Publication Date:
2019
Description:
Abstract
Biomass from short‐rotation coppice (SRC) of woody perennials is being increasingly used as a bioenergy source to replace fossil fuels, but accurate assessments of the long‐term greenhouse gas (GHG) balance of SRC are lacking. To evaluate its mitigation potential we monitored the GHG balance of a poplar (Populus) SRC in Flanders, Belgium over seven years comprising three rotations (i.e. two 2‐year rotations and one 3‐year rotation). In the beginning – i.e. during the establishment year and during each year immediately following coppicing – the SRC plantation was a net source of GHGs. Later on – i.e. during each second or third year after coppicing – the site shifted to a net sink. From the sixth year onward there was a net cumulative GHG uptake reaching ‐35.8 Mg CO2 eq ha‐1 during the seventh year. Over the three rotations, the total CO2 uptake was ‐51.2 Mg CO2 ha‐1, while the emissions of CH4 and N2O amounted to 8.9 and 6.5 Mg CO2 eq ha‐1, respectively. As the site was non‐fertilized, non‐irrigated and only occasionally flooded, CO2 fluxes dominated the GHG budget. Soil disturbance after land conversion and after coppicing were the main drivers for CO2 losses. One single N2O pulse shortly after SRC establishment contributed significantly to the N2O release. The results prove the potential of SRC biomass plantations to reduce GHG emissions and demonstrate that, for the poplar plantation under study, the high CO2 uptake outweighs the emissions of non‐CO2 greenhouse gases.
Print ISSN:
1757-1693
Electronic ISSN:
1757-1707
Topics:
Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
Permalink