Economics of biofuels environmental economics us epa. Land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt joseph fargione,1 jason hill,2,3 david tilman,2 stephen polasky,2,3 peter hawthorne2 1th e naturc on svc y,10w r ip kw s2 mp l 54 u a. Carbon debt, biofuel carbon debt allocation, annual carbon repayment rate, and years to repay biofuel carbon debt for nine scenarios of biofuel production. Fourth, greater biofuel production might decrease overall energy prices, which could increase energy consumption and ghg release 26, 27. Request pdf land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt increasing energy use, climate change, and carbon dioxide co2 emissions from fossil fuels make switching to low carbon fuels a high. Because of the potential problems with cornbased biofuels. Although ghg emissions from each litre of fuel burned in an internal combustion engine are absorbed by plants grown to produce the next litre, net co 2 emissions are released by fossil fuels used in the agricultural, manufacturing and distribution processes that produce the fuel. Converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas, or grasslands to produce foodbased biofuels in brazil, southeast asia, and the united states creates a biofuel carbon debt by releasing 17 to 420 times more co2 than the annual greenhouse gas ghg reductions these biofuels.
Yet this problem would be fixed with algal biofuel which can use land unsuitable for agriculture. Their conclusions depend on the misleading premise. Does conversion of forest to agricultural land change soil carbon and nitrogen. Land conversion may induce a biofuel carbon debt, as carbon released from soil and biomass exceeds emission savings compared to the use of fossil fuels fargione et al. A repayment of the c debt does not necessarily imply that the forest has been managed for maximal amelioration of atmospheric co 2. Carbon debt of conservation reserve program crp grasslands. Statistical confirmation of indirect land use change in. Land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt request pdf. Converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas, or grasslands to produce food cropbased biofuels in brazil, southeast asia, and the united states creates a biofuel carbon debt by releasing 17 to 420 times more co2 than the annual greenhouse gas ghg reductions that these biofuels.
The life cycle greenhouse gas ghg emissions induced by increased biofuel. Science express logo report global warming so what. Carbon debt and carbon sequestration parity in forest. Land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt, 29 february, p. Can bioenergy cropping compensate high carbon emissions from. Corn ethanol is ethanol produced from corn biomass and is the main source of ethanol fuel in the united states.
Converting rainforests to produce food cropbased biofuels, such as biofuels derived from palm fruit, can create a biofuel carbon debt by releasing 17 to 420 times more co2 than the annual greenhouse gas reductions that these biofuels would provide by displacing fossil fuels. However, the experience with bioenergy production and the pressure it places on land. Bioenergy and land tenure ifpri, 2006, global scenarios for biofuels. Changes in land use patterns may increase ghg emissions by releasing terrestrial carbon stocks to the atmosphere searchinger et al. Converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas, or grasslands to produce food cropbased biofuels in brazil, southeast asia, and the united states creates a biofuel carbon debt by releasing 17 to 420 times more co2 than the annual greenhouse gas ghg reductions that these biofuels would provide by displacing fossil fuels. A question is therefore whether timber taken from the vast boreal forests on an increasing scale should serve as a source of woodbased biofuels and whether this will be effective climate policy. Corn ethanol is produced by ethanol fermentation and distillation. Joseph fargione, jason hill, david tilman, stephen polasky, and peter hawthorne, land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt. Land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt joseph fargione,1 jason hill,2,3 david tilman,2 stephen polasky,2,3 peter hawthorne2 increasing energy use, climate change, and carbon dioxide co 2 emissions from fossil fuels make switching to low carbon fuels a high priority. For example, if market conditions change as a result of biofuel production, this can induce land conversions in other locations, which may lead to a loss of ecosystem carbon.
Fargione, j, hill, j, tilman, d, polasky, s, and hawthorne, p 2008 land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt. The indirect land use change impacts of biofuels, also known as iluc or iluc pronounced as. Biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, are currently produced from the products of conventional food crops such as the starch, sugar and oil feedstocks from crops that include wheat, maize, sugar cane, palm oil and oilseed rape. Land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt jason hill, ph. A second paper published in the same issue of sciencexpress, by a team led by fargione from the nature conservancy, found that a carbon debt is created when natural lands are cleared and being converted to biofuel production and to crop production when agricultural land is diverted to biofuel production, therefore this carbon debt applies to. Harvesting in boreal forests and the biofuel carbon debt. Whether this is true or not depends on many factors. The storage of carbon in a form that does not readily release the carbon to the atmosphere or water. The local livelihood implications of biofuel development.
Request pdf land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt increasing energy use, climate change, and carbon dioxide co2 emissions from fossil fuels make. The environmental rationale is premised on greenhouse gas ghg, carbon. D tilman, s polasky, p hawthorneland clearing and the biofuel carbon debt. Aug 26, 2011 owing to the extensive critique of foodcropbased biofuels, attention has turned toward secondgeneration woodbased biofuels. Feb 29, 2008 third, if land cleared for biofuel production had been accruing carbon we assumed lands were at steady state, the debt would be increased by the loss of this future storage. Now, two studies published in science on 29 february 2008 have thrown a cold wet blanket on biofuels, claiming that clearing new land and converting existing cropland to produce feedstocks incurs a carbon debt that is, releases more carbon than is saved by the biofuels produced. Fargione and others published land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt find, read and cite all the research you need on. Converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas, or grasslands to produce food cropbased biofuels. The dilemma of indirect landuse changes in eu biofuel policy decisionmaking in the context of scientific uncertainty. This upfront carbon debt can take centuries to claw back via emissions gradually avoided by using biofuels instead of fossil fuels. Land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt joseph fargione, 1 jason hill, 2,3 david tilman, 2 stephen polasky, 2,3 peter hawthorne 2 1 the nature conservancy, 1101 west river parkway, suite 200, minneapolis, mn 55415, usa.
Methods 5 todetermine the climate impactsof secondgeneration biofuels, this study makes use of land. The local livelihood implications of biofuel development and land acquisitions in zimbabwe. We do include carbon sequestration in the degraded lands in the absence of biofuel production but assume that other ecosystems are in equilibrium and are thus. Use the table in the readingarticle to ask students, if the purpose of using biofuels is to reduce current ghg emissions due to using fossil fuels, which current land use biofuels. This loss would also negate some of the benefits of activity taking place within the system boundary searchinger et al. Biofuel production in the us causes forests and grasslands elsewhere to be converted to agriculture. Converting rainforests to produce food cropbased biofuels, such as biofuels derived from palm fruit, can create a biofuel carbon debt by releasing 17 to 420 times more co2 than the annual greenhouse gas reductions that these biofuels. Clearing and the biofuel carbon debt, addresses the direct greenhouse gas emissions from growing biofuel feedstocks on land recently converted from natural impacts. Most of these land use changes occur in the tropics table 1. Increasing energy use, climate change, and carbon dioxide co2 emissions from fossil fuels make switching to lowcarbon fuels a high priority. Converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas, or grasslands to produce food crop based biofuels. Indirect land use change impacts of biofuels wikipedia.
No substitute for action on fossil fuels by will steffen, jacqui. The new analyses show that large amounts of trapped carbon are released into the atmosphere when vegetation burns or decays as land is cleared. Request pdf land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt increasing energy use, climate change, and carbon dioxide co2 emissions from fossil fuels make switching to lowcarbon fuels a high. The rapid development of first generation biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, which use food crops as feedstocks, has become controversial in the last. A question is therefore whether timber taken from the vast boreal forests on an increasing scale should serve as a source of woodbased biofuels. The use of bioenergy has grown rapidly in recent years, driven by policies partly premised on the belief that bioenergy can contribute to carbon dioxide co2 emissions mitigation. Increasing energy use, climate change, and carbon dioxide co2 emissions from fossil fuels make switching to low carbon fuels a high priority. Land clearing and greenhouse gas emissions from jatropha. Land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt science 2008, 319. Aug 16, 2011 summing both conversion year and future debt as discussed above brings the total c debt for crp land converted to notill agriculture to 68 7 mg co 2 eha. The indirect land use change impacts of biofuels, also known as iluc or iluc pronounced as iluck, relates to the unintended consequence of releasing more carbon emissions due to land use changes around the world induced by the expansion of croplands for ethanol or biodiesel production in response to the increased global demand for biofuels. Carbon dioxide is one of the major greenhouse gases. A general critic to biodiesel is the land use change, which have potential to cause even more emissions than what would be caused by using fossil fuels alone. A carbon debt, including co 2 emissions from soils and above.
Two cheers for ethanol subsidies expiringbut costly. Over time, biofuels from converted land can repay this carbon debt if their production and combustion have net. Sustainable land management for bioenergy crops sciencedirect. Its results support the notion that jatropha can help sequester atmospheric carbon. Converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas, or grasslands to produce foodbased biofuels in brazil, southeast asia, and the united states creates a biofuel carbon debt by releasing 17 to 420 times more co2 than the annual greenhouse gas ghg reductions these biofuels provide by displacing fossil fuels. Much of this land clearing will occur in brazil, china and india, the authors write.
Carbon debt and payback time studies aim to inform scientists, policy makers, forest managers, the utility sector and other stakeholders on the climate consequences of extracting more biomass from forests to meet an increased demand for nonfossil energy. Fargione and others published land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Biofuel feedstocks grown on land cleared from tropical forests, such as soybeans in the amazon and oil palm in southeast asia, generate particularly high ghg emissions fargione et al. Jan 21, 2014 the local livelihood implications of biofuel development and land acquisitions in zimbabwe. To quantify the impacts of land clearing on biofuel carbon balance, county level carbon debt was calculated by subtracting the mean peak standing crop biomass carbon from the aggregate mean of. Fargione j, hill j, tilman d, polasky s, hawthorne p. Public policy supports biofuels for their benefits to agricultural economies, energy security and the environment. Increasing energy use, climate change, and carbon dioxide co 2 emissions from fossil fuels make switching to low carbon fuels a high priority. The local livelihood implications of biofuel development and. Two cheers for ethanol subsidies expiring but costly mandate remains. The biofuel carbon debt from biofuels produced on converted cerrado is repaid in the least amount of time of the scenarios that we examined.
The paper investigates greenhouse gas ghg emissions from land use change associated with the introduction of largescale jatropha curcas cultivation on miombo woodland, using data from extant forestry and ecology studies about this ecosystem. They can lead to changes in carbon stocks on land, most notably through loss of above and below ground living biomass and soil organic carbon, which leads to an increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt, science, 319, 12351238, 2008. Biofuel development and use is a complex issue because there are many biofuel options which are available. Biofuel production must target idle and marginal land and use of wastes and residues. Converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas, or grasslands to produce food crop based biofuels in brazil, southeast asia. Supporting online material for land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt joseph fargione, jason hill, david tilman, stephen polasky, peter hawthorne to whom correspondence should be addressed. Land and carbon emission offsets due to byproducts e. Most biofuels may increase greenhouse gas emissions because clearing grassland or forest to plant them releases carbon dioxide, two groups of us researchers have independently concluded. However, the uptake of carbon by crops and the effective use of coproducts from biofuel production can partly compensate these emissions. The land use change impact of biofuels consumed in the eu. This displacement is accounted for in the life cycle analysis.
Agrofuels are not low carbon rainforest action network. Disadvantages of biofuels land use biofuel information. In an article entitled land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt, fargione et al. Future fuels from forests teacher institute are in. Carbon debt measures the amount of time that use of biofuels will take to o. We also tested different crops that could serve as feedstock to ful. The total amount of land used is not the only concern many scientists have over the largescale use of biofuels. Murty d, kirschbaum muf, mcmurtrie re, mcgilvray h. The carbon debt incurred varies widely, from near zero to more than four hundred years, depending on the type of land converted. Greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels indirect land use.
Biofuel carbon debt, debt allocated to biofuel, annual repayment rate, and. Biofuel, food, deforestration, and indonesian palm. Indirect landuse changes can overcome carbon savings from. The new analyses show that large amounts of trapped carbon are released into the atmosphere when vegetation burns or decays as land. Soybean biodiesel produced on converted amazonian rainforest with a biofuel carbon debt of 280 mg of co 2 ha 1 would require.
Land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt joseph fargione,1 jason hill,2,3 david tilman,2 stephen polasky,23 peter hawthorne2 increasing energy use, climate change, and carbon dioxide c02 emissions from fossil fuels make switching to low carbon fuels a high priority. Interactions between biofuel choices and landscape dynamics. Croplands for biofuels increases greenhouse gases through. Means and sds are from monte carlo analyses of literaturebased estimatesofcarbonpoolsandfluxes 5. Nextgeneration biomass feedstocks for biofuel production. Biofuel carbon debt may take centuries to repay news. Owing to the extensive critique of foodcropbased biofuels, attention has turned toward secondgeneration woodbased biofuels. The carbon debt incurred varies widely, from near zero to more than four hundred years, depending on the type of land. His recent paper in science, land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt was covered in many national media outlets, including the new york times, washington post. If a forest is managed for the production of bioenergy to substitute for traditional fossil fuel energy as part of an effort to ameliorate atmospheric co 2 concentrations, such a strategy should be gauged by the climate change. Biofuels in the us and europe are increasing the price of crops, which naturally results in more efforts to clear land. An often mentioned incentive for using biodiesel is its capacity to lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to those of fossil fuels.
Yet this problem would be fixed with algal biofuel. What is more concerning is what some have come to refer to as the carbon debt. Biofuels are a potential low carbon energy source, but whether biofuels offer carbon savings depends on how they are produced. Land clearing and the biofuel carbon debt joseph fargione, 1 jason hill, 2,3 david tilman, 2 stephen polasky, 2,3 peter hawthorne 2 1 th e naturc on svc y,10w r ip kw s2 mp l 54 u a.
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