Advancing life cycle assessment of bioenergy crops with global land use models
Bioenergy crops can cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, yet often bring hard-to-quantify environmental impacts. We present an approach for integrating global land use modeling into life cycle assessment (LCA) to estimate effects of bioenergy crops. The approach involves methodological choices connec...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Environmental Research Communications |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ad97ac |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1841550037461499904 |
|---|---|
| author | Anders Arvesen Florian Humpenöder Tomás Navarrete Gutierrez Thomas Gibon Paul Baustert Jan Philipp Dietrich Konstantin Stadler Cristina-Maria Iordan Gunnar Luderer Alexander Popp Francesco Cherubini |
| author_facet | Anders Arvesen Florian Humpenöder Tomás Navarrete Gutierrez Thomas Gibon Paul Baustert Jan Philipp Dietrich Konstantin Stadler Cristina-Maria Iordan Gunnar Luderer Alexander Popp Francesco Cherubini |
| author_sort | Anders Arvesen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Bioenergy crops can cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, yet often bring hard-to-quantify environmental impacts. We present an approach for integrating global land use modeling into life cycle assessment (LCA) to estimate effects of bioenergy crops. The approach involves methodological choices connected to time horizons, scenarios of GHG prices and socioeconomic pathways, and flexible data transfer between models. Land-use change emissions are treated as totals, avoiding uncertain separation into direct and indirect emissions. The land use model MAgPIE is used to generate scenarios up to 2070 of land use, GHG emissions, irrigation and fertilizer use with different scales of perennial grass bioenergy crop deployment. We find that land use-related CO _2 emission for bioenergy range from 2 to 35 tonne TJ ^−1 , depending on bioenergy demand, policy context, year and accounting method. GHG emissions per unit of bioenergy do not increase with bioenergy demand in presence of an emission tax. With a GHG price of 40 or 200 $ tonne ^−1 CO _2 , GHG per bioenergy remain similar if the demand is doubled. A carbon tax thus has a stronger effect on emissions than bioenergy demand. These findings suggest that even a relatively moderate GHG price (40 $ tonne ^−1 CO _2 ) can prevent significant emissions, highlighting the critical role governance plays in securing the climate benefits of bioenergy. However, realizing these benefits in practice will depend on a coherent policy framework for pricing CO _2 emissions from land-use change, which is currently absent. Overall, our approach addresses direct and indirect effects associated with irrigation, machinery fuel and fertilizer use as well as emissions. Thanks to a global spatial coverage and temporal dimension, it facilitates a systematic and consistent inclusion of indirect effects in a global analysis framework. Future research can build on our open-source data/software to study different regions, bioenergy products or impacts. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cef69ade33314f45907467b4afca8b57 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2515-7620 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-cef69ade33314f45907467b4afca8b572025-01-10T10:45:21ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Communications2515-76202025-01-0161212500410.1088/2515-7620/ad97acAdvancing life cycle assessment of bioenergy crops with global land use modelsAnders Arvesen0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1378-3142Florian Humpenöder1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2927-9407Tomás Navarrete Gutierrez2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0525-4678Thomas Gibon3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2778-8825Paul Baustert4Jan Philipp Dietrich5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4309-6431Konstantin Stadler6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1548-201XCristina-Maria Iordan7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9975-2656Gunnar Luderer8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9057-6155Alexander Popp9https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9500-1986Francesco Cherubini10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7147-4292Industrial Ecology Programme and Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway; SINTEF Energy Research, Trondheim, NorwayPotsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, GermanyLuxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), LuxembourgLuxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), LuxembourgLuxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), LuxembourgPotsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, GermanyIndustrial Ecology Programme and Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, NorwayIndustrial Ecology Programme and Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway; SINTEF Ocean, Trondheim, NorwayPotsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, GermanyPotsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, GermanyIndustrial Ecology Programme and Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, NorwayBioenergy crops can cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, yet often bring hard-to-quantify environmental impacts. We present an approach for integrating global land use modeling into life cycle assessment (LCA) to estimate effects of bioenergy crops. The approach involves methodological choices connected to time horizons, scenarios of GHG prices and socioeconomic pathways, and flexible data transfer between models. Land-use change emissions are treated as totals, avoiding uncertain separation into direct and indirect emissions. The land use model MAgPIE is used to generate scenarios up to 2070 of land use, GHG emissions, irrigation and fertilizer use with different scales of perennial grass bioenergy crop deployment. We find that land use-related CO _2 emission for bioenergy range from 2 to 35 tonne TJ ^−1 , depending on bioenergy demand, policy context, year and accounting method. GHG emissions per unit of bioenergy do not increase with bioenergy demand in presence of an emission tax. With a GHG price of 40 or 200 $ tonne ^−1 CO _2 , GHG per bioenergy remain similar if the demand is doubled. A carbon tax thus has a stronger effect on emissions than bioenergy demand. These findings suggest that even a relatively moderate GHG price (40 $ tonne ^−1 CO _2 ) can prevent significant emissions, highlighting the critical role governance plays in securing the climate benefits of bioenergy. However, realizing these benefits in practice will depend on a coherent policy framework for pricing CO _2 emissions from land-use change, which is currently absent. Overall, our approach addresses direct and indirect effects associated with irrigation, machinery fuel and fertilizer use as well as emissions. Thanks to a global spatial coverage and temporal dimension, it facilitates a systematic and consistent inclusion of indirect effects in a global analysis framework. Future research can build on our open-source data/software to study different regions, bioenergy products or impacts.https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ad97aclife cycle assessment (LCA)land use and land use change (LULUC)integrated assessment model (IAM)climate change mitigationsustainability assessmentsecond generation bioenergy |
| spellingShingle | Anders Arvesen Florian Humpenöder Tomás Navarrete Gutierrez Thomas Gibon Paul Baustert Jan Philipp Dietrich Konstantin Stadler Cristina-Maria Iordan Gunnar Luderer Alexander Popp Francesco Cherubini Advancing life cycle assessment of bioenergy crops with global land use models Environmental Research Communications life cycle assessment (LCA) land use and land use change (LULUC) integrated assessment model (IAM) climate change mitigation sustainability assessment second generation bioenergy |
| title | Advancing life cycle assessment of bioenergy crops with global land use models |
| title_full | Advancing life cycle assessment of bioenergy crops with global land use models |
| title_fullStr | Advancing life cycle assessment of bioenergy crops with global land use models |
| title_full_unstemmed | Advancing life cycle assessment of bioenergy crops with global land use models |
| title_short | Advancing life cycle assessment of bioenergy crops with global land use models |
| title_sort | advancing life cycle assessment of bioenergy crops with global land use models |
| topic | life cycle assessment (LCA) land use and land use change (LULUC) integrated assessment model (IAM) climate change mitigation sustainability assessment second generation bioenergy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ad97ac |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT andersarvesen advancinglifecycleassessmentofbioenergycropswithgloballandusemodels AT florianhumpenoder advancinglifecycleassessmentofbioenergycropswithgloballandusemodels AT tomasnavarretegutierrez advancinglifecycleassessmentofbioenergycropswithgloballandusemodels AT thomasgibon advancinglifecycleassessmentofbioenergycropswithgloballandusemodels AT paulbaustert advancinglifecycleassessmentofbioenergycropswithgloballandusemodels AT janphilippdietrich advancinglifecycleassessmentofbioenergycropswithgloballandusemodels AT konstantinstadler advancinglifecycleassessmentofbioenergycropswithgloballandusemodels AT cristinamariaiordan advancinglifecycleassessmentofbioenergycropswithgloballandusemodels AT gunnarluderer advancinglifecycleassessmentofbioenergycropswithgloballandusemodels AT alexanderpopp advancinglifecycleassessmentofbioenergycropswithgloballandusemodels AT francescocherubini advancinglifecycleassessmentofbioenergycropswithgloballandusemodels |