Novel integrated agricultural land management approach provides sustainable biomass feedstocks for bioplastics and supports the UK’s “net-zero” target
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Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We investigate the potential in producing biodegradable bio-plastics to support the emergent 'Net-Zero' Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions targets in the UK. A 'cradle to grave' Life Cycle Assessment was developed to evaluate GHG mitigation potentials of bio-based polybutylene succinate plastics produced from wheat straw-only (single feedstock) or wheat straw plus Miscanthus (mixed feedstocks) agricultural supply systems. For scenarios using mixed feedstocks, significant carbon mitigation potentials were identified at catchment and national levels (emission reduction of 30 kg CO2eq /kg plastic compared to petroleum-based alternatives), making the system studied a significant net carbon sink at marginal GHG abatement costs of £-0.5 to 14.9 /t CO2eq. We show that an effective 'Net-Zero' transition of the UK's agricultural sector needs spatially explicit, diversified and integrated cropping strategies. Such integration of perennial bio-materials into food production systems can unlock cost-effective terrestrial carbon sequestration. Research & Development and scale-up will lower costs helping deliver a sustainable bioeconomy and transition to 'Net-Zero'.
Date Issued
2020-12-28
Date Acceptance
2020-12-01
Citation
Environmental Research Letters, 2020, 16 (1), pp.1-10
ISSN
1748-9326
Publisher
Institute of Physics (IoP)
Start Page
1
End Page
10
Journal / Book Title
Environmental Research Letters
Volume
16
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Although reasonable endeavours have been taken to obtain all necessary permissions from third parties to include their copyrighted content within this article, their full citation and copyright line may not be present in this Accepted Manuscript version. Before using any content from this article, please refer to the Version of Record on IOPscience once published for full citation and copyright details, as permission may be required. All third party content is fully copyright protected, and is not published on a gold open access basis under a CC BY licence, unless that is specifically stated in the figure caption in the Version of Record.
Although reasonable endeavours have been taken to obtain all necessary permissions from third parties to include their copyrighted content within this article, their full citation and copyright line may not be present in this Accepted Manuscript version. Before using any content from this article, please refer to the Version of Record on IOPscience once published for full citation and copyright details, as permission may be required. All third party content is fully copyright protected, and is not published on a gold open access basis under a CC BY licence, unless that is specifically stated in the figure caption in the Version of Record.
Sponsor
European Institute of Innovation and Technology - EIT
Identifier
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abcf79
Grant Number
KIC ADMIT Biosuccinnovate
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Physical Sciences
Environmental Sciences
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
bio-plastics
bio-economy
terrestrial carbon stock
carbon abatement cost
perennial crops
GREENHOUSE-GAS EMISSIONS
PERENNIAL ENERGY CROPS
CLIMATE-CHANGE
SOIL CARBON
BIOECONOMY
BIOENERGY
YIELD
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Publication Status
Published
OA Location
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abcf79
Article Number
014023
Date Publish Online
2020-12-28