Carbon footprint of four bioethanol cropping systems in a temperate region. [preprint article].
ABSTRACT.- The production of ethanol from biomass pursuant to the EU Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC) requires an estimation of the levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from biofuels to assess the emissions savings in comparison to fossil fuels. Within this framework, the carbon footprint was estimated for four bioethanol cropping systems:a maize-wheat-sorghum rotation without the harvest of crop residues (MWS), a maize-wheat-sorghum rotation with harvested crop residues (MWS-R), switchgrass (Sw), and continuous sweet sorghum (Ss).