Biomass production for biofuels using agroforestry: potential for the North Central Region of the United States

Holzmueller, Eric J.; Jose, Shibu

doi:10.1007/s10457-012-9502-z

Cited by 48 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Currently, 40% of the U.S. corn harvest goes to producing ethanol, which seems counterproductive to the goal of reducing world hunger [16]. By producing biomass from trees in combination with food on the same land, agroforestry may be one way to contribute to a secure energy future without compromising food production capabilities [96,97].…”

Section: Benefits Of Agroforestrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The economic feasibility of some agroforestry systems such as silvopasture have been shown to be profitable, whereas other practices such as biomass plantings or riparian buffers may need the development of markets that offer compensation for the ecosystem services provided in order to make financial sense [62,97,119]. Social change and networking will also play a role as mindsets evolve to include alternatives to the norm [112,114].…”

Section: Challenges To Agroforestry Adoptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Policy changes could include increased funding for government cost-share programs for installing practices and credits for environmental services rendered, such as pollination and carbon sequestration [68,97,113,116]. Current USDA programs through the NRCS and FSA often stipulate that land set aside for conservation may not be harvested, but agroforestry systems could provide a harvestable product without compromising conservation potential.…”

Section: Moving Forward-policy and Research Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Agroforestry—The Next Step in Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture

2016

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Agriculture faces the unprecedented task of feeding a world population of 9 billion people by 2050 while simultaneously avoiding harmful environmental and social effects. One effort to meet this challenge has been organic farming, with outcomes that are generally positive. However, a number of challenges remain. Organic yields lag behind those in conventional agriculture, and greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient leaching remain somewhat problematic. In this paper, we examine current organic and conventional agriculture systems and suggest that agroforestry, which is the intentional combination of trees and shrubs with crops or livestock, could be the next step in sustainable agriculture. By implementing systems that mimic nature's functions, agroforestry has the potential to remain productive while supporting a range of ecosystem services. In this paper, we outline the common practices and products of agroforestry as well as beneficial environmental and social effects. We address barriers to agroforestry and explore potential options to alter policies and increase adoption by farmers. We conclude that agroforestry is one of the best land use strategies to contribute to food security while simultaneously limiting environmental degradation.

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Section: Benefits Of Agroforestrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Challenges To Agroforestry Adoptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Moving Forward-policy and Research Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Agroforestry—The Next Step in Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture

2016

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“…During nonflooded conditions, waterbreaks can provide critical wildlife connections between upland and riparian areas and improve water quality by trapping sediment and filtering chemicals from runoff, while providing opportunities for alternative income through hunting fees and harvesting products such as timber, nuts, and other nontimber forest products. Rethinking agroforestry will help link the multiple objectives of food, feed, fiber, energy, and ecosystem services on these lands under CC, but much work remains to get all the right parts together (Schoeneberger et al 2008;Holzmueller and Jose 2012).…”

Section: Climate Change Adaptationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Branching out: Agroforestry as a climate change mitigation and adaptation tool for agriculture

Schoeneberger¹,

Bentrup²,

Gooijer³

et al. 2012

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

170

107

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“…These benefits result from a diversification of outputs and a shortened time to reach economic production (Holzmueller and Jose, 2012;Susaeta et al, 2012). Evers et al (2010) reported that tree-based intercropping systems stored more C than conventional cropping systems by increasing C storage in the biomass of planted trees and increased soil organic matter storage through C inputs to the soil.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Intercropping with Switchgrass Improves Net Greenhouse Gas Balance in Hybrid Poplar Plantations on a Sand Soil

Collins

Fay

Kimura³

et al. 2017

Soil Science Society of America Journal

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In the Pacific Northwest, commercial hybrid poplar (Populus generosa Henry × Populus canadensis Moench.) is managed at low stocking densities under irrigation for high-value timber production. The objectives of this study were to measure greenhouse gas emissions (CH4, CO 2 , and N 2 O) during intercropping of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) with hybrid poplar; estimate losses of fertilizer-N as N 2 O, and estimate global warming potentials (GWP) of the intercrop. Cumulative above-ground biomass-C of the poplar monoculture (PM) closely matched the four year growing season (GS) soil CO 2 -C emissions, where aboveground biomass of the switchgrass monoculture (SM) and intercrop (IC) exceeded GS CO 2 -C emissions by 14.1 Mg C ha -1 . Soil CH 4 -C uptake was not significantly different between treatments, while GS N 2 O-N emissions for PM were ~80% lower than both IC and SM. N 2 O emissions factors averaged 0.7% of the applied N-fertilizer. Cumulative contributions of CO 2 emissions to GWP were offset by biomass-C resulting in a near zero balance (−5.1 Mg CO 2eq ha -1 ) for the PM, where, IC and SM sequestered significantly more CO 2 resulting in a net GWP of −42.5 and -32.2 Mg CO 2eq ha -1 , respectively. Intercropping with switchgrass can improve the net greenhouse gas balance of hybrid poplar. Continued research is needed on the effects of irrigated bioenergy production on GHG emissions in intercropped systems as they will become increasingly important as agricultural water use, water availability and quality are challenged by climate change.Abbreviations: DM, dry matter; GHG, greenhouse gas; GS, growing season; GWP, global warming potential; N EF , nitrogen emissions factor; PM, monoculture poplar; IC, poplar/ switchgrass intercrop; SM, switchgrass monoculture M ajor shifts in crop production will occur as farmers prepare to supply the demand for biomass feedstocks for production of renewable biofuels. These shifts will affect agroecosystem services related to water use, carbon storage, nutrient cycling and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that have direct effects on air, water, and soil quality (Popp et al., 2014). Perennial grasses are an important source of feed and fiber and are considered sustainable bioenergy crops because they have the capacity to produce large quantities of biomass, can be grown on marginal lands, improve soil quality and protect soils from erosion (Lemus and Lal, 2005;Sartori et al., 2006; Casler et al., 2009;Gelfand et al., 2013). Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a prominent biomass crop for the US biofuel industry (Sanderson et al., 2007; Casler et al., 2009) because it yields well on a variety of soil types, is drought-tolerant, and has low fertility requirements (McLaughlin and Kszos, 2005;Lemus and Lal, 2005;Kimura et al., 2015). The root system of switchgrass has been shown to offset C losses and promotes C sequestration by adding a Core Ideas• A critical issue in the production of biofuels has been the competition with food crops• Intercropping switchgrass and hybrid poplar wa...

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Biomass production for biofuels using agroforestry: potential for the North Central Region of the United States

Cited by 48 publications

References 42 publications

Agroforestry—The Next Step in Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture

Agroforestry—The Next Step in Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture

Branching out: Agroforestry as a climate change mitigation and adaptation tool for agriculture

Intercropping with Switchgrass Improves Net Greenhouse Gas Balance in Hybrid Poplar Plantations on a Sand Soil

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