TY - JOUR

T1 - The impact of biofuel poplar cultivation on ground-level ozone and premature human mortality depends on cultivar selection and planting location

AU - Ashworth, Kirsti

AU - Wild, Oliver

AU - Eller, A.S.D.

AU - Hewitt, C. N.

N1 - This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Environmental Science and Technology, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.5b00266 Date of Acceptance: 21/06/2015

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Isoprene and other volatile organic compounds emitted from vegetation play a key role in governing the formation of ground-level ozone. Emission rates of such compounds depend critically on the plant species. Future land use change, driven by the cultivation of biofuel feedstocks, will change the distribution of plant species and hence the magnitude and distribution of emissions. Here we use relationships between biomass yield and isoprene emissions derived from experimental data for 29 commercially available poplar hybrids to assess the impact that the large-scale cultivation of poplar for use as a biofuel feedstock will have on air quality in Europe. We show that the increases in ground-level ozone across Europe will increase the number of premature deaths attributable to ozone pollution each year by up to 6%. Substantial crop losses (up to ~9 Mt y-1 of wheat and maize) are also projected. We further demonstrate that these impacts are strongly dependent on the location of the poplar plantations, due to the prevailing meteorology, the population density and the dominant crop type of the region. Our findings indicate the need for a concerted and centralized decision-making process that considers all aspects of future land use change in Europe, and not just the effect on greenhouse gas emissions.

AB - Isoprene and other volatile organic compounds emitted from vegetation play a key role in governing the formation of ground-level ozone. Emission rates of such compounds depend critically on the plant species. Future land use change, driven by the cultivation of biofuel feedstocks, will change the distribution of plant species and hence the magnitude and distribution of emissions. Here we use relationships between biomass yield and isoprene emissions derived from experimental data for 29 commercially available poplar hybrids to assess the impact that the large-scale cultivation of poplar for use as a biofuel feedstock will have on air quality in Europe. We show that the increases in ground-level ozone across Europe will increase the number of premature deaths attributable to ozone pollution each year by up to 6%. Substantial crop losses (up to ~9 Mt y-1 of wheat and maize) are also projected. We further demonstrate that these impacts are strongly dependent on the location of the poplar plantations, due to the prevailing meteorology, the population density and the dominant crop type of the region. Our findings indicate the need for a concerted and centralized decision-making process that considers all aspects of future land use change in Europe, and not just the effect on greenhouse gas emissions.

U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.5b00266

DO - 10.1021/acs.est.5b00266

M3 - Journal article

VL - 49

SP - 8566

EP - 8575

JO - Environmental Science and Technology

JF - Environmental Science and Technology

SN - 0013-936X

IS - 14

ER -