BioKDF Library Search
Background: This study evaluates the global economic effects of the current US RFS2, and the potential contribution from advanced biofuels. Results & discussion: Our simulation results suggest that these mandates lead to an increase of 0.21% in the global gross domestic product in 2022,...
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
National biomass feedstock assessments (Perlack et al., 2005; DOE, 2011) have focused on cellulosic biomass resources, and have not included potential algal feedstocks. Recent research (Wigmosta et al., 2011) provides spatially-‐explicit information on potential algal biomass and oil yields, water...
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The report, Biomass as Feedstock for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry: The Technical Feasibility of a Billion-Ton Annual Supply (generally referred to as the Billion-Ton Study or 2005 BTS), was an estimate of “potential” biomass available within the contiguous United States based on assumptions...
This report, generally referred to as the Billion-Ton Study or 2005 BTS, is an estimate of “potential” biomass available within the contiguous United States based on assumptions about inventory production capacity, availability, and technology.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and...
The Biomass Program is one of the nine technology development programs within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This 2011 Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP) sets forth the goals and structure of the Biomass Program. It identifies the...
Organization:
U.S. Department of Energy - Biomass Program
The model is a vehicle fuel-cycle model for transportation systems. The model provides a set of outcomes that would involve feedstock production, biorefinery production, storage and consumer demand as the complete fuel-cycle. The data is internal to the model, but might be adaptive to different...
HyDRA is a GIS visualization tool that can be adapted for examination of biofuels infrastructure across the supply chain. HyDRA was developed at NREL for the geographic representation of the hydrogen fuel supply chain. Required data would be spatial data on crop production, storage and biorefinery...
A methodology was developed to estimate quantities of crop residues that can be removed while maintaining rain or wind erosion at less than or equal to the tolerable soil-loss level. Six corn and wheat rotations in the 10 largest corn-producing states were analyzed. Residue removal rates for each...
Organization:
Kansas State University
The National Sun Grant Association is comprised of representatives from the five regional Centers. Each Center is charged with coordinating bioenergy efforts within their region. The Centers are located at Cornell University, Oklahoma State University, Oregon State University, South Dakota State...
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Idaho National Lab composition data for biomass feedstocks.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
IBSAL is a dynamic simulation model of the connections existing between feedstock producers, biorefinery locations and the requisite storage and distribution systems. The model is primarily focused on the front end of the biofuels supply chain at the local level. The local data sources that are...
PNNL and the University of Maryland's Joint Global Change Research Institute is the home and primary development institution for the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM - formerly MiniCAM), an integrated assessment tool for exploring consequences and responses to global change. GCAM is a...
GTM is an econometric model that estimates regional and national land use for timber production and associated greenhouse gas sequestration. It can be adapted for biomass models that include wood chip or wood biomass as part of the biofuels feedstock supply chain.
The ERG Biofuel Analysis Meta-Model (EBAMM) is a national scale model which incorporates several other feedstock production and land use models to provide a comprehensive estimate of national output. Combined with energy demand data, the model provides an estimate of consumer demand for biofuels as...
This presentation summarizes findings of a life cycle analysis of the energy and environmental impacts of converting corn stove (the residue from corn harvesting) to ethanol.
Organization:
NREL
Fertilizers used to increase the yield of crops used for food or bio-based products can migrate through the environment and potentially cause adverse environmental impacts. Nitrogen fertilizers have a complex biogeochemical cycle. Through their transformations and partitioning among environmental...
Organization:
Potsdam University
This model was developed at Idaho National Laboratory and focuses on crop production. This model is an agricultural cultivation and production model, but can be used to estimate biomass crop yields.
The Decision Support System for Agriculture (DSS4Ag) is an expert system being developed by the Site...
The harvest of corn stover or herbaceous crops as feedstocks for bioenergy purposes has been shown to have significant benefits from energy and climate change perspectives. There is a potential, however, to adversely impact water and soil quality, especially in Midwestern states where the biomass...
Organization:
Enersol Resources
Phoenix replaces the Second Generation Model (SGM) that was formerly used, and is a policy analysis tool that operates at regional and national scales using economic input-output data for agriculture, transportation land use, energy consumption, and various policy variables. Resulting outputs are...
FASOM is a forestry land use model that has been adapted to address greenhouse gas emissions (the GHG extension) and feedstock issues for biofuels production. FASOM uses basic forestry data such as land area, forest products output, production and cost data to calculate expected forest output. The...
The POLYSYS model uses policy variables along with land use and crop production data to provide a regional econometric model of biofuels feedstock production and pricing. The model was developed at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory and is used extensively at the...
Organization:
University of Tennessee Knoxville
"Sustainable development," according to the United Nations' World Commission on Environment and Development, "meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future generations." It is hard to argue with the idea of sustainability when it is couched in...
Organization:
NREL
Biomass is a significant contributor to the US economy--agriculture, forest and paper products, food and related products account for 5% of our GDP. While the forest products industry self generates some of their energy, other sectors are importers. Bioenergy can contribute to economic development...
Organization:
DOE
Two of the most widely used land-cover data sets for the United States are the National Land-Cover Data (NLCD) at 30-m resolution and the Global Land- Cover Characteristics (GLCC) at 1-km nominal resolution. Both data sets were produced around 1992 and expected to provide similar land-cover...
Many investigators need and use global land cover maps for a wide variety of purposes. Ironically, after many years of very limited availability, there are now multiple global land cover maps and it is not readily apparent (1) which is most useful for particular applications or (2) how to combine...
Large-scale modeling systems have long been viewed as potentially valuable tools for evaluating farm policy. They have received increased attention in recent years, in part because of the added complexity of U.S. farm programs and the fuller integration of the U.S. farm sector with nonfarm sectors...
The preceding two chapters of this volume have discussed physical and economic data bases for global agriculture and forestry, respectively. These form the foundation for the integrated, global land use data base discussed in this chapter. However, in order to utilize these data for global CGE...
Organization:
Centre for Global Trade Analysis
This paper offers a graphical exposition of the GTAP model of global trade. Particular emphasis is placed on the accounting, or equilibrium, relationships in the model. It begins with a treatment of the a one region version of GTAP, thereafter adding a rest of world region to highlight the...
Organization:
Justus Liebig University
For several years the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has been developing a Decision Support System for Agriculture (DSS4Ag) which determines the economically optimum recipe of various fertilizers to apply at each site in a field to produce a crop, based on the existing soil fertility at each site...
The actual land use consequences of crop consumption are not very well reflected in existing life cycle inventories. The state of the art is that such inventories typically include data from crop production in the country in which the crop is produced, and consequently the inventories do not...
The different versions of the CLUE model (CLUE, CLUE-CR, CLUE-s, Dyna-CLUE and CLUE-Scanner) are among the most frequently used land use models globally. Applications range from small regions to entire continents. The CLUE model is a flexible, generic land use modeling framework which allows scale...
Greenhouse gas release from land use change (the socalled ?carbon debt?) has been identified as a potentially significant contributor to the environmental profile of biofuels. The time required for biofuels to overcome this carbon debt duetolandusechangeandbeginprovidingcumulativegreenhouse gas...
We highlight the complexity of land-use/cover change and propose a framework for a more general understanding of the issue, with emphasis on tropical regions. The review summarizes recent estimates on changes in cropland, agricultural intensification, tropical deforestation, pasture expansion, and...
We quantify the emergence of biofuel markets and its impact on U.S. and world agriculture for the coming decade using the multi-market, multi-commodity international FAPRI (Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute) model. The model incorporates the trade-offs between biofuel, feed, and food...
Organization:
CARD, Iowa State
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 2001 National Land Cover Database (NLCD) was compared to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2002 Census of Agriculture. Wecompared areal estimates for cropland at the state and county level for 14 States in the Upper Midwest region of the United States....
Converting forest lands into bioenergy agriculture could accelerate climate change by emitting carbon stored in forests, while converting food agriculture lands into bioenergy agriculture could threaten food security. Both problems are potentially avoided by using abandoned agriculture lands for...
Accurate and up-to-date global land cover data sets are necessary for various global change research studies including climate change, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem assessment, and environmental modeling. In recent years, substantial advancement has been achieved in generating such data...
Ground-based data on crop production in the USA is provided through surveys conducted by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and the Census of Agriculture (AgCensus). Statistics from these surveys are widely used in economic analyses, policy design, and for other purposes. However,...
A environmental model for assessing impacts of policy on climate, land and the environment.
CAPRI is a success story of an economic model developed by European Commission research funds. Operational since almost a decade, it supports decision making related to the Common Agricultural Policy based on sound scientific quantitative analysis. CAPRI is only viable due to its Pan-European...
This paper presents a range of future, spatially explicit, land use change scenarios for the EU15, Norway and Switzerland based on an interpretation of the global storylines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that are presented in the special report on emissions scenarios (SRES...
Organization:
University catholique de Louvain
Organization:
Joint Research Center
The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy jointly analyzed the economic potential for, and impacts of, large-scale bioenergy crop production in the United States. An agricultural sector model (POLYSYS) was modified to include three potential bioenergy crops (switchgrass, hybrid poplar, and...
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The paper presents a general introduction to the structure and the characteristics of AGLINK, in comparison with the other most important global multi-commodity partial equilibrium models. Special reference is made to policy modelling, and particularly to the representation of the most important...
Organization:
INEA, The National Institute of Agricultural Economics, Roma , Italy
Land-use change models are used by researchers and professionals to explore the dynamics and drivers of land-use/land-cover change and to inform policies affecting such change. A broad array of models and modeling methods are available to researchers, and each type has certain advantages and...
Organization:
Center for the Study of Institutions Population, and Environmental Change Indiana University
The paper describes the on-going project of the GTAP land use data base. We also present the GTAPE-AEZ model, which illustrates how land use and land-based emissions can be incorporated in the CGE framework for Integrated Assessment (IA) of climate change policies. We follow the FAO fashion of agro...
Organization:
Centre for Global Trade Analysis
As a part of the overall debate on the sustainability of bioenergy and biofuels, the greenhouse gas (GHG) balance of bioenergy has become an issue of intense discussion by media, science, business, and politics.
This is driven by the increasingly acknowledged necessity to limit the use of fossil...
Organization:
?ko-Institut, Darmstadt Office
Agricultural activities have dramatically altered our planet?s land surface. To understand the extent and spatial distribution of these changes, we have developed a new global data set of croplands and pastures circa 2000 by combining agricultural inventory data and satellite-derived land cover...
Organization:
McGill University
In response to concerns about oil dependency and the contributions of fossil fuel use to climatic change, the U.S. Department of Energy has begun a research initiative to make 20% of motor fuels biofuel based in 10 years, and make 30% of fuels bio-based by 2030. Fundamental to this objective is...
Organization:
Oak ridge national laboratory
Land use change models are tools to support the analysis of the causes and consequences of land use dynamics. Scenario analysis with land use models can support land use planning and policy. Numerous land use models are available, developed from different disciplinary backgrounds. This paper...
Organization:
Wageningen University
In this paper we investigate the impacts of abolishing the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the post-2013 European Union (EU) financial perspective and the impacts of re-investing the released funds on research and development (R&D). We apply a linked system of models to analyze the impacts...
Organization:
LEI
The Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE) at the University of Wisconsin has been developing global databases of contemporary and historical agricultural land use and land cover. SAGE has chosen to focus on agriculture because it is clearly the predominant land use activity on...
Organization:
SAGE
IMPACT – the International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade – was developed at IFPRI at the beginning of the 1990s, upon the realization that there was a lack of long-term vision and consensus among policy makers and researchers about the actions that are necessary to...
Organization:
International Food Policy Research Institute
Using a meta-analytical research design, we analyzed subnational case studies (n = 132) on the causes of dryland degradation, also referred to as desertification, to determine whether the proximate causes and underlying driving forces fall into any pattern and to identify mediating factors,...
Organization:
University of Louvain
This paper presents an overview of multi-agent system models of land-use/cover change (MAS/LUCC models). This special class of LUCC models combines a cellular landscape model with agent-based representations of decisionmaking, integrating the two components through specification of...
Organization:
Indiana University
Land-use change models are important tools for integrated environmental management. Through scenario analysis they can help to identify near-future critical locations in the face of environmental change. A dynamic, spatially explicit, land-use change model is presented for the regional scale: CLUE-...
Organization:
Department of Environmental Sciences,Wageningen University
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are both strongly committed to expanding the role of biomass as an energy source. In particular, they support biomass fuels and products as a way to reduce the need for oil and gas imports; to support the growth of...
Organization:
ORNL
Until recently, advanced very high-resolution radiometer (AVHRR) observations were the only viable source of data for global land cover mapping. While many useful insights have been gained from analyses based on AVHRR data, the availability of moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS)...
Organization:
Department of Geography and Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University
Growing concern about climate change and energy security has led to increasing interest in developing renewable, domestic energy sources for meeting electricity, heating and fuel needs in the United States. Illinois has significant potential to produce bioenergy crops, including corn, soybeans,...
Organization:
University of North Carolina
In recent years, considerable concern has been raised about the sustainability of the world's forested ecosystems (FAO, 2003). With deforestation rates in tropical regions estimated to be as high as 12 million hectares per year (FAO, 2003; Houghton, 2003), much of the concern has centered...
Organization:
1Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, Ohio State University
This study presents the results of comparing land use estimates between three different data sets for the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB). The comparisons were performed between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) National Resource Inventory (...
Organization:
Center for Agricultural and Rural Development
This study estimates the biomass resources currently available in the United States by county. It includes the following feedstock categories: crop residues (5 year average: 2003-2007), forest and primary mill residues (2007), secondary mill and urban wood waste (2002), methane emissions from...
Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Urban wood waste includes wood residues from MSW (wood chips and pallets), utility tree trimming and/or private tree companies, and construction and demolition sites. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Population data, BioCycle Journal, State of Garbage in America, January 2004; County Business...
Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
This study estimates the biomass resources currently available in the United States by county. It includes the following feedstock categories - crop residues (5 year average, 2003-2007), forest and primary mill residues (2007), secondary mill and urban wood waste (2002), methane emissions from...
Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Biomass is receiving increasing attention as scientists, policy makers, and growers search for clean, renewable energy alternatives. Compared with other renewable resources, biomass is very flexible it can be used as fuel for direct combustion, gasified, used in combined heat and power technologies...
Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
The Biomass and Bioenergy Research Group (BBRG) is a multi-department, multi-disciplinary team at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. BBRG conducts innovative research in biomass densification, preprocessing, resource management, material characterization, and supply logisitcs...
Prior studies have estimated that a liter of bioethanol requires 263−784 L of water from corn farm to fuel pump, but these estimates have failed to account for the widely varied regional irrigation practices. By using regional time-series agricultural and ethanol production data in the U.S., this...
There is typically a high degree of flexibility associated with the production of alternative fuels due to the ability to source from different input raw materials or to produce different output products based on market conditions. In this paper, we consider the particular example of ethanol and...
United States is experiencing increasing interests in fermentation and anaerobic digestion processes for the production of biofuels. A simple methodology of spatial biomass assessment is presented in this paper to evaluate biofuel production and support the first decisions about the conversion...
The United States shares with many other countries the goal of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change “to achieve . . . stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.”1...
Discussions of alternative fuel and propulsion technologies for transportation often overlook the infrastructure required to make these options practical and cost-effective. We estimate ethanol production facility locations and use a linear optimization model to consider the economic costs of...
The rapidly expanding biofuel industry has changed the fundamentals of U.S. agricultural commodity markets. Increasing ethanol and biodiesel production has generated a fast-growing demand for corn and soybean products, which competes with the well-established domestic livestock industry and foreign...
Supply chain management involves all of the activities in industrial organizations from raw material procurement to final product delivery to customers. The main aim in supply chain management is to satisfy production requirements, while optimizing the economic objectives. In traditional fossil...
In this paper, we assess what is known or anticipated about environmental and sustainability factors associated with next-generation biofuels relative to the primary conventional biofuels (i.e., corn grain-based ethanol and soybean-based diesel) in the United States during feedstock production and...
The water consumption and agrochemical use during biofuel production could adversely impact both availability and quality of a precious resource.
There is a strong societal need to evaluate and understand the sustainability of biofuels, especially because of the significant increases in production mandated by many countries, including the United States. Sustainability will be a strong factor in the regulatory environment and investments in...
The important key technologies required for the successful biological conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol have been extensively reviewed. The biological process of ethanol fuel production utilizing lignocellulose as substrate requires: (1) delignification to liberate cellulose and...
A key aspect in modeling the (future) competition between biofuels is the way in which production cost developments are computed. The objective of this study was threefold: (i) to construct a (endogenous) relation between cost development and cumulative production (ii) to implement technological...
A dry-grind ethanol from corn process analysis is performed. After defining a complete model of the process, a pinch technology analysis is carried out to optimise energy and water demands. The so-defined base case is then discussed in terms of production costs and process profitability. A detailed...
This paper describes a preliminary analysis of two technological routes (based on hydrolysis and on gasification + Fischer–Tropsch conversion process) of biofuels production from cellulosic materials. In this paper it was considered the integration of the two alternative routes to a conventional...
Production of ethanol from agriculutural and forestry residues, municipal solid waste, energy crops, and other forms of lignocellulosic biomass could improve energy security, reduce trade deficits, decrease urban air pollution, and contribute little, if any, net carbon dioxide accumulation to the...
The state of the art of hydrolysis-fermentation technologies to produce ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass, as well as developing technologies, is evaluated. Promising conversion concepts for the short-, middle- and long-term are defined. Their technical performance was analysed, and results...
The present study is a review of published investigations regarding the economy of ethanol production from lignocellulosic material. The objective is to present relations between and tendencies observed in different cost estimates. The influence of plant capacity and overall product yield on the...
Soaring global food prices are threatening to push more poor people back below the poverty line; this will probably become aggravated by the serious challenge that increasing population and climate changes are posing for food security. There is growing evidence that human activities involving...
Transgenic modification of plants is a key enabling technology for developing sustainable biofeedstocks for biofuels production. Regulatory decisions and the wider acceptance and development of transgenic biofeedstock crops are considered from the context of science-based risk assessment. The risk...
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) originally developed this application for biopower with funding from the Environmental Protection Agency's Blue Skyways Collaborative. The Department of Energy's Office of Biomass Program provided funding for biofuels functionality. More...
Understanding the Growth of the Cellulosic Ethanol Industry, D. Sandor and R. Wallace, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, S. Peterson The Peterson Group, Technical Report, NREL/TP-150-42120 April 2008
Meeting the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) renewable fuels goals requires development
of a large sustainable domestic supply of diverse biomass feedstocks. Macroalgae, also known as
seaweed, could be a potential contributor toward this goal. This resource would be grown in marine...
Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Fast-growing, oil-producing species of microalgae have become the focus of attention for both biomass and biodiesel biofuels, but questions remain about scalability, economics, and the competition between large-scale microalgae cultivation and agriculture, with regard to water, fertilizer, and land...
Spatial Marketing Patterns for Corn Under the Condition of Increasing Ethanol Production in the U.S.
Events external to agriculture have set in motion the conditions for structural change in the marketing of corn in the U.S. These included a rapid increase in the price of crude oil from $40 per barrel to over $100 caused by hurricanes, geopolitical events, an increased global demand for energy...
When the lignocellulosic biofuels industry reaches maturity and many types of biomass sources become economically viable, management of multiple feedstock supplies – that vary in their yields, density (tons per unit area), harvest window, storage and seasonal costs, storage losses, transport...
A system of equations representing corn supply, feed demand, export demand, food, alcohol and industrial (FAI) demand, and corn price is estimated by three-stage least squares. A price dependent reduced form equation is then formed to investigate the effect of ethanol production on the national...
The purpose of this research was to determine whether indirect land use occurs and if so to what extent. Indirect land use is a change from non-cropland to cropland (e.g. deforestation) that may occur in response to increasing scarcity of cropland. As farmers worldwide respond to higher crop prices...
This database contains current and historical official USDA data on production, supply and distribution of agricultural commodities for the United States and key producing and consuming countries.
FAOSTAT provides time-series and cross sectional data relating to food and agriculture for some 200 countries.
The national version of FAOSTAT, CountrySTAT, is being developed and implemented in a number of target countries, primarily in sub-saharan Africa. It will offer a two-way data exchange...
This paper examines the impact of biofuel expansion on grain utilization and distribution at the state and cropping district level as most of grain producers and handlers are directly influenced by the local changes. We conducted a survey to understand the utilization and flows of corn, ethanol and...
Traffic flows in the U.S. have been affected by the substantial increase and, as of January 2009, decrease in biofuel production and use. This paper considers a framework to study the effect on grain transportation flows of the 2005 Energy Act and subsequent legislation, which mandated higher...
This paper examines the impact of declining energy prices on biofuels production and use and its implications to agricultural commodity markets. It uses PEATSim, a dynamic partial equilibrium, multi-commodity, multi-country global trade model of the agriculture sector to analyze the interaction...
USDA Agricultural Projections for 2011-20, released in February 2011, provide longrun projections for the farm sector for the next 10 years. These annual projections cover agricultural commodities, agricultural trade, and aggregate indicators of the sector, such as farm income and food prices....
Agricultural markets often feature significant transport costs and spatially distributed production and processing which causes spatial imperfect competition. Spatial economics considers the firms’ decisions regarding location and spatial price strategy separately, usually on the demand side, and...
PEATSim (Partial Equilibrium Agricultural Trade Simulation) is a dynamic, partial equilibrium, mathematical-based model that enables users to reach analytical solutions to problems, given a set of parameters, data, and initial
conditions. This theoretical tool developed by ERS incorporates a wide...
Fast growing, short-rotation tree crops provide unique opportunities to sequester carbon on phosphate-mined lands in central Florida and, if used as a biofuel, can reduce CO2emissions associated with electricity generation. Base case land expectation values (LEVs)of phosphate-mined land under...
Developing scientific criteria and indicators should play a critical role in charting a sustainable path for the rapidly developing biofuel industry. The challenge ahead in developing such criteria and indicators is to address the limitations on data and modeling.
The U.S. Department of Energy Biomass Program sponsored the Land-Use Change and Bioenergy workshop in Vonore, Tennessee, from May 11 to May 14, 2009. More than 50 experts from around the world gathered to review the state of the science, identify opportunities for collaboration, and prioritize next...
As the US begins to integrate biomass crops and residues into its mix of energy feedstocks, tools are needed to measure the long-term sustainability of these feedstocks. Two aspects of sustainability are long-term potential for profitably producing energy and protection of ecosystems influenced by...
Organization:
Center for BioEnergy Sustainability, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Despite recent claims to the contrary, plant-based fuels developed in economically and environmentally sensible ways can contribute significantly to the nation’s— indeed, the world’s—energy security while providing a host of benefits for many people worldwide.
Organization:
ORNL
Relationships between people and their environment are largely defined by land use. Space and soil are needed for native plants and wildlife, as well as for crops used for food, feed, fiber, wood products and biofuel (liquid fuel derived from plant material). People also use land for homes, schools...
The establishment of bioenergy crops will affect ecological processes and their interactions and thus has an influence on ecosystem services provided by the lands on which these crops are grown. The regional-scale effects of bioenergy choices on ecosystem services need special attention because...
Organization:
Center for BioEnergy Sustainability, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
IN THEIR REPORTS IN THE 29 FEBRUARY ISSUE (“LAND CLEARING AND THE BIOFUEL CARBON debt,” J. Fargione et al., p. 1235, and “Use of U.S. croplands for biofuels increases greenhouse gases through emissions from land-use change,” T. Searchinger et al., p. 1238), the authors do not provide adequate...
Organization:
ORNL
Adding bioenergy to the U.S. energy portfolio requires long‐term profitability for bioenergy producers and
long‐term protection of affected ecosystems. In this study, we present steps along the path toward evaluating both sides of
the sustainability equation (production and environmental) for...
A broad-scale perspective on the nexus between climate change, land use, and energy requires consideration of interactions that were often omitted from climate change studies. While prior analyses have considered how climate change affects land use and vice versa (Dale 1997), there is growing...
Organization:
Center for BioEnergy Sustainability, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a perennial grass native to the United States that has been studied as a sustainable source of biomass fuel. Although many field-scale studies have examined the potential of this grass as a bioenergy crop, these studies have not been integrated. In this study,...
Microalgae are receiving increased global attention as a potential sustainable “energy crop”for biofuel production. An important step to realizing the potential of algae is quantifying the demands commercial‐scale algal biofuel production will place on water and land resources. We present a high‐...
Nationwide spatial dataset representing the polygon areas for first-generation suitability analysis of potentially suitable areas for microalgae open ponds. The PNNL microalgae growth model results for each site are included in the attribute table and assume growth based on theoretical limits....
Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
The IPCC SRREN report addresses information needs of policymakers, the private sector and civil society on the potential of renewable energy sources for the mitigation of climate change, providing a comprehensive assessment of renewable energy technologies and related policy and financial...
This map displays energy feedstocks, crop residues, forest resources, and secondary resources for the baseline scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2017.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays energy feedstocks, crop residues, forest resources, and secondary resources for the baseline scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2022.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays energy feedstocks, crop residues, forest resources, and secondary resources for the baseline scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2030.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays energy feedstocks, crop residues, forest resources, and secondary resources for the high-yield, 3% increase in energy crop yield growth scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2017.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays energy feedstocks, crop residues, forest resources, and secondary resources for the high-yield, 3% increase in energy crop yield growth scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2022.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays energy feedstocks, crop residues, forest resources, and secondary resources for the high-yield, 3% increase in energy crop yield growth scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2030.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays energy feedstocks, crop residues, forest resources, and secondary resources for the baseline scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2017.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays energy feedstocks, crop residues, forest resources, and secondary resources for the baseline scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2022.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays energy feedstocks, crop residues, forest resources, and secondary resources for the baseline scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2030.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays energy feedstocks, crop residues, forest resources, and secondary resources for the high-yield, 3% increase in energy crop yield growth scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2017.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays energy feedstocks, crop residues, forest resources, and secondary resources for the high-yield, 3% increase in energy crop yield growth scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2022.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays energy feedstocks, crop residues, forest resources, and secondary resources for the high-yield, 3% increase in energy crop yield growth scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2030.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays herbaceous (non-woody) crops including energy feedstocks and crop residues for the baseline scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2017.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays herbaceous (non-woody) crops including energy feedstocks and crop residues for the baseline scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2022.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays herbaceous (non-woody) resources including energy feedstocks and crop residues for the baseline scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2030.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays herbaceous (non-woody) resources including energy feedstocks and crop residues for the high-yield, 3% increase in energy crop yield growth scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2017.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays herbaceous (non-woody) resources including energy feedstocks and crop residues for the high-yield, 3% increase in energy crop yield growth scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2022.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays herbaceous (non-woody) resources including energy feedstocks and crop residues for the high-yield, 3% increase in energy crop yield growth scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2030.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays woody resources including coppice and non-coppice woody energy crops and primary forest resources for the high-yield, 3% increase in energy crop yield growth scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2017.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays woody resources including coppice and non-coppice woody energy crops and primary forest resources for the high-yield, 3% increase in energy crop yield growth scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2022.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays woody resources including coppice and non-coppice woody energy crops and primary forest resources for the high-yield, 3% increase in energy crop yield growth scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2030.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays woody resources including coppice and non-coppice woody energy crops and primary forest resources for the baseline scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2017.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays woody resources including coppice and non-coppice woody energy crops and primary forest resources for the baseline scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2022.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This map displays woody resources including coppice and non-coppice woody energy crops and primary forest resources for the baseline scenario with an established energy feedstock market price of $60 in the year 2030.
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This file contains the Conventional crop raw data output as referenced in the Billion-Ton Update Report for the baseline and high-yield scenarios for years 2012 - 2030.
This file contains the Energy Feedstocks and Crop Residue raw data outputs as referenced in the Billion-Ton Update Report for the baseline and high-yield scenarios for years 2012 - 2030.
This file contains the Primary Forest Resources raw data outputs as referenced in the Billion-Ton Update Report for years 2012 - 2030.
This file contains the secondary agriculture and forest resources raw data output as referenced in the Billion-Ton Update Report for years 2012 - 2030.
Carbon dioxide exchange was quantified in maize–soybean agroecosystems employing year-round tower eddy covariance
flux systems and measurements of soil C stocks, CO2 fluxes from the soil surface, plant biomass, and litter decomposition.
Measurements were made in three cropping systems: (a)...
Crop intensification is often thought to increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but studies in which crop management is optimized to exploit crop yield potential are rare. We conducted a field study in eastern Nebraska, USA to quantify GHG emissions, changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) and the...
Sweet sorghum [SS; Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is a potential biofuel crop for the Great Plains. Sweet sorghum was compared
with corn [Zea mays (L.)] and grain sorghum for potential ethanol yield, energy use effi ciency, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
at seven dryland site-years in Nebraska...
This paper reviews various studies that have examined the relationship between corn used in ethanol production and corn prices. They suggest increased corn demand for ethanol could account for 25 to 50 percent of the corn price increase expected from 2006/07 to 2008/09. Another analysis presented...
In response to energy security concerns, alternative energy programs such as biomass energy systems are being
developed to provide energy in the 21st century. For the biomass industry to expand, a variety of feedstocks will need
to be utilized. Large scale production of bioenergy crops could have...
On February 9-10, 2009, the Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment
(Heinz Center) and the Pinchot Institute for Conservation (Pinchot Institute) convened a
dialogue session focusing on the intersection of policies affecting biomass-based energy
and those concerning forest policy...
With the development of renewable energy sources to meet the
challenges of energy security and climate change, wood bioenergy
and biofuels have the potential to become a much larger part
of the nation’s energy future. There is concern that efforts to
expand the production and use of this energy...
Issue 1: Ability of Modern Bioenergy to Provide Energy Services fo the Poor
Issue 2: Implications for Agro-Industrial Development and Job Creation
Issue 3: Health and Gender Implications of Modern Bioenergy
Issue 4: Implications for the Structure of Agriculture
Issue 5: Implications for Food...
Although much is known about ecosystem services, a number of research gaps exist, and there are opportunities to strengthen collaboration. One of the major goals of this workshop was to discuss the current work of federal agencies in ecosystem services’ R&D related to sustainability while, at...
Since the fuel crisis in the 1970’s, the Pacific Northwest region has been investigating the use of plant matter and biotic wastes to produce energy. However, within the last five years, the investigations have reached an unprecedented level of interest and support. Governments, private industries...
The Society convened a working group of leading experts to consider the science and technology prospects of delivering efficient biofuels for transport in the broader context of the environmental protection and sustainability.
The working group concluded that biofuels have a potentially useful role...
In an effort to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, expand domestic energy production, and maintain economic growth, public and private investments are being used to pursue dedicated feedstock crops for biofuel production. Unlike food crops grown for grain-based ethanol (e.g., corn), which require...
Oil prices and government mandates have catalyzed rapid growth of nonfossil transportation fuels in recent years, with a large focus on ethanol from energy crops, but the food crops used as first-generation energy crops today are not optimized for this purpose. We show that the theoretical...
This White Paper summarizes the issues surrounding indirect land use change (iLUC) and identifies ways to address weaknesses and areas of controversy in current approaches to modeling iLUC and potential iLUC mitigation options. It specifically identifies data requirements and potential collection...
This review on research on life cycle carbon accounting examines the complexities in accounting for carbon emissions given the many different ways that wood is used. Recent objectives to increase the use of renewable fuels have raised policy questions, with respect to the sustainability of managing...
Organization:
College of Environment, University of Washington
All provided information is based on the Proximate Analysis testing for solid fuels in accordance with American Society for Testing and Materials(ASTM).
The compiled information should be used only as a general comparative guide for agricultural renewable fuels.
The evaluated agricultural...
Organization:
North Dakota State University/Heating the midwest.
A Map of the Iowa County-Level Study Area from the 2011 Billion Ton Study.
Organization:
North Dakota State University/Heating the midwest.
This report is compiled annually by Minnesota DNR – Forestry Division, Resource Assessment and
Utilization & Marketing Program staff. Publication began in the mid 1980s by John Krantz, former
Utilization & Marketing Program Coordinator. The report is intended to answer frequently asked...
Illinois Biomass Working Group Forms to Study Near-Term Uses For Biomass in State - Biofuels Journal
Urbana—Representatives from academia, government, industry, and the private sector have joined together to form the Illinois Biomass Working Group (IBWG), a coalition organized to study near-term uses for biomass in Illinois.
Minnesota stands at a crossroads. The forest products industry of past decades is rapidly changing, creating both short-term challenges and short- and long-term opportunities for the state. Minnesota has the opportunity to excel in manufacturing sustainable, renewable forest-based products,...
The North Central Regional Sun Grant Center is located at South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD. The Center consists of 10 states including Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
The growing interest and investment in forest biomass for energy production in Minnesota has created the need for accurate estimates of supply. This report estimates the total physical supply of residual forest biomass in Minnesota using a spreadsheet based Forest Age Class Change Simulator (FACCS...
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funds research, development, and demonstration to help develop sustainable and cost-competitive biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower. For biofuels, DOE has lowered the cost of non-food-based ethanol by more than $6 per gallon since 2001, and it is now projected to...
This paper describes the current Biomass Scenario Model (BSM) as of August 2013, a system dynamics model developed under the support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The model is the result of a multi-year project at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). It is a tool designed to...
Organization:
NREL
Biofuels are promoted in the United States through aggressive legislation, as one part of an overall strategy to lessen dependence on imported energy as well as to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (Office of the Biomass Program and Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 2008). For example...
Organization:
NREL
The major opportunities to reduce fossil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions involve improving the efficiency with which energy is used and making the transition to alternative sources of energy and materials. These include increasing the sustainable use of biomass for the production of biomaterials,...
Provides a summary of the key findings of the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources (SRREN) and Climate Change Mitigation.
Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
This publication provides the summary and conclusions from the workshop ‘Thermal Pre-treatment of Biomass for Large-scale Applications’ held in conjunction with the meeting of the Executive Committee of IEA Bioenergy in York, United Kingdom, on 12 October 2010.
The purpose of the workshop was to...
This publication provides the summary and conclusions from the workshop ‘Developing Sustainable Trade in Bioenergy’ held in conjunction with the meeting of the Executive Committee of IEA Bioenergy in Nara City, Japan on 12 May 2010.
The purpose of the workshop was to provide perspectives on...
Algae feedstocks for alternative fuels production are not economically competitive with fossil fuels at the present time. Furthermore, it has not yet been demonstrated that algae production systems offer improved sustainability characteristics.
Algae does have potential as a feedstock for biofuels...
The use of corn for ethanol production in the United States quintupled between 2001 and 2009, generating concerns that this could lead to the conversion of forests and grasslands around the blobe, known as indirect land-use change (iLUC). Estimates of iLUC and related "food versus fuel"...
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
n the past decades, the production of biomass for energy in agriculture and forestry has increased in many parts of the world. For years to come, further increase in land use for bioenergy will be needed to meet the renewable energy ambitions of many countries, and to reduce fossil fuel use and...
Organization:
IEA Bioenergy Task 38
Review of the sustainability aspects and issues covered within various bioenergy initatives inclusing social, economic, and environmental aspects.
Reducing “Energy Poverty” is increasingly acknowledged as the “Missing Development Goal”. This is because access to electricity and modern energy sources is a basic requirement to achieve and sustain decent and sustainable living standards. It is essential for lighting, heating and cooking, as well...
The increasing demand for bioenergy crops presents our society with the opportunity to design more sustainable landscapes. We have created a Biomass Location for Optimal Sustainability Model (BLOSM) to test the hypothesis that landscape design of cellulosic bioenergy crop plantings may...
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
An informal workshop focused on a watershed-scale perspective of cellulosic bioenergy feedstock sustainability was held at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee 3-4 February 2010. The workshop was sponsored by the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc. (NCASI...
Organization:
ORNL
A Workshop for Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and their collaborators was held on September 10-11, 2009 at ORNL. The informal workshop focused on “Sustainability of Bioenergy Systems: Cradle to Grave.” The topics covered included sustainability...
Organization:
ORNL
An informal workshop focused on the implications of the US Billion Ton Update1 for understanding bioenergy sustainability was held at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee 28-30 September 2011. The workshop was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Biomass...
Organization:
ORNL
Crop residues are among the cellulosic feedstocks expected to provide renewable energy. The
availability of crop species and residue availability varies across the United States. Estimates of
harvestable residues must consider all the residues produced during the entire rotation. Inclusion
of...
Organization:
USDA-ARS
Indicators are needed to assess both socioeconomic and environmental sustainability of bioenergy systems. Effective indicators can help to identify and quantify the sustainability attributes of bioenergy options. We identify 16 socioeconomic indicators that fall into the categories of social well-...
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Landscape indicators, when combined with information about environmental conditions (such as habitat potential, biodiversity, carbon and nutrient cycling, and erosion) and socioeconomic forces, can provide insights about changing ecosystem services. They also provide information about opportunities...
Organization:
Center for BioEnergy Sustainability, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Interest in using biomass feedstocks to produce power, liquid fuels, and chemicals in the U.S. is increasing. Central to determining the potential for these industries to develop is an understanding of the location, quantities, and prices of biomass resources. This paper describes the methodology...
Authors: Todd West, Katherine Dunphy-Guzman, Amy Sun, Len Malczunski, David Reichmuth
This paper addresses a national interest in investigating the potential of displacing a large fraction of U.S. gasoline use by 2030 with ethanol. This study assesses the feasibility, implications, limitations, and...
Authors: SB Jones, Y Zhu
Cellulosic ethanol biorefinery economics can be potentially improved by converting by-product lignin into high valued products. Cellulosic biomass is composed mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. In a cellulosic ethanol biorefinery, cellulose and hemicellullose...
To provide easier access to geospatial satellite products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) today announced the launch of CropScape, a new cropland exploring service. CropScape provides data users access to a variety of new resources and...
Agricultural sustainability considers the effects of farm activities on social, economic, and environmental conditions at local and regional scales. Adoption of more sustainable agricultural practices entails defining sustainability, developing easily measured indicators of sustainability, moving...
Organization:
Center for BioEnergy Sustainability, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Indicators of the environmental sustainability of biofuel production, distribution, and use should be selected, measured, and interpreted with respect to the context in which they are used. The context of a sustainability assessment includes the purpose, the particular biofuel production and...
Eucalyptus is a fast-growing tree native to Australia and could be used to supply biomass for bioenergy and other purposes along the coastal regions of the southeastern United States (USA). At a farmgate price of $66 dry Mg−1, a potential supply of 27 to 41.3 million dry Mg year−1 of Eucalyptus...
Organization:
Center for BioEnergy Sustainability, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Defining and measuring sustainability of bioenergy systems are difficult because the systems are complex, the science is in early stages of development, and there is a need to generalize what are inherently context-specific enterprises. These challenges, and the fact that decisions are being made...
Increasing demand for crop-based biofuels, in addition to other human drivers of land use, induces direct and indirect land use changes (LUC). Our system dynamics tool is intended to complement existing LUC modeling approaches and to improve the understanding of global LUC drivers and dynamics by...
Biomass power offers utilities a potential pathway to increase their renewable generation portfolios for compliance with renewable energy standards and to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to current fossil-based technologies. To date, a large body of life-cycle assessment (LCA)...
Land-use change (LUC) is a contentious policy issue because of its uncertain, yet potentially substantial, impact on bioenergy climate change benefits. Currently, the share of global GHG emissions from biofuels-induced LUC is small compared to that from LUC associated with food and feed production...
Weighing contrasting evidence is an integral element of science (Osborne 2010). The dominant forum
for doing this and for scientific exchange in general is the peer-review and publication process. It tends
to be slow because of the time required to conduct critical reviews. Rapid exchange and...
Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Challenges in the estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from biofuel-induced global land-use change
The estimation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a change in land-use and management resulting from growing biofuel feedstocks has undergone extensive – and often contentious – scientific and policy debate. Emergent renewable fuel policies require life cycle GHG emission accounting that...