Abstract
Marginal land has received wide attention for its potential to produce bioenergy feedstocks while minimizing diversion of productive agricultural land from food crop production. However, there has been no consensus in the literature on how to define or identify land that is marginal for food crops and beneficial for bioenergy crops. Studies have used different definitions to quantify the amount of such land available; these have largely been based on assumed biophysical thresholds for soil quality and productivity that are unchanging over space and time. We discuss the limitations of these definitions and the rationale for considering economic returns and environmental outcomes in classifying land as marginal. We then propose the concept of “socially” marginal which is defined as land that is earning close to zero returns after accounting for the monetized costs of environmental externalities generated. We discuss a broad set of criteria for classifying land as socially marginal for food crops and suitable for bioenergy crops; with these criteria, this classification depends on spatially varying and time-varying factors, such as climate and market conditions and policy incentives. While there are challenges related to identifying this marginal land, satellite and other large-scale datasets increasingly enable such analysis at a fine spatial resolution. We also discuss reasons why landowners might choose not to convert bioenergy-suitable land to bioenergy crops, and thus the need for policy incentives to support conversion of land that is socially beneficial for bioenergy crop production.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1590-1609 |
Number of pages | 20 |
Journal | GCB Bioenergy |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2021 |
Funding
This work was funded by the DOE Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research under Award Number DE-SC0018420) to M.K., L.C., X.C., K.G., C.J., and P.Y.; the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (award number DE-SC0018409) to B.B., T.J.L., and S.A.S.; the Center for Bioenergy Innovation, a US Department of Energy Research Center supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the DOE Office of Science (award number DE-AC05-00OR22725) to J.L.F and T.L.R. J.L.F acknowledges partial support from US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture USDA/NIFA grant# 2017-67019-26327. T.L.R. acknowledges partial support from US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture USDA/NIFA grant# 2020-68012-31824. K.Y.Z acknowledges support from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Multistate Hatch Appropriations under Project # PEN04631 and Accession #1014400. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the US Department of Energy. This manuscript has been authored in part by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). This manuscript has been authored in part by UT‐Battelle, LLC, under contract DE‐AC05‐00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a non‐exclusive, paid‐up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe‐public‐access‐plan ). This work was funded by the DOE Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research under Award Number DE‐SC0018420) to M.K., L.C., X.C., K.G., C.J., and P.Y.; the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (award number DE‐SC0018409) to B.B., T.J.L., and S.A.S.; the Center for Bioenergy Innovation, a US Department of Energy Research Center supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the DOE Office of Science (award number DE‐AC05‐00OR22725) to J.L.F and T.L.R. J.L.F acknowledges partial support from US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture USDA/NIFA grant# 2017‐67019‐26327. T.L.R. acknowledges partial support from US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture USDA/NIFA grant# 2020‐68012‐31824. K.Y.Z acknowledges support from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Multistate Hatch Appropriations under Project # PEN04631 and Accession #1014400. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the US Department of Energy.
Funders | Funder number |
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DOE Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation | |
DOE Public Access Plan | |
US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture USDA | |
US Department of Energy Research Center | |
U.S. Department of Energy | |
National Institute of Food and Agriculture | 2020‐68012‐31824, PEN04631, 1014400, 2017‐67019‐26327 |
Office of Science | DE‐AC05‐00OR22725 |
Biological and Environmental Research | DE‐SC0018420 |
Center for Bioenergy Innovation | |
Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center | DE‐SC0018409 |
Keywords
- bioenergy
- biofuels
- economically marginal
- ecosystem services
- land quality
- marginal land
- returns to land
- socially marginal