Perennial bioenergy crops have significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contribute to climate change mitigation by substituting for fossil fuels; yet delivering significant GHG savings will require substantial land‐use change, globally. Over the last decade, research has delivered improved understanding of the environmental benefits and risks of this transition to perennial bioenergy crops, addressing concerns that the impacts of land conversion to perennial bioenergy crops could result in increased rather than decreased GHG emissions. For policymakers to assess the most cost‐effective and sustainable options for deployment and climate change mitigation, synthesis of these studies is needed to support evidence‐based decision making. In 2015, a workshop was convened with researchers, policymakers and industry/business representatives from the UK, EU and internationally. Outcomes from global research on bioenergy land‐use change were compared to identify areas of consensus, key uncertainties, and research priorities. Here, we discuss the strength of evidence for and against six consensus statements summarising the effects of land‐use change to perennial bioenergy crops on the cycling of carbon, nitrogen and water, in the context of the whole life‐cycle of bioenergy production. Our analysis suggests that the direct impacts of dedicated perennial bioenergy crops on soil carbon and nitrous oxide are increasingly well understood and are often consistent with significant life cycle GHG mitigation from bioenergy relative to conventional energy sources. We conclude that the GHG balance of perennial bioenergy crop cultivation will often be favourable, with maximum GHG savings achieved where crops are grown on soils with low carbon stocks and conservative nutrient application, accruing additional environmental benefits such as improved water quality. The analysis reported here demonstrates there is a mature and increasingly comprehensive evidence base on the environmental benefits and risks of bioenergy cultivation which can support the development of a sustainable bioenergy industry.

中文翻译：

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多年生生物能源作物和土地利用的共识，不确定性和挑战。

多年生生物能源作物具有巨大的潜力，可以通过替代化石燃料来减少温室气体的排放，并为缓解气候变化做出贡献；然而，要实现显着的温室气体节省，就需要在全球范围内对土地利用进行重大改变。在过去的十年中，研究使人们对这种向多年生生物能源作物过渡的环境效益和风险有了更好的了解，从而解决了人们对土地转化为多年生生物能源作物的影响可能导致温室气体排放增加而不是减少的担忧。为了让政策制定者评估部署和缓解气候变化的最具成本效益和可持续性的方案，需要综合这些研究来支持基于证据的决策。2015年，研究人员召集了一个研讨会，英国，欧盟和国际上的决策者和行业/商业代表。对全球生物能源土地利用变化研究的结果进行了比较，以确定共识领域，关键不确定性和研究重点。在这里，我们讨论了支持和反对六项共识性声明的证据，这些总结性声明总结了在生物能源生产的整个生命周期中，多年生生物能源作物的土地利用变化对碳，氮和水循环的影响。我们的分析表明，专用多年生生物能源作物对土壤碳和一氧化二氮的直接影响已得到越来越多的了解，并且通常与生物能源相对于常规能源的生命周期温室气体显着缓解相一致。我们得出的结论是，多年生生物能源作物栽培的温室气体平衡通常是有利的，在作物生长于低碳储量和保守养分施用的土壤上实现最大温室气体节省的同时，还可以带来其他环境效益，例如改善水质。此处报告的分析表明，基于环境效益和生物能源种植的风险，已有成熟且日益全面的证据，可以支持可持续生物能源产业的发展。