Preventing a growing risk: Addressing the invasive potential of bioenergy feedstocks

Glaser, Aviva; Glick, Patty

doi:10.1002/wsb.153

Cited by 9 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Using the biomass of invasive alien species in already invaded areas for bioenergy production could also result in the opening of Pandora's box. Glaser and Glick argue that the use of this biomass source will inevitably create a lobby from the bioenergy industry to expand these crops to new areas. This study is by no means a call for further spread of invasive alien plant species or their agricultural exploitation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomass of invasive plant species as a potential feedstock for bioenergy production

Meerbeek

Appels

Dewil

et al. 2015

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

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Invasive alien species (IAS) are one of the most important drivers of species loss. A series of recent (inter)national policies and guidelines however did not prevent new introductions and further spread of non‐indigenous species. But instead of considering invasive plant species as a burden, the biomass production of IAS can be considered and used as an ecosystem service. To assess the possibilities for bioenergy production of four invasive alien plant species in Europe, Fallopia japonica, Heracleum mantegazzianum, Impatiens glandulifera and Solidago gigantea, we determined their biomass production, gross calorific value and biogas yield. The viability of the propagules after digestion was also tested to assess the dispersal risk related to the bioenergy chain. Fallopia japonica and S. gigantea achieved a high annual biomass yield of 8.6 ton DM per hectare. Impatiens glandulifera and H. mantegazzianum had a lower biomass production (5.8 and 6.0 ton DM ha−1). Without extra inputs or agronomic optimization of the crops, the anaerobic digestion of the studied invasive plant species achieved comparable energy outputs per hectare (28–88 GJ ha−1) as some of the current bioenergy systems. All propagules lost their viability after digestion. The risk of further invasion is thus minimized during the digestion process. However, caution during harvest and transport is required to prevent the spread of new propagules. The energetic valorization of the biomass of IAS can create an economic incentive for habitat restoration of invaded sites and offers the opportunity to reconcile the restoration of the invaded habitats with renewable energy goals. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomass of invasive plant species as a potential feedstock for bioenergy production

Meerbeek

Appels

Dewil

et al. 2015

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

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“…Changes in precipitation and temperature have significant effects on water yield, evapotranspiration (ET), crop yield, nutrient dynamics, and other environmental indicators. The impact of climate on switchgrass yields could be spatially heterogeneous (Glaser andGlick 2012, Tulbure et al 2012). Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projected future climate scenarios based on proposed emission scenarios and the effort lead to a number of global climate models (GCMs) (IPCC 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land management strategies for improving water quality in biomass production under changing climate

2017

Environ. Res. Lett.

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The Corn Belt states are the largest corn-production areas in the United States because of their fertile land and ideal climate. This attribute is particularly important as the region also plays a key role in the production of bioenergy feedstock. This study focuses on potential change in streamflow, sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus due to climate change and land management practices in the South Fork Iowa River (SFIR) watershed, Iowa. The watershed is covered primarily with annual crops (corn and soybeans). With cropland conversion to switchgrass, stover harvest, and implementation of best management practices (BMPs) (such as establishing riparian buffers and applying cover crops), significant reductions in nutrients were observed in the SFIR watershed under historical climate and future climate scenarios. Under a historical climate scenario, suspended sediment (SS), total nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) at the outlet point of the SFIR watershed could decrease by up to 56.7%, 32.0%, and 16.5%, respectively, compared with current land use when a portion of the cropland is converted to switchgrass and a cover crop is in place. Climate change could cause increases of 9.7% in SS, 4.1% in N, and 7.2% in P compared to current land use. Under future climate scenarios, nutrients including SS, N, and P were reduced through land management and practices and BMPs by up to 54.0% (SS), 30.4% (N), and 7.1% (P). Water footprint analysis further revealed changes in green water that are highly dependent on land management scenarios. The study highlights the versatile approaches in landscape management that are available to address climate change adaptation and acknowledged the complex nature of different perspectives in water sustainability. Further study involving implementing landscape design and management by using long-term monitoring data from field to watershed is necessary to verify the findings and move toward watershed-specific regional programs for climate adaptation.

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“…This fact is a definite advantage for conducting future bioremediation studies in the laboratory and in situ , with this artificially selected strain. Furthermore, the absence of genetic manipulation and the selection of native microalgae make the selected organisms of particular relevance for environmental remediation purposes in the Saelices mine, avoiding regulatory scrutiny due to legal restrictions on genetically modified organisms and the introduction of invasive species (Glaser and Glick, 2012 ; Snow and Smith, 2012 ; Gressel et al, 2013 ). Consequently, the artificial selection of native species seems to be an interesting procedure for bioremediation in extremely contaminated environments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improvement of the Uranium Sequestration Ability of a Chlamydomonas sp. (ChlSP Strain) Isolated From Extreme Uranium Mine Tailings Through Selection for Potential Bioremediation Application

et al. 2018

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The extraction and processing of uranium (U) have polluted large areas worldwide, rendering anthropogenic extreme environments inhospitable to most species. Noticeably, these sites are of great interest for taxonomical and applied bioprospection of extremotolerant species successfully adapted to U tailings contamination. As an example, in this work we have studied a microalgae species that inhabits extreme U tailings ponds at the Saelices mining site (Salamanca, Spain), characterized as acidic (pH between 3 and 4), radioactive (around 4 μSv h−1) and contaminated with metals, mainly U (from 25 to 48 mg L−1) and zinc (from 17 to 87 mg L−1). After isolation of the extremotolerant ChlSP strain, morphological characterization and internal transcribed spacer (ITS)-5.8S gene sequences placed it in the Chlamydomonadaceae, but BLAST analyses identity values, against the nucleotide datasets at the NCBI database, were very low (<92%). We subjected the ChlSP strain to an artificial selection protocol to increase the U uptake and investigated its response to selection. The ancestral strain ChlSP showed a U-uptake capacity of ≈4.30 mg U g−1 of dry biomass (DB). However, the artificially selected strain ChlSG was able to take up a total of ≈6.34 mg U g−1 DB, close to the theoretical maximum response (≈7.9 mg U g−1 DB). The selected ChlSG strain showed two possible U-uptake mechanisms: the greatest proportion by biosorption onto cell walls (ca. 90%), and only a very small quantity, ~0.46 mg g−1 DB, irreversibly bound by bioaccumulation. Additionally, the kinetics of the U-uptake process were characterized during a microalgae growth curve; ChlSG cells removed close to 4 mg L−1 of U in 24 days. These findings open up promising prospects for sustainable management of U tailings waters based on newly evolved extremotolerants and outline the potential of artificial selection in the improvement of desired features in microalgae by experimental adaptation and selection.

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Preventing a growing risk: Addressing the invasive potential of bioenergy feedstocks

Cited by 9 publications

References 9 publications

Biomass of invasive plant species as a potential feedstock for bioenergy production

Biomass of invasive plant species as a potential feedstock for bioenergy production

Land management strategies for improving water quality in biomass production under changing climate

Improvement of the Uranium Sequestration Ability of a Chlamydomonas sp. (ChlSP Strain) Isolated From Extreme Uranium Mine Tailings Through Selection for Potential Bioremediation Application

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