Thein A. Maung

Could Bioenergy Be Used to Harvest the Greenhouse: An Economic Investigation of Bioenergy and Climate Change?

Bioenergy interest has been greatly stimulated by the fuel price rises in the late 2000s. Bioenergy is seen as a way to protect against the rising fossil fuel prices and the political insecurity of importing petroleum from the Middle East. Furthermore, growing evidence suggests that combustion of fossil fuels is precipitating climate change (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2007). Thus, at present three factors may influence the prospects for bioenergy: (1) increases in crude oil prices, (2) concerns for national energy security matters, and (3) concerns for climate change and global warming.

Economic Impact of Harvesting Corn Stover under Time Constraint: The Case of North Dakota

This study examines the impact of stochastic harvest field time on profit maximizing potential of corn cob/stover collection in North Dakota. Three harvest options are analyzed using mathematical programming models. Our findings show that under the first corn grain only harvest option, farmers are able to complete harvesting corn grain and achieve maximum net income in a fairly short amount of time with existing combine technology. However, under the second simultaneous corn grain and cob (one-pass) harvest option, farmers generate lower net income compared to the net income of the first option. This is due to the slowdown in combine harvest capacity as a consequence of harvesting corn cobs. Under the third option of separate corn grain and stover (two-pass) harvest option, time allocation is the main challenge and our evidence shows that with limited harvest field time available, farmers find it optimal to allocate most of their time harvesting grain and then proceed to harvest and bale stover if time permits at the end of harvest season. The overall findings suggest is that it would be more economically efficient to allow a firm that is specialized in collecting biomass feedstock to participate in cob/stover harvest business.