Biomethane produced from maize grown on peat emits more CO2 than natural gas

• Published in: Nature climate change Vol. 14; no. 10; pp. 1030 - 1032
• Main Authors: Evans, Chris D., Rowe, Rebecca L., Freeman, Benjamin W. J., Rhymes, Jennifer M., Cumming, Alex, Lloyd, Isobel L., Morton, Daniel, Williamson, Jennifer L., Morrison, Ross
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01-10-2024; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 704/106/47; 704/106/694/682; 704/172/4081; 706/1143; 706/4066/4080; Agricultural production; Alternative energy sources; Alternative fuels; Biodiesel fuels; Biogas; Biomass; Brief Communication; Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide emissions; Case studies; Climate Change; Climate change mitigation; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Corn; Crops; Drainage; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Emission measurements; Emissions; Energy industry; Environment; Environmental Law/Policy/Ecojustice; Food; Hydrology; Natural gas; Oxidation; Peat; Peat soils; Peatlands; Raw materials; Soil; Vegetable oils
• ISSN: 1758-678X; 1758-6798
• DOI: 10.1038/s41558-024-02111-1

Cultivation of maize for biomethane production has expanded rapidly, including on drained peat soils. The resulting soil CO
2
emissions at the point of feedstock production are largely overlooked when assessing biogas climate mitigation potential. On the basis of field-scale flux measurements, we calculate that soil CO
2
emissions from biomethane feedstock production on drained peat exceed embodied emissions for an equivalent amount of natural gas by up to a factor of three.
Biogas is promoted as an alternative fuel with the potential to lower net CO
2
emissions. However, here the authors calculate that growing biogas feedstock crops on drained peatlands may produce three times more CO
2
than burning natural gas.