Elsevier

Biomass and Bioenergy

Volume 16, Issue 2, February 1999, Pages 137-154
Biomass and Bioenergy

Environmental effects of energy crop cultivation in Sweden—I: Identification and quantification

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0961-9534(98)00080-4Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of how energy crop cultivations in Sweden, consisting of short-rotation forest (Salix) and energy grass (reed canary grass), can be located and managed to maximise environmental benefits. The overall conclusion is that substantial environmental benefits, ranging from global to site-specific, could be achieved when traditional annual food crops produced with current agriculture practices are replaced by dedicated perennial energy crops. The emission of greenhouse gases could be reduced by reduced carbon dioxide emissions from organic soils, by reduced nitrous oxide emissions caused by the use of fertilisers and through accumulation of soil carbon in mineral soils, which also leads to increased soil fertility. Nutrient leaching could be reduced by using energy crop cultivations as buffer strips along open streams and wind erosion could be reduced by using Salix plantations as shelter belts. Cultivation of Salix and energy grass can also be used to purify municipal waste, such as waste water, landfill leachate, and sewage sludge. Furthermore, the content of heavy metals in the soil can be reduced through Salix cultivation. The biodiversity is estimated to be almost unchanged, or slightly increased in open farmland. These environmental benefits, which could be achieved on up to 60% of current Swedish arable land and last for 25 years or more, will increase the value of the energy crops. The economic value of these benefits is calculated in Part II of the analysis, which is presented in a second paper.

Introduction

Replacing fossil fuels with biomass leads to global environmental benefits such as reduced emissions of greenhouse gases. However, not only the use of biomass could lead to benefits for the environment, but also the production of the biomass. This paper will show that when traditional annual food crops are replaced by dedicated perennial energy crops on Swedish arable land, negative environmental effects from current agriculture practices such as erosion, nutrient leaching and the emission of greenhouse gases, may be reduced. Similar conclusions have been drawn in earlier studies concerning, for example, perennial energy crop production in the USA (see e.g., Tolbert[1]; McLaughlin and Walsh[2]; Kort et al.[3]; Grigal and Berguson[4]; Bransby et al.[5]). Energy crop systems can also be used to purify municipal waste, thus reducing negative impacts from the community. Furthermore, the content of heavy metals in the soil could be reduced through cultivation of short-rotation forest. These environmental benefits could increase the value of the energy crops, thereby affecting future market conditions for biomass.

In this paper, environmental changes are identified and quantified when traditional food and forage crops produced with current agriculture practices are replaced by perennial energy crops on Swedish arable land. This paper, which is based mainly on a literature review, represents Part I of the analysis, which is complemented by a second part in which an economic valuation of the environmental changes is carried out (see Börjesson[6]). Thus, this paper is a background to the second paper, which includes a more integrating synthesis. The purpose with the overall study is to analyse how energy crop cultivations in Sweden could be located and managed to maximise environmental benefits. Neither environmental effects arising from replacing fossil fuels by biomass nor environmental benefits from the reduced use of fossil fuels in perennial energy crop cultivation, in comparison to annual crop cultivation, are included in this study as such benefits have already been analysed in earlier studies (see e.g., Börjesson7, 8). The magnitude of the environmental benefits depends on, for example, geological and geographical conditions, while population density influences the amount of municipal waste that can be recycled on energy crop cultivations. Thus, the environmental impact is analysed on a regional basis and then aggregated to a national level. Since agricultural practices, the load of antrophogenic pollutants and the generation of waste, are changing over time, the potential impact of energy crop cultivation also changes over time. The time during which environmental advantages could be achieved is therefore estimated.

Section snippets

Methodology and assumptions

Energy crops included in this analysis are short-rotation forest (Salix) and energy grass (reed canary grass). In the north of Sweden, only reed canary grass is assumed to be grown for energy purposes as the climatic conditions are not suitable for Salix cultivation[9]. This situation can, however, change in the future if more frost resistance Salix clones will be available. The energy crop cultivations are assumed to be geographical equally distributed on current arable land used for perennial

Greenhouse gases

Greenhouse gas emissions from arable land can be reduced in three different ways when annual crops are replaced by perennial energy crops, through (i) accumulation of soil carbon (C) in mineral soils, (ii) reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from organic soils, and (iii) reduced nitrous oxide (N2O) emission caused by the use of fertilisers. Changes in the emissions of other greenhouse gases are estimated to be small and are therefore neglected.

Conclusions and discussion

An overall conclusion of this study is that the environmental benefits from large-scale introduction of energy crop production in Sweden could be substantial, as the negative environmental impact from current agriculture practices and municipal waste treatment could be significantly reduced. The carbon dioxide emission from organic soils through biological oxidation of the organic matter, for example, could be significantly reduced (by about 7 tonne C/ha yr) when annual crops are replaced by

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank L. Gustavsson, B. Johansson and A. Lundborg for reviews and useful comments. I also gratefully acknowledge the economic support provided by Vattenfall AB and The Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development.

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