Estimating the carbon storage potential and greenhouse gas emissions of French arable cropland using high‐resolution modeling

Launay, Camille; Constantin, Julie; Chlébowski, Florent; Houot, Sabine; Graux, Anne-Isabelle; Klumpp, Katja; Martin, Raphaël; Mary, Bruno; Pellerin, Sylvain; Thérond, Olivier

doi:10.1111/gcb.15512

Cited by 58 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 87 publications

(116 reference statements)

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“…The BAU scenario predicted SOC losses in around 63% of all simulated areas (Fig. 3), which is in line with the trends observed in Launay et al (2021), where SOC decreases on 55% of the simulated areas (STICS model) were observed after 30 years. The regional differences observed can be explained by the in uence of the initial SOC stocks, climate, soil and cropping system characteristics.…”

Section: Sensitivity Analysissupporting

confidence: 85%

“…Current French cropping systems must increase the C inputs by 42% on average to reach the 4‰ target (Martin et al, 2021), while recent works predict a required increase of 283% for Germany (Riggers et al, 2021). However, a decreasing SOC stocks trend under a BAU scenario has been identi ed in this work and others (Launay et al, 2021;Martin et al, 2021). In this context, the management of crop residues, allowing to increase SOC stocks as in the biochar scenarios (pyrochar, gaschar, and hydrochar) and partially in the digestate scenario, are alternatives towards the 4‰ goals.…”

Section: Crop Residues Potential For Bioeconomymentioning

confidence: 65%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The crop residue conundrum: maintaining long-term soil organic carbon stocks while reinforcing the bioeconomy, compatible endeavors?

Díaz

Clivot

Albers

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Crop residues are key to supply carbon to the bioeconomy without interfering with food security. However, it is often suggested to export no more than half of this potential to ensure the maintenance of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. In this study, we challenge this idea by assessing how the residues use for the bioeconomy is intertwined with the maintenance of long-term SOC stocks, and thus the amount that can safely be harvested. We considered the coproduct return to the soil from five bioeconomy scenarios: i) pyrolysis biochar, ii) gasification biochar, iii) hydrothermal liquefaction hydrochar, iv) anaerobic digestion digestate, and v) lignocellulosic ethanol molasses. To compare the long-term SOC changes from these scenarios against a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, in which crop residues are left unharvested, we developed an original framework coupling a SOC model with a bioeconomy module, that we applied at high spatial resolution to cover over 60,000 combinations of crop rotations and pedoclimatic units over France, for 2020–2120. The SOC model was adapted to consider the recalcitrance to degradation of each coproduct, while the bioeconomy module determines the share of carbon from the crop residues allocated to the coproducts. Our results show that crop residues could be completely harvested if biochar from pyrolysis or gasification is returned to soils, with SOC expected to double as compared to the BAU scenario. Replacing crop residues with hydrochar was shown to increase SOC stocks in 87% of the areas (max + 8%), while the digestate scenario predicted minor SOC increases in 50% of the areas (max + 0.76%) and decreases in 40% of the areas (min − 4%). The molasses scenario yielded SOC losses in all the areas and is thus not recommended as a C maintenance strategy. Excluding these, an additional amount of 60.4–191 PJ of crop residues (use-dependent) could be available for the French bioeconomy in comparison to applying a universal removal rate of 31.5%.

show abstract

Section: Sensitivity Analysissupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Crop Residues Potential For Bioeconomymentioning

confidence: 65%

The crop residue conundrum: maintaining long-term soil organic carbon stocks while reinforcing the bioeconomy, compatible endeavors?

Díaz

Clivot

Albers

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The BAU scenario predicted SOC losses in around 63% of all simulated areas (Fig. 3), which is in line with the trends observed in Launay et al (2021), where SOC decreases on 55% of the simulated areas (STICS model) were observed after 30 years. The regional differences observed can be explained by the influence of the initial SOC stocks, climate, soil, and cropping system characteristics.…”

Section: Long Term Spatially-explicit Co-products Potential For Soc S...supporting

confidence: 85%

“…Module 1 is entirely building upon the study of Launay et al (2021), launched within the frame of the French efforts within the international 4p1000 initiative ("4p1000"), acknowledged as the most comprehensive and updated spatially explicit representation of cropping systems in France. Launay et al (2021) defined a set of fundamental concepts briefly described as follows.…”

Section: Module 1: Spatially Explicit Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The crop residue conundrum: maintaining long-term soil organic carbon stocks while reinforcing the bioeconomy, compatible endeavors?

Díaz

Clivot

Albers

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Crop residues are key for supplying carbon to the bioeconomy without interfering with food security. However, it is often suggested to export no more than half of this potential to ensure the maintenance of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. In this study, we challenge this idea by assessing how the residues usage for the bioeconomy is intertwined with the maintenance of long-term SOC stocks and thus the amount that can safely be harvested. We considered the coproduct return to the soil from five bioeconomy scenarios: i) pyrolysis biochar, ii) gasification biochar, iii) hydrothermal liquefaction hydrochar, iv) anaerobic digestion digestate, and v) lignocellulosic ethanol molasses. To compare the long-term SOC changes from these scenarios against a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, in which crop residues are unharvested, we developed a framework coupling a SOC model with a bioeconomy module, that we applied at high spatial resolution to cover over 60,000 combinations of crop rotations and pedoclimatic units over France, for 2020 – 2120. The adapted SOC model considers the recalcitrance to degradation of each coproduct, while the bioeconomy module determines the share of carbon from the crop residues allocated to the coproducts. Our results show that the available harvestable crop residues could be completely harvested if pyrolysis or gasification biochar returns to soils, with SOC expected to double compared to the BAU scenario. Replacing crop residues with hydrochar showed increased SOC stocks in 88% of the areas (max +8%), while the digestate scenario predicted minor SOC increases in 50% (max +0.76%) and decreases in 40% of the areas (min -4%). The molasses scenario yielded SOC losses in all the areas and is thus not recommended. Excluding these, an additional amount of 60.4 – 191 PJ of crop residues (use-dependent) could be available for the French bioeconomy compared to applying a universal removal rate of 31.5%.

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Representing cropping systems with the MEMS 2 ecosystem model

Zhang,

King,

Hamilton

et al. 2024

Agronomy Journal

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Croplands have been the focus of substantial investigation due to their considerable potential for sequestering carbon. Understanding the potential for soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and necessary management strategies will be enabled with accurate process‐based models. Accurately representing crop growth and agricultural practices will be critical for realistic SOC modeling. The MEMS 2 model incorporates a current understanding of SOC formation and stabilization, measurable SOC pools, and deep SOC dynamics and is seen as a highly promising tool to inform management intervention for SOC sequestration. Thus far, MEMS 2 has been developed to represent grasslands. In this study, we further developed MEMS 2 to model annual grain crops and common agricultural practices, such as irrigation, fertilization, harvesting, and tillage. Using four Ameriflux sites, we demonstrated an accurate simulation of crop growth and development. Model performance was strong for simulating aboveground biomass (index of agreement [d] range of 0.89–0.98) and green leaf area index (d from 0.90 to 0.96) across corn, soybean, and winter wheat. Good agreement with observations was also achieved for net ecosystem CO2 exchange (d from 0.90 to 0.96), evapotranspiration (d from 0.91 to 0.94), and soil temperature (d of 0.96), while discrepancy with the available soil water content data remain (d from 0.14 to 0.81 at four depths to 100 cm). While we will continue model testing and improvement, MEMS 2 (version 2.14) has now demonstrated its ability to effectively simulate the growth of common grain crops and practices.

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Estimating the carbon storage potential and greenhouse gas emissions of French arable cropland using high‐resolution modeling

Cited by 58 publications

References 87 publications

The crop residue conundrum: maintaining long-term soil organic carbon stocks while reinforcing the bioeconomy, compatible endeavors?

The crop residue conundrum: maintaining long-term soil organic carbon stocks while reinforcing the bioeconomy, compatible endeavors?

The crop residue conundrum: maintaining long-term soil organic carbon stocks while reinforcing the bioeconomy, compatible endeavors?

Representing cropping systems with the MEMS 2 ecosystem model

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