Preliminary estimates of the potential for carbon mitigation in European soils through no-till farming

A - Papers appearing in refereed journals

Smith, P., Powlson, D. S., Glendining, M. J. and Smith, J. U. 1998. Preliminary estimates of the potential for carbon mitigation in European soils through no-till farming. Global Change Biology. 4 (6), pp. 679-685. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.1998.00185.x

AuthorsSmith, P., Powlson, D. S., Glendining, M. J. and Smith, J. U.
Abstract

In this paper we estimate the European potential for carbon mitigation of no-till farming using results from European tillage experiments. Our calculations suggest some potential in terms of (a) reduced agricultural fossil fuel emissions, and (b) increased soil carbon sequestration. We estimate that 100% conversion to no-till farming would be likely to sequester about 23 Tg C y(-1) in the European Union or about 43 Tg C y(-1) in the wider Europe (excluding the former Soviet Union). In addition, up to 3.2 Tg C y(-1) could be saved in agricultural fossil fuel emissions. Compared to estimates of the potential for carbon sequestration of other carbon mitigation options, no-till agriculture shows nearly twice the potential of scenarios whereby soils are amended with organic materials. Our calculations suggest that 100% conversion to no-till agriculture in Europe could mitigate all fossil fuel-carbon emissions from agriculture in Europe. However, this is equivalent to only about 4.1% of total anthropogenic CO2-carbon produced annually in Europe (excluding the former Soviet Union) which in turn is equivalent to about 0.8% of global annual anthropogenic CO2-carbon emissions.

Keywordsbiodiversity conservation; Ecology; Environmental Sciences
Year of Publication1998
JournalGlobal Change Biology
Journal citation4 (6), pp. 679-685
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.1998.00185.x
Open accessPublished as non-open access
FunderBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Funder project or code221
441
444
Project: 031481
PublisherWiley
ISSN1354-1013

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