Robert D. Perlack

Biomass as Feedstock for A Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry: The Technical Feasibility of a Billion-Ton Annual Supply

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 agriculture, forestry, and rural economies; and to foster major new domestic industries--biorefineries--making a variety of fuels, chemicals, and other products. As part of this effort, the Biomass R&D Technical Advisory Committee, a panel established by the Congress to guide the future direction of federally funded biomass R&D, envisioned a 30 percent replacement of the current U.S. petroleum consumption with biofuels by 2030. Biomass--all plant and plant-derived materials including animal manure, not just starch, sugar, oil crops already used for food and energy--has great potential to provide renewable energy for Americas future. Biomass recently surpassed hydropower as the largest domestic source of renewable energy and currently provides over 3 percent of the total energy consumption in the United States. In addition to the many benefits common to renewable energy, biomass is particularly attractive because it is the only current renewable source of liquid transportation fuel. This, of course, makes it invaluable in reducing oil imports--one of our most pressing energy needs. A key question, however, is how large a role could biomass play in responding to the nations energy demands. Assuming that economic and financial policies and advances in conversion technologies make biomass fuels and products more economically viable, could the biorefinery industry be large enough to have a significant impact on energy supply and oil imports? Any and all contributions are certainly needed, but would the biomass potential be sufficiently large to justify the necessary capital replacements in the fuels and automobile sectors? The purpose of this report is to determine whether the land resources of the United States are capable of producing a sustainable supply of biomass sufficient to displace 30 percent or more of the countrys present petroleum consumption--the goal set by the Advisory Committee in their vision for biomass technologies. Accomplishing this goal would require approximately 1 billion dry tons of biomass feedstock per year.

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

Feedstock cost analysis of corn stover residues for further processing

In this paper, we evaluate the costs for collecting, handling, and hauling corn stover to an ethanol conversion facility. We estimate costs for a conventional baling system at varying levels of feedstock demand or conversion facility size. Our results generally indicate that stover can be collected, stored, and hauled for about

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

43.10–51.60/dry ton using conventional baling equipment for conversion facilities ranging from 500 to 4000 dry tons/day. The cost difference between facility sizes is due to transportation. Transportation, collection and baling, and farmer payments account for over 90% of total delivered costs. These estimates are based on average corn stover resource availability assumptions and are inclusive of all costs including farmer payments. Under conditions of high resource availability costs can be lowered by

Possible Responses to Global Climate Change: Integrating Mitigation and Adaptation

6–10/dry ton. Delivered costs increase considerably under low resource availability conditions.

Emissions of C02 from energy crop production

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.

Technical and economic status of wood energy feedstock production

Abstract How do we as cities, nations, and global communities best respond to global climate change? Mitigation+urtailing greenhouse gas emissions- dominated initial discussions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and international conferences on global climate change. Now that climate change has become a clear and present danger, however, adaptation-lessening the harm and maximizing the benefits of climate change-has received more attention. Analysis reveals that integrating the two responses, though challenging, may be the most effective approach.

A survey of renewable energy technologies for rural applications

Abstract Estimates of CO 2 emissions in kg C dry Mg −1 of biomass produced under present and likely future production technology (with biomass yields in dry Mg ha −1 in parentheses) are: hybrid poplar, 25.8 (11.3) and 21.8 (18.5); sorghum, 32.0 (13.3) and 21.8 (30.2); and switchgrass, 32.9 (9.0) and 29.2 (14.4). The lower yield for each energy crop can be achieved today, while the potential exists to reach the higher yield, and under some circumstances the higher yield can be reached today. On a kg C GJ −1 basis, CO 2 emissions from production of energy crops range from a high of 1.9 for switchgrass to a low of 1.1 at the higher yield for hybrid poplar. These carbon releases are considerably lower than emissions from fossil fuels, which on a kg C GJ −1 bases are 13.78, 22.29, and 24.65 for natural gas, petroleum, and coal, respectively.

Evaluating possible cap and trade legislation on cellulosic feedstock availability

We update the technical status of wood feedstock production and highlight areas where the technology used to produce energy crops has changed since publication of an earlier paper. Most of the research findings presented earlier still hold, but the target dates for achieving them are in the distant future. We estimate current delivered costs in the range of about

Fernald's dilemma: Recycle the radioactively contaminated scrap metal, or bury it?

2.30/GJ in the Pacific Northwest to a high of about