Following decades of decline, even fewer birds will darken North American skies by the end of the century, according to a new analysis by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Their study is the first to examine the long-term effects of climate change on the abundance and diversity of bird groups across the continent as a whole while accounting for additional factors that put birds at risk, such as pesticides, pollution, land use change, and habitat loss.
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(EurekAlert!/University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment) CABBI studies on the Renewable Fuels Standard indicate a need for more targeted policies that value the environmental benefits of perennial bioenergy crops over cheaper options – and provide incentives for farmers to grow them New studies from the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) shed more light on the economic and environmental costs of mandates in the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), a federal program to expand the nation’s biofuels sector.
Researchers said the studies indicate the need to adopt more targeted policies that value the environmental and ecosystem benefits of perennial bioenergy crops over cheaper options and provide financial incentives for farmers to grow them.
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IMAGE: Miscanthus is harvested from a CABBI facility at Iowa State University. CABBI researchers from ISU and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found the biofuel mandates of the Renewable Fuels Standard. view more
Credit: Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Biofuels Innovation (CABBI)
New studies from the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) shed more light on the economic and environmental costs of mandates in the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), a federal program to expand the nation s biofuels sector.
Researchers said the studies indicate the need to adopt more targeted policies that value the environmental and ecosystem benefits of perennial bioenergy crops over cheaper options and provide financial incentives for farmers to grow them.
(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment/Phys.Org) … (A)llocating CRP land for high-yielding energy biomass might eliminate the need for bioenergy crops and food crops to vie for space.
A team led by CABBI Sustainability Theme Leader Madhu Khanna and Ph.D. student Luoye Chen developed an integrated modeling approach to assess the viability of transitioning CRP land in the eastern U.S. to perennial bioenergy crops. Their paper, published in
Environmental Science & Technology in January 2021, confirmed that the land-use transition is indeed viable provided that certain key conditions are met.
“As proponents of a safer, more sustainable bioeconomy, we must prioritize displacing fossil fuels,” said Khanna, who is also Acting Director of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “As scientists, it is our responsibility to take a thoughtful, innov