Modeling the yield, biogenic emissions, and soil carbon sequestration
outcomes of Brassica carinata grown in the southeastern US as a winter
cash crop and sustainable aviation fuel feedstock
Abstract
Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) produced from lipid feedstocks are an
increasingly mature and low-cost option for aviation sector
decarbonization. Ethiopian mustard (Brassica carinata) is a non-food
oilseed crop that can be grown on winter fallow land in the southeastern
US and used as a feedstock for SAF, with a high-protein livestock feed
co-product. Integrating carinata into existing annual crop rotations
produces an additional revenue stream for landowners, with potential
co-benefits for soil carbon and other ecosystem services. The Southeast
Partnership for Advanced Renewables from Carinata (SPARC) is a
USDA-funded research consortium to advance carinata production and
associated SAF and bioproduct supply chains in the region. A SPARC
research team used the DayCent ecosystem model to estimate the potential
production of carinata across the tri-state region of Alabama, Florida,
and Georgia, and assess associated changes in soil carbon storage and
emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), the main biogenic
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture. First, we calibrated
DayCent to reproduce the phenology, harvest index, productivity response
to nitrogen application, root-to-shoot biomass ratio, and tissue
nitrogen content data observed for a set of carinata field trials in the
region. Next, we simulated the integration of carinata into a typical
cotton/peanut rotation across the 2.3 million hectares of annual
cropland within the climate suitability range for this crop, grown once
every third winter. We show an annual production potential of greater
than 1 billion liters of SAF from this feedstock in the region. Our base
carinata management case is approximately neutral in biogenic GHG
emissions, with modest soil carbon sequestration that offsets the
associated small increase in N2O emissions. However,
adopting conservation management practices such as no-till establishment
or poultry litter soil amendments results in a more substantial net soil
carbon sink, reducing the GHG footprint of carinata-derived SAF by up to
20 grams of CO2-equivalent per megajoule of fuel. This
work supports SPARC’s ongoing efforts to develop improved crop varieties
and management practices that simultaneously improve the economics and
ecosystem service value of carinata production.