Oilseed Cover Crops for Sustainable Aviation Fuels Production and Reduction in Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Land Use Savings

Abstract

Induced Land Use Changes (ILUCs) can decrease the environmental benefits of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) if produced from traditional food crops. The development of oilseed cover crops can eliminate the side effect of ILUCs for biofuel production because they come in rotation with the major crops with some savings in demand for new cropland. This study implemented Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and GTAP-BIO to estimate ILUC emissions values, the potentially available area, and total possible emissions savings of producing SAFs from carinata, camelina, and pennycress in the United States. The results suggest that: 1) the meals produced in conjunction with increases in Sustainable Aviation Fuel production from carinata, camelina, and pennycress could reduce land use emissions by 12.9, 15.3, and 18.3 gCO2e/MJ, respectively; 2) the total area of available land for producing these feedstocks could be about 29.3 million ha in 2035; and 3) using this area of land for SAF production, depends on the mix of oilseed cover crops that can be produced in practice, could generate up to 92 million metric tons of savings in GHG emissions per year. The projected emissions savings is about 11% of the current global GHG emissions generated by the aviation industry. Providing incentives to encourage farmers to produce these cover crops and facilitating investment in producing SAF from these cover crops are the most important factors that could help the aviation industry to enhance emissions savings.

Biofuels in Aviation: Exploring the Impact of Sustainable Aviation Fuels in Aircraft Engines

“…Another pathway for GHG reduction is the utilization of oilseed cover crops, which can serve as feedstocks for biofuels without requiring additional agricultural land. This approach can lead to significant land-use savings, reduce ILUC emissions, and contribute to overall GHG reduction goals [87]. The successful implementation of these pathways could contribute substantially to aviation's efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.…”

Relay cropping as an adaptive strategy to cope with climate change

“…One area of research beginning to take shape is thoroughly evaluating the impact of relay cropping systems on GHG emissions, C sequestration, and C footprint (Cecchin, Pourhashem, Gesch, Lenssen, et al., 2021; Taheripour et al., 2022). As relay systems such as those utilizing winter oilseeds (Berti et al., 2015; Gesch et al., 2014) develop and gain commercial traction, there is great need for large‐scale studies to determine climate change impacts at landscape and farm scales that include a wide range of soil types and climates.…”

“…Relay cropping is considered a sustainably intensified system that generally results in greater overall production than monocrop systems (Duncan et al., 1990; Gesch et al., 2014) while providing environmental benefits related to keeping living cover on soils throughout the year (Tanveer et al., 2017), which potentially can help mitigate some of the impacts of climate change (Cecchin, Pourhashem, Gesch, Lenssen, et al., 2021), especially in temperate climate regions. Moreover, relay cropping provides an excellent means of balancing food and renewable energy production with little land use change with the ability to deliver supporting and regulating ecosystem services (Berti et al., 2017; Chen et al., 2019; Schepers et al., 2005; Taheripour et al., 2022; Tanveer et al., 2017). However, relay cropping presents greater challenges than conventional monocrop systems regarding crop management and timing, especially during the overlap phase of the primary and relayed crop and during harvest of the primary crop (Lamichhane et al., 2023).…”

Bioclimatic analysis of potential worldwide production of spring‐type camelina [Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz] seeded in the spring

“…90%) and tocopherols and low levels of the undesirable fatty acid, erucic acid (<4%), rendering camelina oil well‐suited for a wide variety of applications, ranging from food and feed to industry (Abramovič et al., 2007; Righini et al., 2016; Vollmann & Eynck, 2015; Zubr, 1997; Zubr & Matthäus, 2002). In particular, camelina has been identified, together with other Brassicaceae species, like pennycress ( Thlaspi arvense L.) and carinata ( Brassica carinata L.) as a feasible option for sourcing a low indirect Land Use Change feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel (Taheripour et al., 2022). The global aviation sector currently almost entirely relies on fossil fuels and accounts for approximately 2% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Cames et al., 2015).…”