Life Cycle Assessment of Giant Miscanthus: Production on Marginal Soil with Various Fertilisation Treatments

Michał Krzyżaniak, Mariusz J. Stolarski and Kazimierz Warmiński
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Michał Krzyżaniak: Department of Plant Breeding and Seed Production, Centre for Bioeconomy and Renewable Energies, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Mariusz J. Stolarski: Department of Plant Breeding and Seed Production, Centre for Bioeconomy and Renewable Energies, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Kazimierz Warmiński: Department of Chemistry, Research Group of Environmental Toxicology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-15

Abstract: In Poland, unutilised land occupies approximately two million hectares, and it could be partly dedicated to the production of perennial crops. This study aimed to determine the environmental impact of the production of giant miscanthus ( Miscanthus x giganteus J.M. Greef & M. Deuter). The experiment was set up on a low-fertility site. The crop was cultivated on sandy soil, fertilised with digestate, and mineral fertilisers (in the dose of 85 and 170 kg ha −1 N), and was compared with giant miscanthus cultivated with no fertilisation (control). The cradle-to-farm gate system boundary was applied. Fertilisers were more detrimental to the environment than the control in all analysed categories. The weakest environmental links in the production of miscanthus in the non-fertilised treatment were fuel consumption and the application of pre-emergent herbicide. In fertilised treatments, fertilisers exerted the greatest environmental impact in all the stages of crop production. The production and use of fertilisers contributed to fossil depletion, human toxicity, and freshwater and terrestrial ecotoxicity. Digestate fertilisers did not lower the impact of biomass production. The current results indicate that the analysed fertiliser rates are not justified in the production of giant miscanthus on nutrient-deficient soils.

Keywords: Miscanthus x giganteus; bioenergy; environmental impact; agricultural production; circular bioeconomy; digestate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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