Reducing the negative human-health impacts of bioenergy crop emissions through region-specific crop selection

While greenhouse gas emissions may be reduced through the substitution of next-generation bioenergy crops such as eucalyptus, giant reed, and switchgrass for fossil fuels, the choice of species has important ramifications for human health, potentially reducing the benefits of conversion due to increases in ozone (O₃) and fine particulate matter (PM₂.₠) levels as a result of large changes in biogenic emissions.

Using the Community Earth System Model we simulate the conversion of marginal and underutilized croplands worldwide to bioenergy crops under varying future anthropogenic emissions scenarios. A conservative global replacement using high VOC-emitting crop profiles leads to modeled population-weighted O₃ increases of 5-27 ppb in India, 1-9 ppb in China, and 1-6 ppb in the United States, with peak PM₂.₠increases of up to 2 μg m⁻³.