Greenhouse gas budget of a poplar bioenergy plantation in Belgium: CO2 uptake outweighs CH4 and N2O emissions.

ABSTRACT: Biomass from short-rotation coppice (SRC) of woody perennials is being increasingly used as a bioenergy source to replace fossil fuels, but accurate assessments of the long-term greenhouse gas (GHG) balance of SRC are lacking. To evaluate its mitigation potential, we monitored the GHG balance of a poplar (Populus) SRC in Flanders, Belgium, over 7 years comprising three rotations (i.e., two 2 year rotations and one 3 year rotation). In the beginning-that is, during the establishment year and during each year immediately following coppicing-the SRC plantation was a net source of GHGs. Later on-that is, during each second or third year after coppicing-the site shifted to a net sink. From the sixth year onward, there was a net cumulative GHG uptake reaching -35.8 Mg CO2 eq/ha during the sevent

SUBMITTER: Horemans JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6919937 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature