Abandoned Cropland Should Produce Biofuels

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January 23, 2021

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by Steinar Brandslet (Norwegian University of Science and Technology/Phys.Org) Growing perennial grasses on abandoned cropland has the potential to counteract some of the negative impacts of climate change by switching to more biofuels, according to an NTNU research group.

Researchers consider increased use of biofuels to be an important part of the solution to achieve reduced CO₂ emissions. But the production of plants for biofuels can have some unfortunate trade-offs.

Now, researchers at NTNU have come up with a scenario that would put less pressure on food production and plant and animal life.

“We can grow perennial grasses in areas that until recently were used for growing food but that are no longer used for that purpose,” explains Jan Sandstad Næss, a Ph.D. candidate at the Industrial Ecology Programme at NTNU. These areas are usually still potentially cultivable and have the advantage that they are already connected to farms, which means that the infrastructure is in place and they are close to the markets.

The results from the study have now been published in Nature Sustainability.

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Until now, we haven’t known the extent of available areas for this type of grass cultivation. Næss and his colleagues Professor and director Francesco Cherubini and researcher Otávio Cavalett investigated the question by examining satellite images from around the world.

“We found 83 million hectares, or 830 000 square kilometers, of areas that until recently were used for food production but now no longer are,” says Sandstad Næss.

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“We could generate around 20 exajoules every year if we increase land area by only 3 percent and water use by 8 percent. That scenario would mean we wouldn’t disturb areas that are especially critical for biodiversity or that require a lot of irrigation,” says Cherubini.

More advantages

The researchers believe that growing perennial grasses for biofuels would simultaneously revitalize rural areas and provide more sources of income for farmers.

But this option won’t happen by itself. Communities need to determine local climatic conditions and water availability, as well as local value chains and what kind of grass is best to grow there. These decisions therefore require that local and regional authorities collaborate to implement such a plan. READ MORE

Jan Sandstad Næss et al. The land–energy–water nexus of global bioenergy potentials from abandoned cropland, Nature Sustainability (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41893-020-00680-5

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