Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Bioenergy Crop Production in Minesoil.

There is an increasing urgency for existing municipalities and livestock systems, as well as from the expansion of bioenergy plants, to find sustainable, economical and safe use for their biosolids wastes. In circumstances where these biosolids exist in close proximity of minesoils, what is conceived as waste in the former can be used as fertilizers and soil amendments to improve the latter. Due to low nutrient capacity in minesoils and potentially high nutrient removal from harvest of plant biomass, these biosolids waste can potentially be applied for bioenergy crop production in minesoils to improve and maintain soil and plant productivity. However, biosolids waste in general, have high concentrations of NO₃^- and labile C, potentially resulting in greater greenhouse gas emissions. The objectives of this study were to quantify the effects of using effluent from anaerobic digestion and inorganic fertilizers on GHG emissions from a minesoil under bioenergy production.