Irrigation of biomass plantations may globally increase water stress more than climate change

Abstract

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is considered an important negative emissions (NEs) technology, but might involve substantial irrigation on biomass plantations. Potential water stress resulting from the additional withdrawals for irrigation warrants evaluation against the avoided climate change impact. Here we quantitatively assess potential side effects of BECCS with respect to water stress by disentangling the associated drivers (irrigated bioenergy, climate, land use patterns) using comprehensive global model simulations. By considering a widespread use of irrigated BECCS to limit global warming to 1.5°C, our results suggest that both the global area and population living under severe water stress will double by the end of the 21st century, which could even exceed the impact of climate change avoided by the NEs (3°C warming). Such side-effects of achieving substantial NEs would come as an extra pressure in an already water-stressed world and could only be avoided if sustainable water management would be implemented globally.

Práticas sustentáveis para agricultores de Landri Sales – PI como uma alternativa de mitigação da degradação dos solos

“…Em escala global, estudos realizados emitiram um alerta para a região do Semiárido brasileiro, destacando que, dentre as diversas áreas do planeta que são habitadas, esta é a mais suscetível às mudanças climáticas (STENZEL et al, 2021;POKHREL et al, 2021). E, a partir de análises feitas em escala local, foi possível perceber que esta região revela um movimento contrário em decorrência do uso exacerbado dos Contudo, para que essas ações práticas de combate à degradação sejam eficientes, é preciso à realização de um monitoramento ambiental, a assistência técnica especializada e extensão rural contínua, a adoção de plano de fomento e implantação de florestas plantadas em substituição à supressão da vegetação nativa.…”

A Transition Towards an Unusually Wet Condition Will Not Alleviate Water Scarcity Risk in Xinjiang, China

“…We calculated the Water Scarcity Index (WSI), defined as the ratio of total water demand to available surface water resources, from which the yearly mean water stress is derived (Greve et al., 2018; Stenzel et al., 2021; X. Zhao et al., 2015), at both the basin level and for the entire Xinjiang region. Generally, it is assumed that WSI in the range 0.2–0.4 implies mild water stress, while values larger than 0.4 indicate severe water scarcity.…”

Mapping the Sustainability of Bioenergy to Maximise Benefits, Mitigate Risks and Drive Progress Toward the Sustainable Development Goals

“…Bioeconomy projects may have direct influences on the Land, such to the health and productivity of soils [57], to ecosystems and biodiversity [58,59] and they may also change land uses and classifications [60]. Potential influences on the Air include changes in pollutants [61] and particulate emissions [62]; and influences to Water include changes in heavy metal pollutants [63,64] use of fertilisers and pesticides [65], use of water resource that may have impact on water availability [66], flooding [67] and water stresses [68].…”