Consequences of the cultivation of energy crops for the global nitrogen cycle

• Published in: Ecological applications Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 101 - 109
• Main Authors: Bouwman, A.F, Grinsven, J.J.M. van, Eickhout, B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 2010
• Subjects: air pollution; ammonia; Biofuels; biogeochemical cycles; biogeochemistry; crop acreage; crop production; Crops, Agricultural - metabolism; energy crops; Environment; fertilizer application; Fertilizers; gas emissions; nitric oxide; nitrogen; Nitrogen - chemistry; Nitrogen - metabolism; nitrogen fertilizers; Nitrogen Fixation; Nitrous Oxide; Time Factors
• ISSN: 1051-0761; 1939-5582
• DOI: 10.1890/08-0608.1

In this paper, we assess the global consequences of implementing first- and second-generation bioenergy in the coming five decades, focusing on the nitrogen cycle. We use a climate mitigation scenario from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Environmental Outlook, in which a carbon tax is introduced to stimulate production of biofuels from energy crops. In this scenario, the area of energy crops will increase from 8 Mha in the year 2000 to 270 Mha (14% of total cropland) and producing 5.6 Pg dry matter per year (12% of energy use) in 2050. This production requires an additional annual 19 Tg of N fertilizer in 2050 (15% of total), and this causes a global emission of 0.7 Tg of N2O-N (8% of agricultural emissions), 0.2 Tg NO-N (6%), and 2.2 Tg of NH3-N (5%). In addition, we project that 2.6 Tg of NO3(-)-N will leach from fields under energy crops. The emissions of N2O may be an important term in the greenhouse gas balance of biofuels produced from energy crops.