Global Food Demand and Carbon-Preserving Cropland Expansion under Varying Levels of Intensification

Justin Andrew Johnson, Carlisle Runge, Benjamin Senauer () and Stephen Polasky

Land Economics, 2016, vol. 92, issue 4, 579-592

Abstract: Increasing demand for agricultural crops and a decline in the rate of yield improvements will require expansion of cropland (extensification), resulting in a loss of carbon storage. This paper uses global, spatially explicit data to analyze how extensification can be located to meet crop demand in a way that minimizes carbon losses under varying levels of intensification. Carbon-preserving extensification can reduce carbon loss by 7.3 billion tons compared to proportionally increasing extensification by 2050, valued at $1.3 trillion (2012 dollars) based on an estimated social cost of carbon of $181 per ton of carbon (∼$50 per ton CO2).

JEL-codes: Q18 Q24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
Note: DOI: 10.3368/le.92.4.579
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uwp:landec:v:92:y:2016:i:4:p:579-592

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