Life cycle greenhouse gas benefits or burdens of residual biomass from landscape management

Swinda F. Pfau; Steef V. Hanssen; Menno W. Straatsma; K. Remon Koopman; Rob S.E.W. Leuven; Mark A.J. Huijbregts

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.02.001

Life cycle greenhouse gas benefits or burdens of residual biomass from landscape management

Swinda F. Pfau^*, Steef V. Hanssen, Menno W. Straatsma, K. Remon Koopman, Rob S.E.W. Leuven, Mark A.J. Huijbregts

^*Corresponding author for this work

Radboud University Nijmegen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The use of residual biomass for the production of bioenergy and biomaterials is often suggested as a strategy to avoid negative effects associated with dedicated biomass production. One potential source is biomass from landscape management. The goal of this study was to find the lowest net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of various applications of residual biomass from landscape management. GHG balances of thirteen residual biomass applications were calculated and compared to their respective conventional counterfactuals. As a case study, the potential contribution to climate change mitigation through the use of residual biomass available from vegetation management in floodplains of the Dutch Rhine delta were quantified. The greatest GHG benefits are achieved when using woody biomass to produce heat (−132 kg CO ₂ -eq./tonne wet biomass) and grassy biomass to produce growth media (−229 kg CO ₂ -eq./tonne wet biomass). In contrast, composting grassy biomass for fertiliser replacement on agricultural fields results in the largest GHG burdens of 62 kg CO ₂ -eq./tonne wet biomass. The findings imply that residual biomass from landscape management can contribute to both GHG benefits and burdens, depending on the application. Higher benefits were found for bioenergy than for biomaterial applications. Biomass applications should be chosen with care and consideration of their counterfactuals.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	698-706
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Cleaner Production
Volume	220
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.02.001
Publication status	Published - 20 May 2019

Funding

We thank the stakeholders who provided valuable information for this study, specifically: Joyce Zuijdam, Yuri Wolf, Frank van Hedel, Marien Verwolf, Rick Kuggelein, Tim Brethouwer, Henk Vink, Edwin Hamoen, Jos Vrolijk, Eva Boon, Heleen Vreugdenhil and Maarten van Baren. This research forms part of the RiverCare research programme which is supported by the Dutch Foundation for Applied and Engineering Sciences, part of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) . The programme is partly funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy under grant number P12-14 (Perspective Programme). We are thankful to Toine Smits for acquiring partial funding for the project (RiverCare-H). SVH and MAJH were supported by ERC grant 62002139 ERC–CoG SIZE 647224). The funding agencies were not involved in the design, execution and reporting of this study.

Keywords

Bioenergy
Biomass residues
Biomaterial
Climate change mitigation
Floodplain management
Riparian vegetation

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.02.001

Life cycle greenhouse gas benefitsFinal published version, 1.4 MBLicence: Taverne

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title = "Life cycle greenhouse gas benefits or burdens of residual biomass from landscape management",

abstract = " The use of residual biomass for the production of bioenergy and biomaterials is often suggested as a strategy to avoid negative effects associated with dedicated biomass production. One potential source is biomass from landscape management. The goal of this study was to find the lowest net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of various applications of residual biomass from landscape management. GHG balances of thirteen residual biomass applications were calculated and compared to their respective conventional counterfactuals. As a case study, the potential contribution to climate change mitigation through the use of residual biomass available from vegetation management in floodplains of the Dutch Rhine delta were quantified. The greatest GHG benefits are achieved when using woody biomass to produce heat (−132 kg CO 2 -eq./tonne wet biomass) and grassy biomass to produce growth media (−229 kg CO 2 -eq./tonne wet biomass). In contrast, composting grassy biomass for fertiliser replacement on agricultural fields results in the largest GHG burdens of 62 kg CO 2 -eq./tonne wet biomass. The findings imply that residual biomass from landscape management can contribute to both GHG benefits and burdens, depending on the application. Higher benefits were found for bioenergy than for biomaterial applications. Biomass applications should be chosen with care and consideration of their counterfactuals. ",

keywords = "Bioenergy, Biomass residues, Biomaterial, Climate change mitigation, Floodplain management, Riparian vegetation",

author = "Pfau, {Swinda F.} and Hanssen, {Steef V.} and Straatsma, {Menno W.} and Koopman, {K. Remon} and Leuven, {Rob S.E.W.} and Huijbregts, {Mark A.J.}",

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AU - Pfau, Swinda F.

AU - Hanssen, Steef V.

AU - Straatsma, Menno W.

AU - Koopman, K. Remon

AU - Leuven, Rob S.E.W.

AU - Huijbregts, Mark A.J.

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N2 - The use of residual biomass for the production of bioenergy and biomaterials is often suggested as a strategy to avoid negative effects associated with dedicated biomass production. One potential source is biomass from landscape management. The goal of this study was to find the lowest net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of various applications of residual biomass from landscape management. GHG balances of thirteen residual biomass applications were calculated and compared to their respective conventional counterfactuals. As a case study, the potential contribution to climate change mitigation through the use of residual biomass available from vegetation management in floodplains of the Dutch Rhine delta were quantified. The greatest GHG benefits are achieved when using woody biomass to produce heat (−132 kg CO 2 -eq./tonne wet biomass) and grassy biomass to produce growth media (−229 kg CO 2 -eq./tonne wet biomass). In contrast, composting grassy biomass for fertiliser replacement on agricultural fields results in the largest GHG burdens of 62 kg CO 2 -eq./tonne wet biomass. The findings imply that residual biomass from landscape management can contribute to both GHG benefits and burdens, depending on the application. Higher benefits were found for bioenergy than for biomaterial applications. Biomass applications should be chosen with care and consideration of their counterfactuals.

AB - The use of residual biomass for the production of bioenergy and biomaterials is often suggested as a strategy to avoid negative effects associated with dedicated biomass production. One potential source is biomass from landscape management. The goal of this study was to find the lowest net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of various applications of residual biomass from landscape management. GHG balances of thirteen residual biomass applications were calculated and compared to their respective conventional counterfactuals. As a case study, the potential contribution to climate change mitigation through the use of residual biomass available from vegetation management in floodplains of the Dutch Rhine delta were quantified. The greatest GHG benefits are achieved when using woody biomass to produce heat (−132 kg CO 2 -eq./tonne wet biomass) and grassy biomass to produce growth media (−229 kg CO 2 -eq./tonne wet biomass). In contrast, composting grassy biomass for fertiliser replacement on agricultural fields results in the largest GHG burdens of 62 kg CO 2 -eq./tonne wet biomass. The findings imply that residual biomass from landscape management can contribute to both GHG benefits and burdens, depending on the application. Higher benefits were found for bioenergy than for biomaterial applications. Biomass applications should be chosen with care and consideration of their counterfactuals.

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KW - Biomaterial

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Life cycle greenhouse gas benefits or burdens of residual biomass from landscape management

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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