Crop production for biogas and water protection—A trade-off?

Svoboda, Nikolai; Taube, F.; Kluß, Christof; Wienforth, Babette; Kage, Henning; Ohl, Susanne; Hartung, Eberhard; Herrmann, A.

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2013.05.024

Cited by 43 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Laggner et al [14] noted an increase in silage maize area in most communities where pastureland area decreased between 1999 and 2007. Conversion of permanent pasture to grow crops like silage maize is related to increasing risks of soil erosion and compaction [19,20], increasing nitrogen mineralization and leaching [21][22][23], increasing release of greenhouse gases from humus degradation [22] and changes in local bio-diversity [16,18,22]. In addition, the traffic in the proximity to biogas power plants usually increases seasonally due to the large amount of feedstock material transported from the surrounding fields to the power plant site in harvesting time [24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Density of Biogas Power Plants as An Indicator of Bioenergy Generated Transformation of Agricultural Landscapes

et al. 2019

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The increasing use of biogas, produced from energy crops like silage maize, is supposed to noticeably change the structures and patterns of agricultural landscapes in Europe. The main objective of our study is to quantify this assumed impact of intensive biogas production with the example of an agrarian landscape in Northern Germany. Therefore, we used three different datasets; Corine Land Cover (CLC), local agricultural statistics (Agrar-Struktur-Erhebung, ASE), and data on biogas power plants. Via kernel density analysis, we delineated impact zones which represent different levels of bioenergy-generated transformations of agrarian landscapes. We cross-checked the results by the analyses of the land cover and landscape pattern changes from 2000 to 2012 inside the impact zones. We found significant correlations between the installed electrical capacity (IC) and land cover changes. According to our findings, the landscape pattern of cropland—expressed via landscape metrics (mean patch size (MPS), total edge (TE), mean shape index (MSI), mean fractal dimension index (MFRACT)—increased and that of pastures decreased since the beginning of biogas production. Moreover, our study indicates that the increasing number of biogas power plants in certain areas is accompanied with a continuous reduction in crop diversity and a homogenization of land use in the same areas. We found maximum degrees of land use homogenisation in areas with highest IC. Our results show that a Kernel density map of the IC of biogas power plants might offer a suitable first indicator for monitoring and quantifying landscape change induced by biogas production.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Density of Biogas Power Plants as An Indicator of Bioenergy Generated Transformation of Agricultural Landscapes

et al. 2019

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“…Nutrient demands and optimal fertilization systems very much depend on the type of cropping system. Application techniques and timing, and also the fertilizing effects of organic fertilizers all differ between annual cropping systems, such as maize, and perennial cropping systems, such as grassland (Svoboda et al, 2013). In grassland for example, the immediate effect of an organic fertilizer is usually not very pronounced due to the high organic matter content of the soil (Conant et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This stems from ecological concerns, for example the fact that maize is often cultivated in large-scale monocultures (and unfortunately often also in combination with poor farming practices), leading to an anticipated increase in pests in the future as well as landscape image issues. In addition, experience has shown that maize cultivation is highly susceptible to N losses (via leaching and gaseous emissions) and soil erosion (Taube and Herrmann, 2009;Svoboda et al, 2013). This has led to a call for alternatives to maize as biogas substrate and for diversification in crop rotations (von Cossel et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fertilizing Potential of Separated Biogas Digestates in Annual and Perennial Biomass Production Systems

Ehmann

Thumm

Lewandowski

2018

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Digestates produced by the increasing number of biogas plants require appropriate treatment or recycling. This study investigates the fertilizing potential of separated biogas digestates. These contain valuable nutrients and can be used in agriculture to close the nutrient cycle. Multi-year field experiments were established at two challenging sites in south-west Germany in 2010; results from 6 years are shown here. The objectives were to determine (1) whether separated digestates can complement or substitute mineral fertilizers and (2) their effect on long-term yield performance in different biomass cropping and fertilization systems. The fertilizing performance was assessed in a split-plot design with four replications using three cropping systems: (1) perennial grassland; (2) intercropping of triticale and clover grass; (3) silage maize. Five N fertilization treatments were applied, each at 150 kg N ha −1 :• mineral fertilizer (calcium ammonium nitrate) • combined solid digestate fraction and mineral fertilizer • solid digestate fraction • combined liquid digestate fraction and mineral fertilizer • liquid digestate fraction.The influences of site, cropping system, year and fertilization treatment were highly significant.The mineral fertilizer and combination "liquid digestate fraction + mineral fertilizer" mostly led to the highest quantitative biomass yields in all cropping systems at both sites. Fertilization with solid digestate fraction produced lowest yields in all fertilized plots, with results very often not significantly different from the untreated control. Maize achieved relatively high yields in years with favorable weather conditions; unfavorable conditions led to low yields. The grassland and intercropping systems were less susceptible to weather conditions, producing a more constant biomass supply irrespective of site, treatment and year. The separated biogas digestates were found to have a comparable effect to mineral fertilizer on biomass yield, but this varied with cropping system. In the intercropping system, complete substitution was Ehmann et al. Fertilizing With Separated Biogas Digestates possible. The solid fraction is more likely to contribute positively to soil humus in annual systems. In general, the combined application of digestate and mineral fertilizer is highly recommendable to meet crops' short-and long-term N demand, even on challenging sites. In this study, it allowed a mineral fertilizer input reduction of 66%.

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“…As shown by Svoboda et al . (2013), R1 caused substantially higher nitrate leaching than R3 at site KD, but nitrate loss stayed within acceptable ranges and did not conflict with critical values for the distribution of drinking water, when fertilized according to crop demand. In practice, however, maize often is oversupplied.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Life-cycle assessment of biogas production under the environmental conditions of northern Germany: greenhouse gas balance

et al. 2013

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A considerable expansion of biogas production in Germany, paralleled by a strong increase in maize acreage, has caused growing concern that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during crop substrate production might counteract the GHG emission saving potential. Based on a 2-year field trial, a GHG balance was conducted to evaluate the mitigation potential of regionally adapted cropping systems (continuous maize, maize-wheat-Italian ryegrass, perennial ryegrass ley), depending on nitrogen (N) level and N type. Considering the whole production chain, all cropping systems investigated contributed to the mitigation of GHG emissions (6·7-13·3 t CO 2 eq/ha), with continuous maize revealing a carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) saving potential of 55-61% compared with a fossil energy mix reference system. The current sustainability thresholds in terms of CO 2 savings set by the EU Renewable Energy Directive could be met by all cropping systems (48-76%). Emissions from crop production had the largest impact on the mitigation effect (5 50%) unless the biogas residue storage was not covered. The comparison of N fertilizer types showed less pronounced differences in GHG mitigation potential, whereas considerable site effects were observed.

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Crop production for biogas and water protection—A trade-off?

Cited by 43 publications

References 49 publications

Density of Biogas Power Plants as An Indicator of Bioenergy Generated Transformation of Agricultural Landscapes

Density of Biogas Power Plants as An Indicator of Bioenergy Generated Transformation of Agricultural Landscapes

Fertilizing Potential of Separated Biogas Digestates in Annual and Perennial Biomass Production Systems

Life-cycle assessment of biogas production under the environmental conditions of northern Germany: greenhouse gas balance

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