How do soil emissions of N2O, CH4 and CO2 from perennial bioenergy crops differ from arable annual crops?
Open accessAbstract
It is important to demonstrate that replacing fossil fuel with bioenergy crops can reduce the national greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint. We compared field emissions of nitrous oxide (N 2 O), methane (CH4) and soil respiration rates from the C 4 grass Miscanthus × giganteus and willow (salix) with emissions from annual arable crops grown for food production. The study was carried out in NE England on adjacent fields of willow, Miscanthus, wheat (Triticum aetivum) and oilseed rape (Brassica napus). N 2 O, CH4 fluxes and soil respiration rates were measured monthly using static chambers from June 2008 to November 2010. Net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of carbon dioxide (CO2) was measured by eddy covariance on Miscanthus from May 2008 and on willow from October 2009 until November 2010. The N 2 O fluxes were significantly smaller from the bioenergy crops than that of the annual crops. Average fluxes were 8 and 32 μg m−2 h−1 N 2 O‐N from wheat and oilseed rape, and 4 and 0.2 μg m−2 h−1 N 2 O‐N from Miscanthus and willow, respectively. Soil CH4 fluxes were negligible for all crops and soil respiration rates were similar for all crops. NEE of CO2 was larger for Miscanthus (−770 g C m−2 h−1) than willow (−602 g C m−2 h−1) in the growing season of 2010. N 2 O emissions from Miscanthus and willow were lower than for the wheat and oilseed rape which is most likely a result of regular fertilizer application and tillage in the annual arable cropping systems. Application of 15 N‐labelled fertilizer to Miscanthus and oil seed rape resulted in a fertilizer‐induced increase in N 2 O emission in both crops. Denitrification rates (N 2 O + N 2) were similar for soil under Miscanthus and oilseed rape. Thus, perennial bioenergy crops only emit less GHG s than annual crops when they receive no or very low rates of N fertilizer.
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Management and inputs largely influence the difference in carbon accumulation between perennial and annual crops.
“with the management and inputs largely influencing this difference [72,76].”
From Land use change to bioenergy: A meta-analysis of soil carbon and GHG emissions (2015) · cites this paper as [76]
The discussion (pp. 22–23) attributes the difference in greenhouse-gas balances largely to nitrogen fertiliser application, and the introduction (p. 5) suggests cultivation practices may affect litter decomposition. But the paper does not establish that management and inputs largely explain a difference in carbon accumulation; it says net carbon exchange was not measured for the annual crops. (LLM, conf=0.78)
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Drewer, J., Finch, J. W., Lloyd, C. R., Baggs, E. M., & Skiba, U.
- Affiliations
- CEH Edinburgh Bush Estate Penicuik EH26 0QB UK
- CEH Wallingford Maclean Building Benson Lane Crowmarsh Gifford Wallingford Oxfordshire OX10 8BB UK
- University of Aberdeen (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Drewer, Julia
- Venue
- GCB Bioenergy
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2011-10-27
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 408-419
- ISSN
- 1757-1693 (ISSN-L)
- 1757-1707
- OpenAlex
- W2112861482
- Cited by
- 133
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 18.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- GCB Bioenergy (publishedVersion)
- NERC Open Research Archive (Natural Environment Research Council) (acceptedVersion)
- Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Agilent Technologies
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK Government
- Natural Environment Research Council (NE/F015682/1, NE/F014961/1)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Bioenergy crop production and management
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Peatlands and Wetlands Ecology
- Keywords
- nitrous oxide emissions, methane emissions, soil respiration, greenhouse gas emissions, perennial energy crops, Miscanthus × giganteus, willow, wheat, oilseed rape, net ecosystem exchange, denitrification, nitrogen fertilization, 15N-labelled fertilizer, soil CO2 flux
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