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“Marginal Lands” & Biofuel Production

“Marginal Lands” & Biofuel Production. California Air Resources Board Low Carbon Fuel Standard Land Cover Types Expert Working Group. Data Utilization - GTAP. Global scale data by economic indicators

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“Marginal Lands” & Biofuel Production

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  1. “Marginal Lands” & Biofuel Production California Air Resources Board Low Carbon Fuel Standard Land Cover Types Expert Working Group

  2. Data Utilization - GTAP • Global scale data by economic indicators • Marginal lands for bioenergy = cropland-pasture, idle cropland, rangeland, uncultivated areas, CRP, etc. • Use of land rents in a given AEZ at the 0.5º grid level Would it be appropriate or even feasible to include more detailed “environmental quality” aspects with transitions in GTAP and what issues with scale would these impose?

  3. Marginal Lands, Economic Return, and Environmental Quality Minimal Cover - Exposure to Wind/Rainfall Erosion; Possible improvement with alternate cropping scenarios. Minimal Return to Landowner

  4. “Marginal Lands” Definitions • Dale, Kline, et al • Wiegmann, Henneberg, Fritsche (2008) • Lubowski et al (2008) • GTAP • Gibbs • Many others Words: marginal, degraded, idle, abandoned, waste, etc. Land categories: cropland/cultivated, pasture, forest, range Probable past cultivation or some type of economic activity, but currently none of any real consequence Most focus around relationship of productivity and economics and many appear to be within a range of acceptable definition (e.g., they realize this is important), Certainly isn’t a set definition or consensus for analyses or policy decisions

  5. Data Resources for Defining Marginal Lands - US (partial list) • Cropping Types (e.g., cropland, pastureland, forestland, etc.) – NLCD or USDA Census of Ag • CRP • SSURGO and STATSGO • Land Capability Classes (I to VIII) and sub-classes (c, e, s, w) • Economics (land rents, estimated net returns) Data broken into agronomic and economic portions, but rarely utilized directly together at a fine scale Agronomic/Environmental Measures of Productivity (AWC, OM, EI, etc.)

  6. Land Capability Class Utilization – Marginal Lands What is the “environmental holding capacity” of these lands for biofuel purposes and possible economic returns by crop? Can get a breakout of all associated SSURGO parms Decreasing Land Capability = Increasing EI

  7. Application of Data Sources for Bioenergy Assessment • Use of SSURGO data in national agricultural crop residue project to determine sustainable levels of stover and small-grain straw removal with respect to soil erosion and tilth • Use of SSURGO in herbaceous energy crop yield scenario and environmental quality modeling

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