Assessing the Carbon Footprint of Biochar from Willow Grown on Marginal Lands in Finland

Lauri Leppäkoski, Miika P. Marttila, Ville Uusitalo, Jarkko Levänen, Vilma Halonen and Mirja H. Mikkilä
Additional contact information
Lauri Leppäkoski: Department of Sustainability Science, LUT University, Yliopistonkatu 34, 53580 Lappeenranta, Finland
Miika P. Marttila: Department of Sustainability Science, LUT University, Yliopistonkatu 34, 53580 Lappeenranta, Finland
Ville Uusitalo: Department of Sustainability Science, LUT University, Mukkulankatu 19, 15210 Lahti, Finland
Jarkko Levänen: Department of Sustainability Science, LUT University, Mukkulankatu 19, 15210 Lahti, Finland
Vilma Halonen: Department of Sustainability Science, LUT University, Mukkulankatu 19, 15210 Lahti, Finland
Mirja H. Mikkilä: Department of Sustainability Science, LUT University, Yliopistonkatu 34, 53580 Lappeenranta, Finland

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-19

Abstract: Willow biochar can help to sequestrate carbon. However, biomasses should not be grown on arable lands, as it would increase competition with food production and lead to sustainability issues such as increased food prices and decreased food security. The purpose of this study is to calculate the carbon footprint (CF) of willow biochar in Finland and assess the greenhouse gas compensation potential of marginal lands if they are utilized for willow biochar production. The CF of willow biochar is inadequately assessed together with marginal lands in the literature. A cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of willow biochar was conducted. The results were then applied to assess the total CF of marginal lands. It was found that the CF of willow biochar is −1875 kgCO 2 eq t −1 of dry biochar. Grown on marginal lands in Finland, willow biochar could compensate 7.7% of yearly agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. On buffer zones, willow biochar could also compensate some of the emissions depending on the zone size. The results of the study support current findings of biochar as a carbon negative product. The study also indicates that willow biochar produced in marginal lands can be used to compensate agricultural greenhouse gas emissions to some extent.

Keywords: life cycle assessment; carbon footprint; biochar; pyrolysis; willow; marginal lands; lignocellulosic biomass (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10097/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10097/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:18:p:10097-:d:632065

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().