Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-t5pn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T16:12:02.829Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

How Potential Carbon Policies Could Affect Where and How Cotton Is Produced in the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Lanier Nalley ,
Michael Popp ,
Zara Niederman ,
Kristofor Brye  and
Marty Matlock
Lanier Nalley
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness at University of Arkansas
Michael Popp
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness at University of Arkansas
Zara Niederman
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness at University of Arkansas
Kristofor Brye
Affiliation:
Department of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences at University of Arkansas
Marty Matlock
Affiliation:
Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at University of Arkansas
Get access

Abstract

Using life cycle assessment methodology, this analysis evaluates how two carbon reduction strategies affect cotton plantings regionally and methods used to produce cotton. Because cotton production emits large amounts of carbon, the design of a reduction policy as either excluding soil sequestration through cap-and-trade or including it through carbon offset is likely to affect the success of the policy. A cap-and-trade program that ignores the amount of carbon cotton would sequester in the soil during its life cycle could increase net emissions by rewarding producers whose crops emit limited carbon directly but also sequester little carbon in the ground.

Keywords

carboncottongreenhouse gaslife cycle assessmentsequestrationtillage
Type
Research Article
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , August 2012 , pp. 215 - 231
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beckman, J., Hertel, T.W., and Tyner, W.E. 2009. “Why Previous Estimates of the Cost of Climate Mitigation Are Likely Too Low.” Working Paper No. 54, 2009 GTAP, Purdue University.Google Scholar
Brye, K.R. 2009. “Soil Carbon Sequestration in a Silty Clay Cropped to Continuous No-tillage Rice.” In Norman, R.J., Meullenet, J.F., and Moldenhauer, K.A.K., eds., pp. 51–55, B.R. Wells Rice Research Studies 2008. Fayetteville, AR: Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Service, Research Series 571.Google Scholar
Bouwman, A.F. 1996. “Direct Emission of Nitrous Oxide from Agricultural Soils.” Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 46: 53–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burke, I.C., et al. 1989. Texture, Climate, and Cultivation Effects on Soil Organic-matter Content in U.S. Grassland Soils.” Soil Science Society of America Journal 53: 800–805.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CENTURY 4. “Century Model.” Available at http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/projects/century (accessed October 22, 2009).Google Scholar
Chicago Climate Exchange. “Market Data.” Available at http://www.chicagoclimatex.com. (accessed on November 2010).Google Scholar
Del Grosso, S.J., et al. 2005. “DAYCENT National-scale Simulations of Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Cropped Soils in the United States.” Journal of Environmental Quality 35: 1451–1460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ecoinvent Center. 2009. Ecoinvent 2.0 Life Cycle Inventory Database. Swiss Center for Life Cycle Inventories, St. Gallen, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Environmental Protection Agency. 2007. “Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2005.” EPA 430-R-07-002, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Environmental Protection Agency. 2009. “Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2007.” EPA 430-R-09-004, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2007. “Summary for Policymakers.” In S. Solomon et al., eds., Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis: Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
International Organization for Standardization. 2006. ISO 14040: Environmental Management—Life Cycle Assessment—Principles and Framework. Geneva, Switzerland: International Organization for Standardization.Google Scholar
Lal, R. 2004. “Carbon Emissions from Farm Operations.” Environment International 30(7): 981–990.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCarl, B.A. 2007. “Biofuels and Legislation Linking Biofuel Supply and Demand Using the FASOMGHG Model.” Presented at Duke University Nicolas Institute Conference titled “Economic Modeling of Federal Climate Proposals: Advancing Model Transparency and Technology Policy Development,” Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Mauney, J.R., et al. 1994. “Growth and Yield of Cotton in Response to a Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (FACE) Environment.” Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 70: 49–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nalley, L., Popp, M., and Fortin, C. 2011. “The Impact of Reducing Green House Gas Emissions in Crop Agriculture: A Spatial and Production Level Analysis.” Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 40(1): 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Outlaw, J.L., et al. 2009. “Economic Implications of the EPA Analysis of the Cap and Trade Provisions of H.R. 2454 for U.S. Representative Farms.” Agricultural and Food Policy Center Research Paper 09–2, Texas A&M University.Google Scholar
Palisade Corporation @Risk 5.0 (software). 2009. Risk analysis and simulation add-in for Microsoft Excel. Ithaca, NY: Palisade Corp.Google Scholar
Parton, W.J., et al. 1987. “Analysis of Factors Controlling Soil Organic Matter Levels in Great Plains Grasslands.” Soil Science of America Journal 51: 1173–1179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinter, P.J., Kimball, B.J., Mauney, J.R., Hendrey, G.R., Lewin, K.F., and Nagy, J. 1994. “Effects of Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment on PAR Absorption and Conversion Efficiency by Cotton.” Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 70: 209–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Popp, M., Nalley, L., Fortin, C., Smith, A., and Brye, K. 2011. “Estimating Net Carbon Emissions and Agricultural Response to Potential Carbon Offset Policies.” Agronomy Journal 103: 1132–1143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Post, W.M., Izaurralde, R.C., Jastrow, J.D., McCarl, B.A., Amonette, J.E., Bailey, V.L., Jardine, P.M., West, T.O., and Zhou, J. “Enhancement of Carbon Sequestration in US Soils.” Bioscience 54 (2004): 895–908 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prince, S.D., et al. 2001. “Net Primary Production of U.S. Midwest Croplands from Agricultural Harvest Yield Data.” Ecological Applications 11: 1194–1205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SimaPro 7.1 (software). 2009. “Life Cycle Assessment Software.” Amersfoort, The Netherlands: Pré Consultants. Google Scholar
Snyder, C.S., et al. 2009. “Review of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Crop Production Systems and Fertilizer Management Effects.” Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment. 133: 247–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sylvia, D.M., Fuhrmann, J.J., Hartel, P.G., and Zuberer, D.A. 2005. Principals and Applications of Soil Microbiology (2nd edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Google Scholar
National Agricultural Statistics Service. 2008. “QuickStats.” NASS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington D.C. Available at http://www.nass.usda.gov/QuickStats/Create_County_Indv.jsp (accessed June 7, 2008).Google Scholar
West, T.O. 2009. “County-level Estimates for Carbon Distribution in U.S. Croplands, 1990–2005.” Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, TN. Available at http://cdiac.ornl.gov (accessed October 22, 2009).Google Scholar
West, T.O., and McBride, A.C. 2005. “The Contribution of Agricultural Lime to Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the United States: Dissolution, Transport, and Net Emissions.” Agriculture, Ecosystems and the Environment 108: 145–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar