (2008) Expansion of sugarcane ethanol production in Brazil: environmental and social challenges. Ecol Appl 18(4):885–898
Parry ML, Canziani OF, Palutikof JP, van der Linden PJ, Hanson CE (eds) (2007) Contribution of working group II to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, 2007. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Milder JC, McNeely JA, Shames SA, Scherr SJ (2008) Biofuels and ecoagriculture: can bioenergy production enhance landscape-scale ecosystem conservation and rural livelihoods? Int J Agric Sustain 6(2):105–121. doi:10.3763/ijas.2008.0344
Atwell RC, Schulte LA, Westphal LM (2010) How to build multifunctional agricultural landscapes in the US Corn Belt: add perennials and partnerships. Land Use Policy 27(4):1082–1090. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2010.02.004
Bauen AW, Dunnett AJ, Richter GM, Dailey AG, Aylott M, Casella E, Taylor G (2010) Modelling supply and demand of bioenergy from short rotation coppice and Miscanthus in the UK. Bioresour Technol 101(21):8132–8143. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2010.05.002
Bryan BA, King D, Wang EL (2010) Biofuels agriculture: landscape-scale trade-offs between fuel, economics, carbon, energy, food, and fiber. GCB Bioenerg 2(6):330–345. doi:10.1111/j.1757-1707.2010.01056.x
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology for providing me the base for writing this chapter, and Evan DeLucia, Winnie Gerbens-Leenes and Jeff Wolt for permission to use figures from their publications.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag London Limited
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Firbank, L. (2012). Assessing the Environmental Risks and Opportunities of Bioenergy Cropping. In: Gopalakrishnan, K., van Leeuwen, J., Brown, R. (eds) Sustainable Bioenergy and Bioproducts. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2324-8_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2324-8_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-2323-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-2324-8
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)