Life cycle assessment of native plants and marginal lands for bioenergy agriculture in Kentucky as a model for south‐eastern USA

Abstract

The Brookings Institute analysis rate both Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky (USA) as two of the nation's largest carbon emitters. This high carbon footprint is largely due to the fact that 95% of electricity is produced from coal. Kentucky has limited options for electric power production from low carbon sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric. Other states (TN, IN, OH, WV, and IL) in this region are similarly limited in renewable energy capacity. Bioenergy agriculture could account for a proportion of renewable energy needs, but to what extent is unclear. Herein, we found that abandoned agricultural land, not including land that is in fallow or crop rotation, aquatic ecosystems, nor plant-life that had passed through secondary ecological succession totaled 1.9 Mha and abandoned mine-land totaled 0.3 Mha, which combined accounted for 21% of Kentucky's land mass. A life cycle assessment was performed based on local yield and agronomic data for native grass bioenergy agriculture. These data showed that utilizing Kentucky's marginal land to grow native C 4 grasses for cellulosic ethanol and bioelectricity may account for up to 13.3% and 17.2% of the states 2 trillion MJ energy consumption and reduce green house gas emissions by 68% relative to gasoline.

Comparison of Three Production Scenarios for Buxus microphylla var. japonica ‘Green Beauty’ Marketed in a No. 3 Container on the West Coast Using Life Cycle Assessment

“…Life cycle assessment is a tool that has been used to characterize the environmental impact of products from cradle to grave or defined subsets of their life cycle, including agricultural products (Debolt et al, 2009;Koerber et al, 2009;Payraudeau and van der Werf, 2005). Greenhouse gas emissions and the subsequent CF of nursery crops have been reported for production systems in the United States (Ingram, 2012) and Europe (Beccaro et al, 2014;Lazzerini et al, 2016;Nicese and Lazzerini, 2013).…”

Soil Carbon Change and Net Energy Associated with Biofuel Production on Marginal Lands: A Regional Modeling Perspective

“…In general, marginal lands are less productive, produce lower economic returns, and are more sensitive to land degradation than productive croplands (Wood et al, 2000; Wiegmann et al, 2008; Dale et al, 2010; Kang et al, 2013). Thus, it would be possible for energy crops grown on marginal lands to yield less and have larger environmental impacts than when grown on productive croplands (Debolt et al, 2009; Bhardwaj et al, 2011; Cai et al, 2011). Nevertheless, because the magnitude of this difference is uncertain, it is important to understand the differences between marginal lands and productive croplands in terms of their potential biofuel productivity and related environmental consequences.…”

“…Recent analyses locating marginal lands for biofuel production were based primarily on qualitative assumptions. For example, assuming that nonarable land resources have low productivity, Gopalakrishnan et al (2009) and Debolt et al (2009) considered idle, pasture, and abandoned lands as marginal lands. Another qualitative metric often used is the USDA land capability classification system.…”

Southeast Regional Clean Energy Policy Analysis (Revised)

“…A 2009 study at the University of Kentucky examined the potential to grow dedicated energy crops on abandoned agricultural land and mine land considering current land uses, soil fertility/contamination, energy content of native grasses, and emissions related to biomass fuel production (Debolt et al 2009). The researchers conclude that a significant percentage of the energy needs in Kentucky and similar southeastern states can be fueled through dedicated energy crops while reducing net carbon dioxide A survey and behavior study by the University of Tennessee investigated farmer views on growing switchgrass as an energy crop (Velandia et al 2010).…”