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Carbon footprint of canola and mustard is a function of the rate of N fertilizer

  • CARBON FOOTPRINTING
  • Published:
The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Best agricultural practices can be adopted to increase crop productivity and lower carbon footprint of grain products. The aims of this study were to provide a quantitative estimate of the carbon footprint of selected oilseed crops grown on the semiarid northern Great Plains and to determine the effects of N fertilization and environments on the carbon footprint.

Materials and methods

Five oilseed crops, Brassica napus canola, Brassica rapa canola, Brassica juncea canola, B. juncea mustard, and Sinapis alba mustard, were grown under the N rates of 0, 25, 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 kg N ha−1 at eight environsites (location × year combinations) in Saskatchewan, Canada. Straw and root decomposition and various production inputs were used to calculate greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints.

Results and discussion

Emissions from the production, transportation, storage, and delivery of N fertilizer to farm gates accounted for 42% of the total greenhouse gas emissions, and the direct and indirect emission from the application of N fertilizer in oilseed production added another 31% to the total emission. Emissions from N fertilization were nine times the emission from the use of pesticides and 11 times that of farming operations. Straw and root decomposition emitted 120 kg CO2eq ha−1, contributing 10% to the total emission. Carbon footprint increased slightly as N rates increased from 0 to 50 kg N ha−1, but as N rates increased from 50 to 250 kg N ha−1, carbon footprint increased substantially for all five oilseed crops evaluated. Oilseeds grown at the humid Melfort site emitted 1,355 kg CO2eq ha−1, 30% greater than emissions at the drier sites of Scott and Swift Current. Oilseeds grown at Melfort had their carbon footprint of 0.52 kg CO2eq kg−1 of oilseed, 45% greater than that at Scott (0.45 kg CO2eq kg−1 of oilseed), and 25% greater than that at Swift Current (0.45 kg CO2eq kg−1 of oilseed).

Conclusions

Carbon footprint of oilseeds was a function of the rate of N fertilizer, and the intensity of the functionality varied between environments. Key to lower carbon footprint in oilseeds is to improve N management practices.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the excellent technical assistance provided by Cal McDonald, Greg Ford, Lee Poppy, Larry Sproule, Don Gerein, and Ray Leshures for conducting the field experiments and the funding provided by Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission, the Matching Investment Initiative of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and Gansu Agricultural University in Lanzhou, China for conducting detailed analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory for Aridland Crop Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730070, People’s Republic of China

    Yantai Gan & Gaobao Huang

  2. Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Swift Current, SK, S9H 3X2, Canada

    Yantai Gan

  3. Pollutant Inventory and Reporting Division, Environment Canada, 9th floor, Fontaine Building, 200 Sacré-Coeur, Gatineau, QC, K1A 0H3, Canada

    Chang Liang

  4. Research Farm, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, P.O. Box 1240, Melfort, SK, S0E 1A0, Canada

    Sukhdev S. Malhi

  5. Research Farm, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Box 10, Scott, SK, S0K 4A0, Canada

    Stewart A. Brandt

  6. Saskatoon Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 107 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0X2, Canada

    Felicitas Katepa-Mupondwa

Authors
  1. Yantai Gan
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  2. Chang Liang
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  3. Gaobao Huang
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  4. Sukhdev S. Malhi
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  5. Stewart A. Brandt
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  6. Felicitas Katepa-Mupondwa
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Correspondence to Yantai Gan.

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Responsible editor: Matthias Finkbeiner

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Gan, Y., Liang, C., Huang, G. et al. Carbon footprint of canola and mustard is a function of the rate of N fertilizer. Int J Life Cycle Assess 17, 58–68 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-011-0337-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-011-0337-z

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