BioKDF Recent Documents
This page shows all documents that have been recently posted the Bioenergy KDF.
Logging and mill residues are currently the largest sources of woody biomass for bioenergy in the US, but short-rotation woody crops (SRWCs) are expected to become a larger contributor to biomass production, primarily on lands marginal for food production. However, there are very few studies on the...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The objective of this research project was to assess whether standard forestry best management practices (BMPs) are sufficient to protect stream water quality from intensive silviculture associated with short-rotation woody crop (SRWC) production for bioenergy. Forestry BMPs are designed to prevent...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Link to the website with documentation and download instructions for the PNNL Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM), a community model or long-term, global energy, agriculture, land use, and emissions. BioEnergy production, transformation, and use is an integral part of GCAM modeling and scenarios...
Organization: PNNL
This is a joint report between three national labs, ORNL, INL, and ANL, that describes outcomes from a workshop. The Bioenergy Solutions to Gulf Hypoxia Workshop gathered stakeholders from industry, academia, national laboratories, and U.S. federal agencies to discuss how biomass feedstocks could...
Organization: ORNL, ANL, INL
Join the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office on Dec. 6, 2018, at 1 p.m. CST for a webinar on “Biomass Production and Water Quality in the Mississippi River Basin.” In this webinar, Argonne National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory will jointly present modeling and...
Organization: ORNL
Price Scenarios at $54 and $119 were simulated for Switchgrass, Miscanthus and Willow production from 2017 to 2040. These analyses will be used in a subsequent publication.
Organization: ORNL
This dataset was utilized in a report to highlight parameters that affect near-term sustainable supply of corn stover and forest resources at $56 and $74 per dry ton delivered. While the report focus is restricted to 2018, the modeling runs are available from 2016-2022. In the 2016 Billion-ton...
Organization: ORNL
Synthesis manuscript for an Ecology & Society Special Feature on Telecoupling: A New Frontier for Global Sustainability
Abstract: European demand for renewable energy resources has led to rapidly increasing transatlantic exports of wood pellets from the southeastern United States (SE US) since...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
We implemented the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to simulate water quantity and quality for the Arkansas-White-Red (AWR) river basin. We used the 2009 Cropland Data Layer (CDL-2009) (USDA-NASS, 2009) to represent the baseline (i.e., Scenario Base) land use/land cover. The SWAT model was...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Model-data comparisons are always challenging, especially when working at a large spatial scale and evaluating multiple response variables. We implemented the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to simulate water quantity and quality for the Tennessee River Basin. We developed three innovations...
Organization: Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Growing interest in renewable and domestically produced energy motivates the evaluation of woody bioenergy feedstock production. In the southeastern U.S., woody feedstock plantations, primarily of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), would be intensively managed over short rotations (10-12 years) to...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This report provides a status of the markets and technology development involved in growing a domestic bioenergy economy. It compiles and integrates information to provide a snapshot of the current state and historical trends influencing the development of bioenergy markets. This information is...
Organization: U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office
Concerns about CO2 emissions and fossil fuel supplies have enhanced interest in using crop residues for biofuel production; however, maintaining soil organic C (SOC) through residue return is vital for maintaining soil productivity. Our objectives were to simulate long-term SOC dynamics using...
Interest in renewable energy sources derived from plant biomass is increasing, raising concerns about fuel vs. food competition. One strategy to produce additional cellulosic biomass without reducing food-harvest potential is to grow winter cover crops after harvest of the primary summer crop. This...
Continuous measurement of soil NO emissions is needed to constrain NO budget and emission factors. Here, we describe the performance of a low-power Teledyne NO analyzer and automated chamber system, powered by wind and solar, that can continuously measure soil NO emissions. Laboratory testing of...
Difficulties in accessing high-quality data on trace gas fluxes and performance of bioenergy/bioproduct feedstocks limit the ability of researchers and others to address environmental impacts of agriculture and the potential to produce feedstocks. To address those needs, the GRACEnet (Greenhouse...
Cellulosic biofuel production may generate new markets and revenue for farmers. However, residue removal may cause environmental problems such as soil erosion and soil organic matter (SOM) loss. The objective of this study was to determine the amounts of residue necessary for SOM maintenance under...
Corn (Zea mays L.) stover was identified as a renewable non-food agricultural feedstock for production of liquid fuels, biopower, and other bioproducts, but it is also needed for erosion control, carbon sequestration, and nutrient cycling. To help balance these multiple demands, our objectives were...
Advanced biofuels will be developed using cellulosic feedstock rather than grain or oilseed crops that can also be used for food and feed. To be sustainable, these new agronomic production systems must be economically viable without degrading the soil and other natural resources. This review...
The cob fraction of corn (Zea mays L.) residue has characteristics that reduce concerns associated with residue removal making it a potential biofuel feedstock. The contribution the cob makes to soil C and nutrient dynamics is unknown. A litterbag study was conducted in no-tillage plots under...
Corn (Zea mays L.) residue is being considered as a feedstock for biofuels production. The impact of removing corn residue on soil productivity is not well understood. A corn-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation was established in 2000 to determine the effect of removing corn residue at three...
Corn cobs were once viewed as an important biofuel feedstock early in U.S. history to heat houses, farm buildings, and small businesses. However, with the advent of combines, which left the cob in the field, the use of corn cobs as a biofuel declined dramatically. Corn cobs are used on a limited...
Second generation ethanol bioconversion technologies are under demonstration-scale development for the production of lignocellulosic fuels to meet the US federal Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS2). Bioconversion technology utilizes the fermentable sugars generated from the cellulosic fraction of the...
Removal of corn (Zea mays L.) stover as a biofuel feedstock is being considered. It is important to understand the implications of this practice when establishing removal guidelines to ensure the long-term sustainability of both the biofuel industry and soil health. Aboveground and belowground...
This study developed a computational strategy that utilizes data inputs from multiple spatial scales to investigate how variability within individual fields can impact sustainable residue removal for bioenergy production. Sustainable use of agricultural residues for bioenergy production requires...
This study provides a spatially comprehensive assessment of sustainable agricultural residue removal potential across the United States for bioenergy production. Earlier assessments determining the quantity of agricultural residue that could be sustainably removed for bioenergy production at the...
Agricultural residues have been identified as a significant potential resource for bioenergy production, but serious questions remain about the sustainability of harvesting residues. Agricultural residues play an important role in limiting soil erosion from wind and water and in maintaining soil...
Agricultural residues have near-term potential as a feedstock for bioenerg y production, but their removal must be managed carefully to maintain soil health and productivity. Recent studies have shown that subfield scale variability in soil properties (e.g., slope, texture, and organic matter...
Quantifying lignin and carbohydrate composition of corn (Zea mays L.) is important to support the emerging cellulosic biofuels industry. Therefore, field studies with 0 or 100 % stover removal were established in Alabama and South Carolina as part of the Sun Grant Regional Partnership Corn Stover...
Harvesting of corn stover (plant residues) for cellulosic ethanol production must be balanced with the requirement for returning plant residues to agricultural fields to maintain soil structure, fertility, crop protection, and other ecosystem services. High rates of corn stover removal can be...
Application of biochar to highly weathered tropical soils has been shown to enhance soil quality and decrease leaching of nutrients. Little, however, is known about the effects of biochar applications on temperate region soils. Our objective was to quantify the impact of biochar on leaching of...
Biochar, a co-product of thermochemical conversion of lignocellulosic materials into advanced biofuels, may be used as a soil amendment to enhance the sustainability of biomass harvesting. We investigated the impact of biochar amendments (0, 5, 10, and 20 g-biochar kg− 1 soil) on the quality of a...
The use of corn ( Zea mays L.) as a bio-energy feedstock has attracted the attention of many producers. Recently, the focus has shifted from grain-based to cellulose-based ethanol production. In addition to biological conversion of corn stover to ethanol, thermal conversion (pyrolysis) of stover is...
Emerging cellulosic bioenergy markets can provide land managers with additional options for crop production decisions. For example, integrating dedicated bioenergy crops such as perennial grasses and short rotation woody species within the agricultural landscape can have positive impacts on several...
Harvesting feedstock for biofuel production must not degrade soil, water, or air resources. Our objective is to provide an overview of field research being conducted to quantify effects of harvesting corn (Zea mays L.) stover as a bioenergy feedstock. Coordinated field studies are being conducted...
For the soil and plant analysis community, development and expansion of biofuels will create many opportunities to provide a wide variety of analytical services. Our objective is to explore potential areas where those services could be marketed to support sustainable development of biofuels. One of...
Corn (Zea mays L.) stover was identified as an important feedstock for cellulosic bioenergy production because of the extensive area upon which the crop is already grown. This report summarizes 239 site-years of field research examining effects of zero, moderate, and high stover removal rates at 36...
Corn (Zea mays L.) stover has been identified as a major feedstock for cellulosic bioenergy. This report summarizes grain and stover yield as well as N, P, and K removal at several Sun Grant Regional Partnership (SGRP) sites. National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) grain yields were used...
Sustainable feedstock harvest strategies are needed to ensure bioenergy production does not irreversibly degrade soil resources. The objective for this study was to document corn (Zea mays L.) grain and stover fraction yields, plant nutrient removal and replacement costs, feedstock quality, soil-...
A presentation to share author's perspective on the importance of the 2011 BT2 data; to acknowledge the ARS REAP (Renewable Energy Assessment Project) team for their contributions to the BT2 report; and to predict ARS REAP team uses for BT2 data with regard to research needs and implementation...
To be sustainable, feedstock harvest must neither degrade soil, water, or air resources nor negatively impact productivity or subsequent crop yields. Simulation modeling will help guide the development of sustainable feedstock production practices, but not without field validation. This paper...
Sustainable production of cellulosic feedstocks for second-generation biofuels must not degrade soil, water or air resources. Critical functions such as (i) sustaining biological productivity, (ii) regulating and portioning soil water, (iii) storing and cycling nutrients, and (iv) filtering and...
Second-generation biofuels will be developed using cellulosic feedstocks rather than grain or oilseed crops that can also be used for food and feed, but to be sustainable, production of these feedstocks must not degrade soil, water or air resources. Simulation models can be useful for designing...
One-pass harvest equipment has been developed to collect corn (Zea mays L.) grain, stover, and cobs that can be used as bioenergy feedstock. Nutrients removed in these feedstocks have soil fertility implication and affect feedstock quality. The study objectives were to quantify nutrient...
Corn’s (Zea mays L.) stover is a potential nonfood, herbaceous bioenergy feedstock. A vital aspect of utilizing stover for bioenergy production is to establish sustainable harvest criteria that avoid exacerbating soil erosion or degrading soil organic carbon (SOC) levels. Our goal is to empirically...
The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), investments in lignocellulosic biorefineries by both the Department of Energy (DOE) and commercial entities, as well as many other market, security, and policy drivers, have increased public interest in harvesting nongrain biomass (i.e., crop...
Corn stover is targeted as a potential non-food bioenergy feedstock, especially in the Midwest United States. Three parallel experiments on adjacent fields, one is managed without tillage since 1995, a second experiment is managed without tillage since 2005, and the third is managed with chisel...
The use of plant biomass for energy has existed since humans mastered the use of fire, although utilization beyond the open fire has evolved. The concept of using recent biomass as a major energy feedstock is being revisited, driven by high consumer demand (growing population), declining domestic...
Corn (Zea mays L.) stover is a potential bioenergy feedstock, but little is known about the impacts of reducing stover return on yield and soil quality in the Northern US Corn Belt. Our study objectives were to measure the impact of three stover return rates (Full (~7.8 Mg ha−1 yr−1), Moderate (~3....
In-field measurements of direct soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions provide critical data for quantifying the net energy efficiency and economic feasibility of crop residue-based bioenergy production systems. A major challenge to such assessments has been the paucity of field studies addressing the...
Many questions have surfaced regarding short-and long-term impacts of corn (Zea mays L.) residue removal for use in the biofuels industry. To address these concerns, a field study was established in eastern South Dakota in 2000 using no-till soil management within a 2-yr corn/soybean [Glycine max (...
Net benefits of bioenergy crops, including maize and perennial grasses such as switchgrass, are a function of several factors including the soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestered by these crops. Life cycle assessments (LCA) for bioenergy crops have been conducted using models in which SOC...
Economic, environmental, and energy independence issues are contributing to rising fossil fuel prices, petroleum supply concerns, and a growing interest in biomass feedstocks as renewable energy sources. Potential feedstocks include perennial grasses, timber, and annual grain crops with our focus...
Harvesting crop residue needs to be managed to protect agroecosystem health and productivity. DAYCENT, a process-based modeling tool, may be suited to accommodate region-specific factors and provide regional predictions for a broad array of agroecosystem impacts associated with corn stover harvest...
To prepare for a 2014 launch of commercial scale cellulosic ethanol production from corn/maize (Zea mays L.) stover, POET-DSM near Emmetsburg, IA has been working with farmers, researchers, and equipment dealers through “Project Liberty” on harvest, transportation, and storage logistics of corn...
Harvesting crop residues for bioenergy or bio-product production may decrease soil organic matter (SOM) content, resulting in the degradation of soil physical properties and ultimately soil productivity. Using the least limiting water range (LLWR) to evaluate improvement or degradation of soil...
Corn stover removal, whether for silage, bedding, or bioenergy production, could have a variety of environmental consequences through its effect on soil processes, particularly N2O production and soil respiration. Because these effects may be episodic in nature, weekly snapshots with static...
Rigorous economic analyses are crucial for the successful launch of lignocellulosic bioenergy facilities in 2014 and beyond. Our objectives are to (1) introduce readers to a query tool developed to use data downloaded from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) REAPnet for constructing enterprise...
This paper was presented at the 2012 International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software in Leipzig, Germany on July 15, 2012.
Abstract: Agricultural residues are the largest near term source of cellulosic biomass for bioenergy production, but removing agricultural residues sustainably...
The 2012 Sun Grant National Conference on Science for Biomass Feedstock Production and Utilization was held on 2–5 October 2012, in New Orleans, LA, USA. The Sun Grant Initiative set out to highlight recent advances in science and technology contributing to the deployment of conventional and...
Several EU countries import wood pellets from the south-eastern United States. The imported wood pellets are (co-)fired in power plants with the aim of reducing overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from electricity and meeting EU renewable energy targets. To assess whether GHG emissions are...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
We propose a causal analysis framework to increase understanding of land-use change (LUC) and the reliability of LUC models. This health-sciences-inspired framework can be applied to determine probable causes of LUC in the context of bioenergy. Calculations of net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The Regional Feedstock Partnership (the Partnership) has published a report to summarize its accomplishments from 2008–2014. DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) partnered with the Sun Grant Initiative and Idaho National Laboratory to co-author this report.
The report, entitled Regional...
Organization: U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)
With the goal of understanding environmental effects of a growing bioeconomy, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), national laboratories, and U.S. Forest Service research laboratories, together with academic and industry collaborators, undertook a study to estimate environmental effects of...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
In July 2016, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) released a request for information (RFI) to seek input from industry, academia, national laboratories, and other biofuels and bioproducts stakeholders to identify existing capabilities to produce lignocellulosic...
Organization: U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)
One approach to assessing progress towards sustainability makes use of multiple indicators spanning the
environmental, social, and economic dimensions of the system being studied. Diverse indicators have different
units of measurement, and normalization is the procedure employed to transform...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboraotry
The Biomass Energy Data Book is a statistical compendium prepared and published by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) under contract with the Biomass Program in the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) program of the Department of Energy (DOE). Designed for use as a convenient reference...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The 2016 Billion-Ton Report: Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy is the third in a series of Energy Department national assessments that have calculated the potential supply of biomass in the United States. The report concludes that the United States has the future potential to...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This 2016 Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP) sets forth the goals and structure of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO). It identifies the research, development, demonstration, and deployment activities the Office will focus on over the next five years and outlines why these activities are...
Understanding the complex interactions among food security, bioenergy sustainability, and resource management
requires a focus on specific contextual problems and opportunities. The United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable
Development Goals place a high priority on food and energy security; bioenergy plays...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The Federal Activities Report on the Bioeconomy has been prepared to emphasize the significant potential for an even stronger U.S. bioeconomy through the production and use of biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower. Bioeconomy activities have already touched on the interests of many federal agencies...
Organization: U.S. Department of Energy, Bioenergy Technologies Office
Nitrogen (N) is an important nutrient as it often limits productivity, but in excess can impair water quality. Most studies on watershed N cycling have occurred in upland forested catchments where snowmelt dominates N export; fewer studies have focused on low-relief watersheds that lack snow. We...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This dataset reports the pre-treatment hydrology and pre- and post-treatment water quality data from a watershed-scale experiment that is evaluating the effects of growing short-rotation loblolly pine for bioenergy on water quality and quantity in the southeastern U.S. The experiment is taking...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This paper analyzes the rural Chinese biomass supply system and models supply chain operations according to U.S. concepts of logistical unit operations: harvest and collection, storage, transportation, preprocessing, and handling and queuing. In this paper, we quantify the logistics cost of corn...
Organization: Idaho National Laboratory
Water consumption and water quality continue to be key factors affecting environmental sustainability in biofuel production. This review covers the findings from biofuel water analyses published over the past 2 years to underscore the progress made, and to highlight advancements in understanding...
Organization: Argonne National Laboratory
Water sustainability is an integral part of the environmental sustainability. Water use, water quality, and the demand on water resource for bioenergy production can have potential impacts to food, feed, and fiber production and to our social well-being. With the support from United State...
Organization: Argonne National Laboratory
Global development of the biofuel sector is proceeding rapidly. Biofuel feedstock continues to be produced from a variety of agricultural and forestry resources. Large-scale feedstock production for biofuels could change the landscape structure and affect water quantity, water quality, and...
Organization: Argonne National Laboratory
Using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for large-scale watershed modeling could be useful for evaluating the quality of the water in regions that are dominated by nonpoint sources in order to identify potential “hot spots” for which mitigating strategies could be further developed. An...
Organization: Argonne National Laboratory
The global indirect land use change (ILUC) implications of biofuel use in the United States of America (USA) from 2001 to 2010 are evaluated with a dynamic general equilibrium model. The effects of biofuels production on agricultural land area vary by year; from a net expansion of 0.17ha per 1000...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This paper connects the science of sustainability theory with applied aspects of sustainability deployment. A suite of 35 sustainability indicators spanning six environmental, three economic, and three social categories has been proposed for comparing the sustainability of bioenergy production...
Organization: Center for BioEnergy Sustainability, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This paper focuses ont he patterns of farmers' choices regarding dedicated perennial lignocellulosic energy crops. We focus on choices abou perennial crops because two thirds of the mandated advanced biofuels are expected to be converted at biorefineries from perennials (USDA 2010).
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The conclusions of a recent study by Wright and Wimberly (1) suggesting that corn/soy cultivation in the Western Corn Belt (WCB) “threatens grasslands” are questionable because of the methods and data used.
Organization: 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...
Organization: Center for BioEnergy Sustainability, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
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...
Organization: Center for BioEnergy Sustainability, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
When we think about sustainable bioenergy feedstocks in the United States, we ask ourselves what we will grow, where we will grow it, and how much we will grow. We also must consider the local as well as the broad-scale implications. From the perspective of landscape ecology, we tend to look at the...
Organization: Center for BioEnergy Sustainability, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
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: Center for BioEnergy Sustainability, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
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...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Peer-reviewed letter written in response to a March 11, 2015, letter to US EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy (http://bit.ly/1HsSaWf), in which the Ecological Society of America objected to EPA’s proposal that sustainably harvested woody biomass could reduce carbon emissions. Citing a November 2014...
Organization: Center for BioEnergy Sustainability, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Forest industry experts were consulted on the potential for hardwood tree species to serve as feedstock for bioenergy in the southeastern United States. Hardwoods are of interest for bioenergy because of desirable physical qualities, genetic research advances, and growth
potential. Yet little data...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
This report is a collective effort of the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE), including contributions from 137 researchers of 82 institutions in 24 countries. It concludes that land availability is not a limiting factor to bioenergy production and that bioenergy can...
The Bioenergy Technologies Office hosted a workshop on Incorporating Bioenergy into Sustainable Landscape Designs on June 24-26 in partnership with Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories. Landscape design offers a promising means for sustainably increasing bioenergy production while...
Organization: Bioenergy Technologies Office
The Bioenergy Technologies Office hosted two workshops on Incorporating Bioenergy into Sustainable Landscape Designs with Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories. The first workshop focused on forestry landscapes and was held in New Bern, NC, from March 4-6, 2014. The second workshop focused on...
Organization: Bioenergy Technologies Office
The Bioenergy Technologies Office hosted a workshop on Incorporating Bioenergy into Sustainable Landscape Designs on March 4-6 in partnership with Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories. Landscape design offers a promising means for sustainably increasing bioenergy production while maintaining...
Organization: Bioenergy Technologies Office
NREL's energy-water modeling and analysis activities analyze the interactions and dependencies of water with the dynamics of the power sector and the transportation sector. A variety of models and tools are utilized to consider water as a critical resource for power sector development and...
Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
a b s t r a c t
The economic availability of biomass resources is a critical component in evaluating the commercial
viability of biofuels. To evaluate projected farmgate prices and grower payments needed to procure 295
million dry Mg (325 million dry tons) of biomass in the U.S. by 2022, this...
Abstract: Farmgate prices (i.e. price delivered roadside ready for loading and transport) for biomass feedstocks directly infl uence biofuel prices. Using the latest available data, marginal (i.e. price for the last ton) farmgate prices of $51, $63, and $67 dry ton–1 ($2011) are projected as...
Organization: ORNL
a b s t r a c t
As U.S. energy policy turns to bioenergy, and second-generation biofuels in particular, to
foster energy security and environmental benefits, consideration should be given to the
implications of climate risk for the incipient bioenergy industry. As a case-in-point, we
review...
Organization: ORNL
This bibliography includes salient references used in a manuscript focused on spatial juxtaposition of landscape elements and how these can be arranged to promote wildlife. This was submitted 7/1/2014.
Organization: ORNL
The database summarizes a very broad set of old and new standing biomass data from plantation-grown hardwoods and softwoods established under a wide range of conditions across the United States and Canada. The WCYP database, together with this document, is being published to disseminate information...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab
A woody crop yield potential (WCYP) database was created containing yield results with as much associated information as was available concerning the sites, soils, and experimental treatments. The database summarizes a very broad set of old and new standing biomass data from plantation-grown...
Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab
The need to reduce the Nation’s dependence on foreign oil as a source of energy has been elevated in recent years as a national priority. To achieve this vision, efforts have focused on developing a broader portfolio of energy sources for domestic use. Renewable energy will play an important role...
Organization: University of Tennessee- Southeast Sun Grant Center
Eucalyptus spp. is the world’s most widely planted hardwood species. It has been established and produced successfully in warmer regions of the U.S. for decades, and is positioned for commercialization as a biomass feedstock in the U.S. South. Plantation management options for Eucalyptus as a short...
Organization: ORNL
This document contains all publication outcomes of the Sun Grant Regional Feedstock Partnership. For more information, visit www.sungrant.org
Organization: South Dakota State University- North Central Sun Grant Center
In 2013 a series of meetings was held across the US with each of the Sun Grant Regional Feedstock Partnership crop teams and the resource assessment team, led by the Oregon State University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to review, standardize, and verify energy crop yield trials from 2007-2012...
Organization: ORNL
This document provides presentation style maps of potential crop yield of dedicated bioenergy crops from the publication "Productivity Potential of Bioenergy Crops from the Sun Grant Regional Feedstock Partnership." 2013. Eaton, Laurence, Chris Daly, Mike Halbleib, Vance Owens, Bryce...
Organization: ORNL
The framework for National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap was constructed at the Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap Workshop, held December 9-10, 2008, at the University of Maryland-College Park. The Workshop was organized by the Biomass Program to discuss and identify the critical challenges...
Organization: Bioenergy Technologies Office
NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science's (NCCOS's) PCMHAB program funds research to move promising technologies for preventing, controlling, or mitigating HABs and their impacts through development, to demonstration, and, finally application, culminating in wide spread use...
Organization: NOAA
We present a system dynamics global LUC model intended to examine LUC attributed to biofuel production. The model has major global land system stocks and flows and can be exercised under different food and biofuel demand assumptions. This model provides insights into the drivers and dynamic...
Organization: Strategic Energy Analysis Center, The National Renewable Energy Laboratory
The Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office held a workshop on "Social Aspects of Bioenergy" on April 24, 2012, in Washington, D.C., and convened a webinar on this topic on May 8, 2012. The workshop addressed questions about how to measure and understand the social...
Organization: Bioenergy Technologies Office
The Biomass R&D Resource Library is a tool for collecting and hosting information on biomass feedstocks. The Library includes a collection of physical herbaceous and woody biomass samples that can be utilized for research, along with data about the origin of the samples, and resulting...
Organization: Idaho National Lab
The Census of Agriculture, taken every five years, is a complete count of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. The Census looks at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures. For America’s farmers and ranchers, the Census of...
Organization: USDA
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...
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
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...
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)...
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...
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...
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
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...
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
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
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...
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...
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...
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...
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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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...
Review of the sustainability aspects and issues covered within various bioenergy initatives inclusing social, economic, and environmental aspects.
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
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
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...
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...
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...
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
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,...
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
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
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...
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 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.
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,...
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.
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...
A Map of the Iowa County-Level Study Area from the 2011 Billion Ton Study.
Organization: North Dakota State University/Heating the midwest.
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.
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
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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)...
This file contains the secondary agriculture and forest resources raw data output as referenced in the Billion-Ton Update Report 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 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 Conventional crop raw data output as referenced in the Billion-Ton Update Report for the baseline and high-yield scenarios for years 2012 - 2030.
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 2017.
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) 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) 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 2017.
Organization: Oak Ridge 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...
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