Introducing perennial biomass crops into agricultural landscapes to address water quality challenges and provide other environmental services

Abstract

The world is faced with a difficult multiple challenge of meeting nutritional, energy, and other basic needs, under a limited land and water budget, of between 9 and 10 billion people in the next three decades, mitigating impacts of climate change, and making agricultural production resilient. More productivity is expected from agricultural lands, but intensification of production could further impact the integrity of our finite surface water and groundwater resources. Integrating perennial bioenergy crops in agricultural lands could provide biomass for biofuel and potential improvements on the sustainability of commodity crop production. This article provides an overview of ways in which research has shown that perennial bioenergy grasses and short rotation woody crops can be incorporated into agricultural production systems with reduced indirect land use change, while increasing water quality benefits. Current challenges and opportunities as well as future directions are also highlighted. WIREs Energy Environ 2018, 7:e275. doi: 10.1002/wene.275 This article is categorized under: Bioenergy > Climate and Environment Bioenergy > Systems and Infrastructure

Lignocellulosic‐based bioenergy and water quality parameters: a review

“…Site‐specific conditions will dictate the type of dedicated bioenergy crop to be grown. For example, WSGs can be grown in both rainfed and irrigated regions (i.e., center pivot corners), whereas SRWCs are primarily suited to rainfed regions. Opportunities exist for large‐scale production of dedicated bioenergy crops by growing dedicated bioenergy crops over a larger area (Mitchell et al ., ), and by creating multifunctional landscapes (Ssegane & Negri, ; Cacho et al ., ; Zumpf et al ., ). Multifunctional landscapes emphasize the placement and choice of bioenergy crops in landscape to minimize water quality problems (Ssegane & Negri, ).…”

“…The potential implications of WSGs and SRWCs as dedicated bioenergy crops on water quality parameters have neither been widely discussed nor reviewed. Growing WSGs and SRWCs as dedicated bioenergy crops in environmentally sensitive areas or marginally productive lands could be a strategy to reduce water erosion and address the growing water quality concerns (Ssegane & Negri, ; Cacho et al ., ; Zumpf et al ., ).…”

Engaging stakeholders to assess landscape sustainability

“…For example, when the bioenergy feedstock is a waste that otherwise might contribute to environmental degradation, benefits accrue. Use of perennial crops may improve ecosystem services (Cacho et al 2018). When feedstock production occurs in rural areas where jobs are in decline, the bioenergy industry provides a boon to the economy and social structure.…”

Positive water linkages of producing short rotation poplars and willows for bioenergy and phytotechnologies

“…We are currently actively assessing the valuation of various ecosystem services including nutrient management, sedimentation, carbon sequestration, terrestrial and aquatic wildlife habitat improvement, pollinator services, and water‐based recreation. These findings will be added to the economics of biomass planting and harvesting to develop a complete picture of the economic, water quality, and other environmental impacts that could be achieved through integration of bioenergy crops in an agricultural landscape (Cacho, Negri, Zumpf, & Campbell, ; Efroymson et al, ; Ssegane et al, , ). Potentially the value to farmers could be derived from science‐based nutrient trading mechanisms with point‐source dischargers, such as wastewater treatment plants.…”