Mark Downing

U.S. Billion-ton Update: Biomass Supply for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry

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 within the contiguous United States based on numerous assumptions about current and future inventory and production capacity, availability, and technology. In the 2005 BTS, a strategic analysis was undertaken to determine if U.S. agriculture and forest resources have the capability to potentially produce at least one billion dry tons of biomass annually, in a sustainable manner—enough to displace approximately 30% of the country’s present petroleum consumption. To ensure reasonable confidence in the study results, an effort was made to use relatively conservative assumptions. However, for both agriculture and forestry, the resource potential was not restricted by price. That is, all identified biomass was potentially available, even though some potential feedstock would more than likely be too expensive to actually be economically available. In addition to updating the 2005 study, this report attempts to address a number of its shortcomings

Interactions among bioenergy feedstock choices, landscape dynamics, and land use

Landscape implications of bioenergy feedstock choices are significant and depend on land-use practices and their environmental impacts. Although land-use changes and carbon emissions associated with bioenergy feedstock production are dynamic and complicated, lignocellulosic feedstocks may offer opportunities that enhance sustainability when compared to other transportation fuel alternatives. For bioenergy sustainability, major drivers and concerns revolve around energy security, food production, land productivity, soil carbon and erosion, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, air quality, and water quantity and quality. The many implications of bioenergy feedstock choices require several indicators at multiple scales to provide a more complete accounting of effects. Ultimately, the long-term sustainability of bioenergy feedstock resources (as well as food supplies) throughout the world depends on land-use practices and landscape dynamics. Land-management decisions often invoke trade-offs among potential environmental effects and social and economic factors as well as future opportunities for resource use. The hypothesis being addressed in this paper is that sustainability of bioenergy feedstock production can be achieved via appropriately designed crop residue and perennial lignocellulosic systems. We find that decision makers need scientific advancements and adequate data that both provide quantitative and qualitative measures of the effects of bioenergy feedstock choices at different spatial and temporal scales and allow fair comparisons among available options for renewable liquid fuels.

The effect of location and facility demand on the marginal cost of delivered wood chips from energy crops: A case study of the state of Tennessee

Cost-supply curves for delivered wood chips from short rotation woody crops were calculated for 21 regularly spaced locations spanning the state of Tennessee. These curves were used to systematically evaluate the combined effects of location and facility demand on wood chip feedstock costs in Tennessee. The cost-supply curves were developed using BRAVO, a GIS-based decision support system which calculates marginal cost of delivering wood chips to a specific location given road network maps and maps of farm-gate prices and supplies of wood chips from short rotation energy crops. Marginal costs of delivered chips varied by both facility location in the state and facility demand. Marginal costs were lowest in central Tennessee, unless the facility demand was greater than 2 700 000 dry Mg/y (3 000 000 dry t/y) in which case west Tennessee was the lowest cost region. Marginal costs rose rapidly with increasing facility demand in the mountainous eastern portion of the state. Transportation costs accounted for 18–29% of the delivered cost and ranged between

The potential supply and cost of biomass from energy crops in the Tennessee Valley Authority region.

8 and 18/dry Mg (

A framework to assess regional environmental impacts of dedicated energy crop production.

7 and 16/dry t). Reducing the expected farmer participation rate from 100 to 50 or 25% dramatically raised the marginal costs of feedstock supply in the east and central regions of the state. The analysis demonstrates the need to use geographically-specific information when projecting the potential costs and supplies of biomass feedstock.

Global economic effects of US biofuel policy and the potential contribution from advanced biofuels

Abstract The economic and supply structures of short rotation woody crop (SRWC) and herbaceous energy crop (HEC) markets have not been established. Establishing the likely price and supply of biomass in a region is a complex task because biomass is not an established commodity as are oil, natural gas and coal. In this study we project the cost and supply of short-rotation woody biomass for the TVA region—a 276 county area that includes portions of 11 states in the southeastern United States. Projected prices and quantities of SRWC are assumed to be a function of the amount and quality of crop and pasture land available in a region, expected biomass crop yields and production costs on differing soils and land types, and the profit potential from current conventional crop production on these same lands. Projected switchgrass yields ranged from 9.7–19.8 dry Mg ha −1 (4.3–8.8 dry tons acre −1 ) across the region while production costs ranged from

Demonstration of the BioBaler harvesting system for collection of small-diameter woody biomass

30.80–

Testing the Reliability of the Benefit Function Transfer Approach

70.40 (U.S. dollars) dry Mg −1 (

Indicators to support environmental sustainability of bioenergy systems

28–

Indicators for assessing socioeconomic sustainability of bioenergy systems: a short list of practical measures.

64 dry ton −1 ). SRWC production costs ranged from