• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.50-66
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• 2011

Biofuel crops and their economical benefits have been recently researched as one of the alternative energy sources. Very few studies, however, have brought an issue about the impacts of the new cropping on environment, especially water quality. Because biofuel cropping requires more crop production with more fertilizers for cost-effectiveness, water quality near the new crops as well as downstream is expected to be degraded. In this study, the impacts of biofuel crop production on water quality was estimated by scenarios between pre-biofuel cropping and post-biofuel cropping using the previously calibrated SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model in a watershed in Texas, USA. Then, 30 meter filter strips were implemented on each biofuel ropland as a mitigation method. The economical and agricultural aspect and requirements of biofuel cropping was also previously investigated. The on-site impacts estimation showed that biofuel cropping increased about 250% to 1,150% of Total Nitrogen and about 100% to 1,100% of Total Phosphorous annually. The off-site estimation at the reservoir (entire watershed outlet) showed the annual increase of 40 to 50% for both Total Nitrogen and Total Phosphorous. The on-site effectiveness of filter strips was from 58.0% to 67.9% reduction for Total Nitrogen and 57.7% to 68.2% reduction for Total Phosphorous. The filter strips reduced 28.5% of Total Nitrogen and 29.4% of Total Phosphorous at the watershed outlet.