| 1. |
- Englund, Oskar, et al.
(författare)
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Beneficial land use change: Strategic expansion of new biomass plantations can reduce environmental impacts from EU agriculture
- 2020
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Ingår i: Global Environmental Change. - : Elsevier BV. - 0959-3780 .- 1872-9495. ; 60
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Society faces the double challenge of increasing biomass production to meet the future demands for food, materials and bioenergy, while addressing negative impacts of current (and future) land use. In the discourse, land use change (LUC) has often been considered as negative, referring to impacts of deforestation and expansion of biomass plantations. However, strategic establishment of suitable perennial production systems in agricultural landscapes can mitigate environmental impacts of current crop production, while providing biomass for the bioeconomy. Here, we explore the potential for such “beneficial LUC” in EU28. First, we map and quantify the degree of accumulated soil organic carbon losses, soil loss by wind and water erosion, nitrogen emissions to water, and recurring floods, in ∼81.000 individual landscapes in EU28. We then estimate the effectiveness in mitigating these impacts through establishment of perennial plants, in each landscape. The results indicate that there is a substantial potential for effective impact mitigation. Depending on criteria selection, 10–46% of the land used for annual crop production in EU28 is located in landscapes that could be considered priority areas for beneficial LUC. These areas are scattered all over Europe, but there are notable “hot-spots” where priority areas are concentrated, e.g., large parts of Denmark, western UK, The Po valley in Italy, and the Danube basin. While some policy developments support beneficial LUC, implementation could benefit from attempts to realize synergies between different Sustainable Development Goals, e.g., “Zero hunger”, “Clean water and sanitation”, “Affordable and Clean Energy”, “Climate Action”, and “Life on Land”.
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| 2. |
- Englund, Oskar, 1982, et al.
(författare)
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Large-scale deployment of grass in crop rotations as a multifunctional climate mitigation strategy
- 2023
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Ingår i: GCB Bioenergy. - : Wiley. - 1757-1707 .- 1757-1693. ; 15:2, s. 166-184
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The agriculture sector can contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing its own greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, sequestering carbon in vegetation and soils, and providing biomass to substitute for fossil fuels and other GHG-intensive products. The sector also needs to address water, soil, and biodiversity impacts caused by historic and current practices. Emerging EU policies create incentives for cultivation of perennial plants that provide biomass along with environmental benefits. One such option, common in northern Europe, is to include grass in rotations with annual crops to provide biomass while remediating soil organic carbon (SOC) losses and other environmental impacts. Here, we apply a spatially explicit model on >81,000 sub-watersheds in EU27 + UK (Europe) to explore the effects of widespread deployment of such systems. Based on current accumulated SOC losses in individual sub-watersheds, the model identifies and quantifies suitable areas for increased grass cultivation and corresponding biomass- and protein supply, SOC sequestration, and reductions in nitrogen emissions to water as well as wind and water erosion. The model also provides information about possible flood mitigation. The results indicate a substantial climate mitigation potential, with combined annual GHG savings from soil-carbon sequestration and displacement of natural gas with biogas from grass-based biorefineries, equivalent to 13%–48% of current GHG emissions from agriculture in Europe. The environmental co-benefits are also notable, in some cases exceeding the estimated mitigation needs. Yield increases for annual crops in modified rotations mitigate the displacement effect of increasing grass cultivation. If the grass is used as feedstock in lieu of annual crops, the displacement effect can even be negative, that is, a reduced need for annual crop production elsewhere. Incentivizing widespread deployment will require supportive policy measures as well as new uses of grass biomass, for example, as feedstock for green biorefineries producing protein concentrate, biofuels, and other bio-based products.
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| 3. |
- Nyberg, Gert, et al.
(författare)
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Enclosures in West Pokot, Kenya: Transforming land, livestock and livelihoods in drylands
- 2015
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Ingår i: Pastoralism. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-7136 .- 2041-7128. ; 5:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Dryland livestock production systems are changing in many parts of the world, as a result of growing human populations and associated pressure on water and land. Based on a combination of social and natural science methods, we studied a 30-year transformation process from pastoralism to a livestock-based agro-pastoral system in northwestern Kenya, with the overall aim to increase the understanding of the ongoing transition towards intensified agro-pastoralist production systems in dryland East Africa.Key to this transformation was the use of enclosures for land rehabilitation, fodder production, and land and livestock management. Enclosures have more soil carbon and a higher vegetation cover than adjacent areas with open grazing. The level of adoption of enclosures as a management tool has been very high, and their use has enabled agricultural diversification, e.g. increased crop agriculture, poultry production and the inclusion of improved livestock. Following the use of enclosures, livelihoods have become less dependent on livestock migration, are increasingly directed towards agribusinesses and present new opportunities and constraints for women. These livelihood changes are closely associated with, and depend on, an ongoing privatization of land under different tenure regimes.The results indicate that the observed transformation provides opportunities for a pathway towards a sustainable livestock-based agro-pastoral system that could be valid in many dryland areas in East Africa. However, we also show that emergent risks of conflicts and inequalities in relation to land, triggered by the weakening of collective property rights, pose a threat to the sustainability of this pathway.
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| 4. |
- Teixeira, Cristina, 1986, et al.
(författare)
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Application of a dynamic gastrointestinal in vitro model combined with a rat model to predict the digestive fate of barley dietary fibre and evaluate potential impact on hindgut fermentation
- 2017
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Ingår i: Bioactive Carbohydrates and Dietary Fibre. - : Elsevier BV. - 2212-6198. ; 9, s. 7-13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Processing affects the composition, structure and physico-chemical characteristics of dietary fibres, and further changes can occur along the gastro-intestinal tract before entering the colon where undigested carbohydrates may serve as a substrate for the microbiota. To elucidate the effects of dietary fibre characteristic and the impact of processing on the digestive fate of dietary fibre components, in the stomach and the small intestine, a dynamic gastrointestinal in vitro model (TIM-1) was used. Three barley malt and one brewers’ spent grain, with different contents of soluble fibre, arabinoxylan (total and soluble), and β-glucan with varying Calcofluor average molecular weight (Mcf) and molecular weight distribution were evaluated in the in vitro model. Additionally, a rat model was used to study the colonic fermentation of the dietary fibre components in the barley products. The transit time through the stomach and small intestine of the in vitro model was slowest for barley malts with the highest content of soluble fibre and β-glucan. The β-glucan Mcf decreased with digestion time for all test meals, and the molecular weight distributions in the various barley products differed markedly. The highest β-glucan Mcf was found for Cinnamon malt, which also contained the highest proportion of soluble fibre. The hindgut fermentation of fibre and the proportions of caecal propionic acid were highest in rats fed barley products high in soluble fibre, β-glucan (content and Mcf), soluble arabinoxylan, and with slowest transit during digestion in the in vitro model.
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| 5. |
- Berndes, Göran, 1966, et al.
(författare)
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Bioenergy and Land Use Change-State of the Art
- 2015
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Ingår i: Advances in Bioenergy: The Sustainability Challenge. - Oxford, UK : John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. - 9781118957875 - 9781118957844 ; , s. 249-271
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The dedicated production of biomass crops and the collection of residues in agriculture and forestry can lead to undesirable negative impacts and it is crucial that practices are found that ensure that these impacts are avoided or mitigated as far as possible. This chapter concerns the use of biomass for energy and the connection between increased bioenergy use and land use change (LUC). Land use and LUC associated with bioenergy can lead to a multitude of environmental and socioeconomic consequences. The chapter focuses on the question whether greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with LUC could undermine the climate change mitigation benefits of bioenergy. There are, however, several options for mitigating these emissions that can be implemented: development of bioenergy feedstock production systems that integrate with existing agriculture and forestry production, enhancement of land use productivity in agriculture and forestry in general, and legal protection of natural ecosystems.
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| 6. |
- Cintas Sanchez, Olivia, 1982, et al.
(författare)
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The potential role of forest management in Swedish scenarios towards climate neutrality by mid century
- 2017
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Ingår i: Forest Ecology and Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0378-1127 .- 1872-7042. ; 383:January, s. 73-84
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Swedish climate policy targets net zero greenhouse gases (GHG) by mid-century, with road transport independent of fossil fuels by 2030, requiring far-reaching changes in the way energy is used. Forest management is expected to support carbon sequestration and provide biomass for various uses, including energy. In this paper, we combine two energy scenarios with four forest scenarios and quantify GHG balances associated with energy-use for heat, electricity, and road transport, and with forest management and production, use, and end-of-life management of various forest products, including products for export. The aggregated GHG balances are evaluated in relation to the 2-degree target and an allocated Swedish CO2 budget. The production of biofuels in the agriculture sector is considered but not analyzed in detail.The results suggest that Swedish forestry can make an important contribution by supplying forest fuels and other products while maintaining or enhancing carbon storage in vegetation, soils, and forest products. The GHG neutrality goal is not met in any of the scenarios without factoring in carbon sequestration. Measures to enhance forest productivity can increase output of forest products (including biofuels for export) and also enhance carbon sequestration. The Swedish forest sector can let Sweden reach net negative emissions, and avoid “using up” its allocated CO2 budget, thereby increasing the associated emissions space for the rest of the world.
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| 7. |
- Rosenqvist, Håkan, et al.
(författare)
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The prospects of cost reductions in willow production in Sweden
- 2013
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Ingår i: Biomass and Bioenergy. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-2909 .- 0961-9534. ; 48, s. 139-147
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The current and future costs of willow short rotation coppice production in Sweden are analysed, considering all relevant cost factors explicitly. The future production costs are estimated considering effects of coppice area expansion and learning. The current and future costs of land and of risk premiums are subsequently estimated. Subsidies for farmers are not considered. If the area of willow cultivation were to expand enough to generate economies of scale, the production cost could be cut by about 10% compared to the current level. When learning effects are also considered, the total cost reduction potential is about 35%. Two major cost components (fertilization and road transport) are roughly stable while two other major cost components (establishment and harvest) have larger prospects for cost reduction, primarily due to potential for learning. Land costs and risk premiums vary and are uncertain, but both are estimated to be potentially significant compared to other cost components. Requirements of risk premiums may become lower as a consequence of area expansion and learning. Land costs are subject to many factors that are inherently uncertain, not the least future food prices. Efficient policies promoting an expansion of willow cultivation are discussed.
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| 8. |
- Xia, Yihan, 1990, et al.
(författare)
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Green Chemistry Production of Codlemone, the Sex Pheromone of the Codling Moth (Cydia pomonella), by Metabolic Engineering of the Oilseed Crop Camelina (Camelina sativa)
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Chemical Ecology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-1561 .- 0098-0331. ; 47:12, s. 950-967
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Synthetic pheromones have been used for pest control over several decades. The conventional synthesis of di-unsaturated pheromone compounds is usually complex and costly. Camelina (Camelina sativa) has emerged as an ideal, non-food biotech oilseed platform for production of oils with modified fatty acid compositions. We used Camelina as a plant factory to produce mono- and di-unsaturated C12 chain length moth sex pheromone precursors, (E)-9-dodecenoic acid and (E,E)-8,10-dodecadienoic acid, by introducing a fatty acyl-ACP thioesterase FatB gene UcTE from California bay laurel (Umbellularia californica) and a bifunctional ∆9 desaturase gene Cpo_CPRQ from the codling moth, Cydia pomonella. Different transgene combinations were investigated for increasing pheromone precursor yield. The most productive Camelina line was engineered with a vector that contained one copy of UcTE and the viral suppressor protein encoding P19 transgenes and three copies of Cpo_CPRQ transgene. The T2 generation of this line produced 9.4% of (E)-9-dodecenoic acid and 5.5% of (E,E)-8,10-dodecadienoic acid of the total fatty acids, and seeds were selected to advance top-performing lines to homozygosity. In the T4 generation, production levels of (E)-9-dodecenoic acid and (E,E)-8,10-dodecadienoic acid remained stable. The diene acid together with other seed fatty acids were converted into corresponding alcohols, and the bioactivity of the plant-derived codlemone was confirmed by GC-EAD and a flight tunnel assay. Trapping in orchards and home gardens confirmed significant and specific attraction of C. pomonella males to the plant-derived codlemone.
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| 9. |
- Biegańska, Jadwiga, et al.
(författare)
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From policy to misery? The State Agricultural Farms vs. 'the rural'
- 2019
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Ingår i: Quaestiones Geographicae. - : Adam Mickiewicz University Poznan. - 2082-2103 .- 2081-6383 .- 0137-477X. ; 38:4, s. 77-90
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1989 was a turning point within the socio-economic development in the former Eastern bloc, initiating a system transformation that affected the society at large. It also contributed to the crystallisation of certain cultural landscapes, hitherto largely illegible due to the inhibition of spatial processes encountered during Communism. In Poland, after a quarter-century of free market economy, the focus on social problems began to expand to the spatial realm as well. It became apparent that the progressive social polarisation that followed was most prominent in environments striated by a particular landscape type – the former State Agricultural Farm (PGR). Considering PGRs “the epitome of rurality” subject to ideas informing the direction of contemporary “rural development” prompts a different way of looking at the problem. In this paper, we investigate the concept of rurality in the discursive tenor of implemented policy and contrast it with contextualised empirical examples. Our findings suggest that efficient policy should be confronted with the expectations of residents at the local level, while introducing top-down actions usually ends in failure as in the case of post-PGR estates.
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| 10. |
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