Implications of land class and environmental factors on life cycle GHG emissions of Miscanthus as a bioenergy feedstock
Open accessAbstract
Replacement of fossil fuels with sustainably produced biomass crops for energy purposes has the potential to make progress in addressing climate change concerns, nonrenewable resource use, and energy security. The perennial grass Miscanthus is a dedicated energy crop candidate being field tested in Ontario, Canada, and elsewhere. Miscanthus could potentially be grown in areas of the province that differ substantially in terms of agricultural land class, environmental factors and current land use. These differences could significantly affect Miscanthus yields, input requirements, production practices, and the types of crops being displaced by Miscanthus establishment. This study assesses implications on life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of these differences through evaluating five Miscanthus production scenarios within the Ontario context. Emissions associated with electricity generation with Miscanthus pellets in a hypothetically retrofitted coal generating station are examined. Indirect land use change impacts are not quantified but are discussed. The net life cycle emissions for Miscanthus production varied greatly among scenarios (−90–170 kg CO 2eq per oven dry tonne of Miscanthus bales at the farm gate). In some cases, the carbon stock dynamics of the agricultural system offset the combined emissions of all other life cycle stages (i.e., production, harvest, transport, and processing of biomass). Yield and soil C of the displaced agricultural systems are key parameters affecting emissions. The systems with the highest potential to provide reductions in GHG emissions are those with high yields, or systems established on land with low soil carbon. All scenarios have substantially lower life cycle emissions (−20–190 g CO 2eq kWh−1) compared with coal‐generated electricity (1130 g CO 2eq kWh−1). Policy development should consider the implication of land class, environmental factors, and current land use on Miscanthus production.
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- Authors
- Sanscartier, D., Deen, B., Dias, G., MacLean, H. L., Dadfar, H., McDonald, I., & Kludze, H.
- Affiliations
- Saskatchewan Research Council (Canada) (CA)
- University of Guelph (CA)
- University of Waterloo (CA)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Sanscartier, David
- Venue
- GCB Bioenergy
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2013-04-12
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 401-413
- ISSN
- 1757-1693 (ISSN-L)
- 1757-1707
- OpenAlex
- W2131112911
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 12.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- GCB Bioenergy (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Bioenergy crop production and management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanics of Materials › Forest Biomass Utilization and Management
- Keywords
- Miscanthus, life cycle greenhouse gas emissions, biomass feedstock, energy crops, land classes, soil carbon, carbon stock dynamics, production scenarios, Ontario
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