University of Vaasa - Vaasan yliopisto

Agricultural practices have also impacts on soil structure and fertility. GAP should:
- Control erosion, avoid steep slope cultivation,
- Prevent salinisation,
- Preserve nutrient balance and organic matter (for example, pH),
- Promote crop rotation,
- Manage residues removal,
- Reduce burning use,
- Manage waste treatment...
Finally, agricultural practices have impacts on water quality. GAP should:
- Prevent depletion,
- Prevent use from non-sustainable resources,
- Promote efficient use (irrigation),
- Manage treatment and reuse,
- Prevent and correct contamination,
- Manage waste,
- Protect natural courses and wetlands…
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If bioenergy routes use GAP, agricultural practices have positive impacts on
environment quality, if not, these impacts are negative. But as agricultural activity is
expected to increase in the future, due (partly) to bioenergy demand, global impact of
agricultural practices on environment quality is supposed to be negative. There is an
inverse relation between these externalities.
Global Warming – Environment Quality
Figure 9 shows that global warming, through climate change (temperature variations,
rainfall disturbances, sea level rise, etc.), influences soil, water and air quality. As
impacts of global warming and climate change are only measurable in the long-term,
lots of effects are still unknown or not well-understood. This relation is thus
indeterminate.
Figure 9 - Impacts of global warming on environment quality and health