Carbon sequestration in French agricultural soils: A spatial economic evaluation

Abstract

Soil organic carbon sequestration measures entail costs to farmers with different individual characteristics and located in different areas. A cost‐effective analysis taking into account these heterogeneities is crucial for developing effective public policy aimed at increasing carbon sequestration. We undertake such an analysis focusing on three soil organic carbon sequestration measures: no‐till, extension of temporary grasslands, and hedgerows. Through an optimization model applied to France, our results show that only extension of temporary grasslands can store carbon at low cost, though their potential for carbon sequestration is also low. For an ambitious carbon sequestration target, no‐till and hedgerows are needed. Because of heterogeneities among farmers, we show that economic incentives are more cost effective than command and control measures. Furthermore, we highlight that the carbon sequestration policy tested here is unable to totally neutralize agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and that a combination of agricultural and environmental policies is essential for tackling climate change.

Creating frameworks to foster soil carbon sequestration

“…Economic incentives to encourage landholder adoption of SOC sequestration practices may take the form of payments or subsidies for increases in SOC stocks or penalties, such as taxes for SOC losses. A study of land use in France sought to compare the cost-effectiveness of approaches based on either payments to compensate for costs of implementing better practice, or taxes (Bamière et al 2021). The study, which examined three SOC sequestration measures -no-till, extension of temporary grasslands and hedgerows -found a disparity between net SOC sequestration and costs of implementation.…”

“…Hedgerows and extended pasture phases in mixed crop/pasture systems resulted in sequestration of, respectively, 14.5 and 1.6 Mt CO 2 -e, but very different average costs of €75/t CO 2 -e sequestered for the hedgerow option but -€259/t CO 2 -e in the case of extended pasture phases. Bamière et al (2021) found that increasing the carbon price from €50 to €100 per t CO 2 -e shifted the viability of actions and the dominance of farming enterprise participation. At the higher carbon price, the area of fallow land entering the scheme increased at the expense of the least-cost carbon storage option of temporary grasslands.…”

Marginal cost of carbon sequestration through forest afforestation of agricultural land in the southeastern United States

“…Previous research has estimated the supply curve for carbon sequestration using mathematical programming models (Adams et al., 1993; Bamière et al., 2021; Beach et al., 2008; Frey et al., 2013; Parks & Hardie, 1995; Richards et al., 1993; Schneider & McCarl, 2006), econometric models (Lubowski et al., 2006; Newell & Stavins, 2000; Plantinga & Wu, 2003; Plantinga et al., 1999; Stavins, 1999), or a mix of programming and econometric models (Antle et al., 2003). Some of the previous work depends on stated preferences for how landowners would respond to a hypothetical policy (Adams et al., 1993; Parks & Hardie, 1995; Richards et al., 1993; Van Kooten et al., 2002).…”

Socioeconomic and technical factors determining the adoption of hedgerows around greenhouses in southeast Spain

“…In addition, Li et al (2020) estimate an increase in the selling price of the products of 0.4 EUR•kg -1 due to improved fruit quality and increased product value by using more environmentally friendly techniques. On the other hand, there may be other benefits derived from the provision of other ecosystem services by hedgerows, such as carbon sequestration, which is estimated to provide additional soil carbon storage of 0.15 tonnes per ha per year (Bamière et al 2021), or enhanced pollination, which can be increased by up to 36% (Morandin et al 2016). However, installing hedgerows can lead to a reduction in crop yields, estimated at 1.2% by Bamière et al (2021).…”

“…On the other hand, there may be other benefits derived from the provision of other ecosystem services by hedgerows, such as carbon sequestration, which is estimated to provide additional soil carbon storage of 0.15 tonnes per ha per year (Bamière et al 2021), or enhanced pollination, which can be increased by up to 36% (Morandin et al 2016). However, installing hedgerows can lead to a reduction in crop yields, estimated at 1.2% by Bamière et al (2021). In any case, this practice is not very widespread among farmers who produce in greenhouses because they consider it best to maintain scarce vegetation around their farms because they believe this reduces the risk of pest infestations (Messelink et al 2021).…”