Climate cooling benefits of cellulosic bioenergy crops from elevated albedo

Lei, Cheyenne; Chen, Jiquan; Robertson, G. Philip

doi:10.1111/gcbb.13098

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…Conversely, miscanthus PPFD i remained high until harvest. These results agree with previous studies in the US Midwest that show greater albedo and PPFD i values for miscanthus relative to other crops (Dohleman & Long, 2009;Heaton et al, 2008;Lei et al, 2023;Miller et al, 2016;Moore et al, 2021).…”

Section: Solar Radiation Balancesupporting

confidence: 92%

“…While our measurements support our hypothesis, Hickman et al (2010) in Illinois showed no differences in R n and G between miscanthus and corn, which implies that the crops had similar AE in their study. Reports by Miller et al (2016), Moore et al (2021), and Lei et al (2023) showed that miscanthus had greater albedo than corn, but these authors did not demonstrate whether it affected R n or AE. We are not aware of other current studies that attempted to evaluate R n and AE differences between miscanthus and corn (or any other row crop).…”

Section: Surface Energy Balancementioning

confidence: 90%

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Water use and radiation balance of miscanthus and corn on marginal land in the coastal plain region of North Carolina

Carvalho,

Howard,

Crozier

et al. 2024

GCB Bioenergy

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Miscanthus is a perennial grass that can yield substantial amounts of biomass in land areas considered marginal. In the Coastal Plain region of North Carolina, marginal lands are typically located in coarse‐textured soils with low nutrient retention and water‐holding capacity, and high erosivity potential. Little is known about miscanthus water use under these conditions. We conducted a study to better understand the efficiency with which miscanthus uses natural resources such as water and radiant energy to produce harvestable dry biomass in comparison to corn, a typical commodity crop grown in the region. We hypothesized that under non‐limiting soil water conditions, miscanthus would have greater available energy and water use rates owing to its greater leaf area, thus leading to greater agronomic yields. Conversely, these effects would be negated under drought conditions. Our measurements showed that miscanthus intercepted more radiant energy than corn, which led to greater albedo (by 0.05), lower net radiation (by 4% or 0.4 MJ m−2 day−1), and lower soil heat flux (by 69% or 1.0 MJ m−2 day−1) than corn on average. Consequently, miscanthus had greater available energy (by 7% or 0.6 MJ m−2 day−1) and water use rates (by 14% or 0.5 mm day−1) than corn throughout the growing season on average, which partially confirmed our hypothesis. Greater water use rates and radiation interception by miscanthus did not translate to greater water‐use (1.5 g kg−1 vs. 1.6 g kg−1) and radiation‐use (0.9 g MJ−1 vs. 1.1 g MJ−1) efficiencies than corn. Compared to literature values, our data indicated that water and radiation availability were not limiting at our study site. Thus, it is likely that marginal land features present at the Coastal Plain region such as low soil fertility and high air temperatures throughout the growing season may constrain agronomic yields even if soil water and radiant energy are non‐limiting.

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Section: Solar Radiation Balancesupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Surface Energy Balancementioning

confidence: 90%

Water use and radiation balance of miscanthus and corn on marginal land in the coastal plain region of North Carolina

Carvalho,

Howard,

Crozier

et al. 2024

GCB Bioenergy

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“…These imbalances due to surface albedo changes are referred to as albedoinduced radiative forcing (RF α ). The RF from albedo difference is the amount of energy reflected for assessing the warming/cooling potentials of different surfaces (Lei 2022, Lei et al 2023. However, to gauge the cooling potential of agricultural surfaces, the analysis of the variability and dynamics of albedo across unique landscapes needs to be performed at multiple temporal scales and at different crop types.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Still, current scientific understanding of forcing effects of albedo is relatively low (IPCC 2022, Sciusco et al 2022. Previous studies have attempted to bridge this knowledge gap using satellite data (Fang et al 2007, Zhang et al 2010, Sciusco et al 2020, 2022, where spatial measurements are effective but discontinuous temporal measurements may miss key crop phenological stages; or by using biophysical models (Smith et al 2020), where albedo is often estimated by generic values not representative of individual crops on the land surface. In contrast, field-based observations can be employed to more accurately observe changes in phenology, document unique agronomic managements over the course of a growing season, and identify crop-specific surface reflectivity benefits not easily discerned from satellite pixels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Albedo of crops as a nature-based climate solution to global warming

Lei,

Chen,

Ibáñez

et al. 2024

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Surface albedo can affect the energy budget and subsequently cause localized warming or cooling of the climate. When we convert a substantial portion of lands to agriculture, land surface properties are consequently altered, including albedo. Through crop selection and management, one can increase crop albedo to obtain higher levels of localized cooling effects to mitigate global warming. Still, there is little understanding about how distinctive features of a cropping system may be responsible for elevated albedo and consequently for the cooling potential of cultivated lands. To address this pressing issue, we conducted seasonal measurements of surface reflectivity during five growing seasons on annual crops of corn-soybean–winter wheat (Zea mays L.- Glycine max L. Merrill - Triticum aestivum L.; CSW) rotations at three agronomic intensities, a monoculture of perennial switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), and perennial polycultures of early successional and restored prairie grasslands. We found that crop-species, agronomic intensity, seasonality, and plant phenology had significant effects on albedo. The mean±SD albedo was highest in perennial crops of switchgrass (0.179±0.04), intermediate in early successional crops (0.170±0.04), and lowest in a reduced input corn systems with cover crops (0.154±0.02). The strongest cooling potentials were found in soybean (-0.450 kg CO2e m-2 yr-1) and switchgrass (-0.367 kg CO2e m-2 yr-1), with up to -0.265 kg CO2e m-2 yr-1 of localized climate cooling annually provided by different agroecosystems. We also demonstrated how diverse ecosystems, leaf canopy, and agronomic practices can affect surface reflectivity and provide another potential nature-based solution for reducing global warming at localized scales.

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