This one-page Ag quickCAST contains excerpted material from its companion CAST document, Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities.

The need to decrease concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) in Earth’s atmosphere has been identified as one of the most pressing modern-day environmental issues. Agriculture, in addition to being affected by the climate, contributes to climate change through its exchanges of GHGs with the atmosphere.

A panel of experts has outlined key issues regarding biomass crops by examining the harvest, transportation, and storage of cellulosic material. Task Force Chair Jerry Fruin indicates that successful biomass feedstock production depends on the smooth blending of successful approaches to these three logistical necessities.

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are of increasing concern because of their potential role in promoting rapid and undesirable change in climate. Agriculture ironically serves as both a source and a sink for this increase in GHGs.