Net greenhouse gas flux from agro-ecosystems for bioenergy

政府和公众对生物燃料和生物质衍生能源的支持是基于这样一个假设，即通过使用生物燃料和生物质衍生能源将减少温室气体(GHG)排放。要将生物能源评估为“绿色”解决方案，需要更好地了解拟议的农业原料在整个生命周期内的温室气体净排放量。从农业生态系统移除生物质对土壤二氧化碳(CO2)、甲烷(CH4)和一氧化二氮(N2O)排放的影响需要在一系列管理系统中进行研究。我的研究计划的长期目标是量化农业原料生产对生物能源总体温室气体排放的贡献，并确定有助于这些农业生态系统环境可持续性的土壤和作物管理实践。我们将测量农业生态系统的温室气体净排放量(所有三种气体)，以获得生物能源(例如。利用涡旋协方差和可调谐半导体激光吸收光谱(TDLAS)对玉米秸秆、芒果)进行了研究。此外，我们将使用田间小室和土柱，以及使用TDLAS的稳定碳同位素排放来研究这些农业生态系统中的碳和氮循环。鉴于土壤冻结/融化对加拿大土壤温室气体总排放量的重要性，将特别关注受土壤冻结/融化影响的N2O排放。6名研究生(3名硕士和3名博士)、5名本科生和至少1名博士后将接受培训，并使用新技术进行研究。这项研究计划将提供将土壤过程与这些农业生态系统中的温室气体排放联系起来的新知识、数据集和模型，这些数据和模型将用于生物能源的生命周期分析。调查结果将对加拿大预测农业部门温室气体排放的能力产生重大影响。

Government and public support for biofuels and biomass-derived energy has been driven by the assumption that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will be reduced through their use. Assessment of bioenergy as a 'green' solution requires a better understanding of the net GHG emissions over the life-cycle of proposed agricultural feedstocks. The impact of biomass removal from agroecosystems on soil emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) needs to be studied for a range of management systems. The long-term objectives of my research program are to quantify the contribution of agricultural feedstock production to the overall GHG emissions of bioenergy, and to identify soil and crop management practices that contribute to the environmental sustainability of these agro-ecosystems. We will measure net GHG emission (all three gases) from agro-ecosystems for bioenergy (eg. corn stover, miscanthus) using eddy covariance and tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS). In addition, we will use field chambers and soil columns coupled with emissions of stable carbon isotopes using TDLAS to study carbon and nitrogen cycling in these agro-ecosystems. Particular attention will be placed on N2O emissions as affected by soil freeze/thaw given its importance for overall soil GHG emissions in Canada. Six graduate students (3 MSc and 3 PhD), five undergraduate students, and at least one post-doctoral fellow will be trained and conduct research using novel technologies. This research program will provide new knowledge linking soil processes with GHG emissions in these agro-ecosystems, datasets and models, which will be used in life-cycle analysis of bioenergy. Findings will have a significant impact on Canada's ability to predict GHG emissions from the agricultural sector.