Dry matter losses and methane emissions during wood chip storage: the impact on full life cycle greenhouse gas savings of short rotation coppice willow for heat

A life cycle assessment (LCA) approach was used to examine the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy balance of short rotation coppice (SRC) willow for heat production. The modelled supply chain includes cutting multiplication, site establishment, maintenance, harvesting, storage, transport and combustion. The relative impacts of dry matter losses and methane emissions from chip storage were examined from a LCA perspective, comparing the GHG emissions from the SRC supply chain with those of natural gas for heat generation. The results show that SRC generally provides very high GHG emission savings of over 90 %. The LCA model estimates that a 1, 10 and 20 % loss of dry matter during storage causes a 1, 6 and 11 % increase in GHG emissions per MWh. The GHG emission results are extremely sensitive to emissions of methane from the wood chip stack: If 1 % of the carbon within the stack undergoes anaerobic decomposition to methane, then the GHG emissions per MWh are tripled. There are some uncertainties in the LCA results, regarding the true formation of methane in wood chip stacks, non-CO2 emissions from combustion, N2O emissions from leaf fall and the extent of carbon sequestered under the crop, and these all contribute a large proportion of the life cycle GHG emissions from cultivation of the cro

Crescimento e produção de brócolis em sistema orgânico em função de doses de composto Growth and yield of broccoli on organic production system as a function of compost dosages

A utilização de composto orgânico na produção de olerícolas resulta em efeitos diversos e complexos. Embora seja crescente a pesquisa voltada para a produção orgânica de olerícolas, os efeitos do composto orgânico sobre o crescimento e a produção dessas culturas são ainda pouco conhecidos cientificamente. Objetivou-se com este trabalho avaliar o crescimento e a produção de brócolis cultivado com composto orgânico e determinar a variável não destrutiva com maior correlação com o acúmulo de matéria seca. O experimento foi conduzido em Viçosa, MG (20º 45' sul 42º 51' oeste). O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos casualizados com quatro repetições em parcelas subdivididas no tempo para as variáveis de crescimento. Os tratamentos consistiram em doses de composto orgânico: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 t ha-1 em base de massa seca, fornecidos à cultura do brócolis híbrido 'Domador'. A maior produção, 564 g planta-1, correspondente a 12,53 t ha-1, foi obtida com a dose de 25 t ha-1 de composto. A área do dossel foi a variável de maior correlação com o rendimento comercial e com o acúmulo de massa seca, sendo a mais indicada para a avaliação do crescimento por método não destrutivo. O período inicial de maior acúmulo de massa seca varia com as doses de composto, sendo que na dose de 25 t ha-1 ,este período ocorreu entre 28 e 56 dias após o transplantio. As mais altas taxas de crescimento relativo foram verificadas entre a segunda e a quarta semana após o transplante.<br>The use of organic compost on vegetable crops production results in complex and diverse effects. Although the research on organic vegetable production has been increasing, the effects of organic compost on the growth and yield of these crops are still poorly scientifically known. This work aimed to evaluate the growth and yield of broccoli grown on organic compost, besides determining the non-destructive parameter with higher correlation to dry mass accumulation. The experiment was carried out in Viçosa, MG (20º 45' S 42º 51' W). The experiment was set up in a randomized block design with four replicates in split-plot (time) design for growth parameters. The treatments consisted of doses of organic compost: 5, 10 15 20 and 25 t ha-1 on a dry matter basis, supllied to hybrid "domador". The highest broccoli yield, 564 g plant-1, corresponds to 12,53 t ha-1, and was obtained with the 25 t ha-1 compost dose. Canopy area presented the highest correlation with both commercial yield and dry mass accumulation and it is the best non-destructive parameter for growth evaluation. The initial period of higher dry mass accumulation varies according to the compost dose, So that the 25 t ha-1 dose, this period was between 28 and 56 days after transplant. The highest relative growth rates happened between the second and fourth week after transplant