Using Bioenergy Crops Versus Reforesting Shows Crop Expansion could Lead to Water Shortages

By Bob Yirka

A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. and Singapore has found that adding bioenergy crops or reforestation would both substantially increase CO₂ sequestration, but the former would lead to major water shortages. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes their analyses and comparison of the two climate mitigation strategies.

Scientists around the world are searching for carbon removal strategies to address the continued emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. One possible solution is to expand on the use of bioenergy crops; another is to massively replant forests. In this new effort, the researchers looked at both approaches and compared them as possible methods to capturing and sequestering CO₂ already in the atmosphere.

The idea behind using bioenergy crops as a capture and sequester technique involves planting CO₂-absorbing crops that are reaped and burned as an energy source and capturing and sequestering the CO₂ that is released during burning by pumping it underground. Reforestation can be used as a means of sequestering carbon because trees naturally pull CO₂ from the air and hold onto to it until they die.