Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
endorsement. Here we refrain from using the terms biofuels and bioenergy as if oil
and coal were not the clean products of biologic processes. Indeed, the production
of “biofuels” presents a potential environmental risk. The long-term harvesting of
biomass for bioenergy production will have an adverse impact on soil quality, a loss
of soil structure with consequent worsening of soil hydrologic conditions, an
increase of fl ood frequencies, and a decrease of agricultural productivity. The exten-
sive production of “biofuels” causes a loss of readily mineralized organic N and of
other nutrients. The loss of cation exchange capacity due to the decrease of humus
content indicates that long-term residue harvesting reduces the ability of the soil to
retain cationic nutrients. Without compensating organic amendments or other con-
servation strategies, the long-term harvesting of crop residues results in degradation
of the quality of soils.
