Summer 1995
U.S. Department of Energy
Bioenergy Feedstock Development Program at
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Energy Crops Forum was published periodically by the Bioenergy
Feedstock Development Program, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC., for the U.S. Department of
Energy under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725.
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The last six months have been extremely busy ones for the Biofuels Feedstock
Development Program staff. We've been on the road quite a bit--monitoring field
research, participating in round tables and planning meetings, meeting with our
counterparts at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Department of
Energy sponsors, and preparing conference papers. This hectic schedule, coupled
with the preparation of materials for the Biofuels Information Network, has
caused Energy Crops Forum to take a back seat. This issue highlights
some of our recent publications, tells you about some important conferences,
describes the Biofuels Information Network, and, finally, teases you with
abstracts of papers authored or coauthored by the BFDP staff and
subcontractors. Please take the time to let me know what you would find
interesting in future issues. Even better, consider submitting something for
publication.
Anne Ehrenshaft
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Environmental Conference
Virginia Tolbert and Lynn Wright have organized The Environmental Effects of
Biomass Crop Production: What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Know?
conference, which will be held August 7-8, 1995, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The
conference is jointly sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Biofuels
Systems Division; the Biofuels Feedstock Development Program; the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Global Climate Change; and the
American Forest and Paper Association. The conference will focus on the
potential environmental changes due to the large-scale production of energy
crops. For additional information, contact Virginia Tolbert, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6036; telephone: 615-574-7288;
fax: 615-576-8143; e-mail: vrt@ornl.gov.
Annual BFDP Subcontractor's Workshop
The Annual Subcontractors Workshop for the Biofuels Feedstock
Development Program will be held in Oak Ridge immediately following the
environmental conference. This year's workshop will feature roundtable
discussions led by the BFDP task leaders. The topics will include regional
resources, environmental research, energy crops research, and scale-up and
commercialization. We invite you to attend this workshop as well. Contact Wilma
McNabb at 615-574-8029 or wmx@ornl.gov for
additional information.
Second Biomass of the Americas Conference
The Second Biomass of the Americas Conference will be held in
Portland, Oregon, August 21-24. The conference will provide a national and
international forum to support the development of a viable biomass industry,
focusing on commercial applications of biomass and wastes with emphasis on
challenges and successes. For additional information about the conference,
contact Dori Nielsen, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole
Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401-3393; telephone: 303-275-4350; fax: 303-275-4320;
e-mail: nielsend@tcplink.nrel.
Bioenergy '96 -- Partnerships to Develop and Apply Biomass Technologies
Mark your calendars and plan to attend this exciting conference to be held in
Music City, USA, September 15-19, 1996 at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville,
Tennessee. Details will be announced soon. For further information, please
contact Bonnie Watkins at 205-386-2925.
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- Biofuels Feedstock Development Program Bibliography: 1978-1994.
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Sheryl Martin, Linda Cooper, and Anne Ehrenshaft. March 1995. ORNL/M-4073.
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The Biofuels Feedstock Development Program Bibliography is a compilation of
materials published since 1978, when BFDP began, through December 1994. It was
compiled primarily from information reported in the quarterly, annual, and
final research progress reports. BFDP-sponsored or cooperatively funded
researchers produced 8 books, 6 book chapters, 549 journal articles, 290
conference papers, 74 dissertations and theses, 430 posters and presentations,
and 308 technical reports. The bibliography was limited to open literature
materials that are retrievable with assistance from a technical library, the
National Technical Information Service, or the listed publishers.
- Potential Supply and Cost of Biomass
from Energy Crops in the TVA Region
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Robin Graham and Mark Downing. April 1995. ORNL-6858.
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Establishing the likely price and supply of energy crop biomass in a region is
a complex task because biomass is not a known commodity like oil, natural gas,
and coal. In this study, the cost and supply of biomass from short-rotation
woody crops and switchgrass are projected for the Tennessee Valley Authority
region--a 276-county area that includes portions of 11 states in the
southeastern United States. Projected prices and quantities of biomass are
calculated as a function of the amount and quality of crop and pasture land
available in a region, expected energy crop yields and production costs on
differing soils and land types, and the profit that could be obtained from
current conventional crop production on these same lands. Results include the
supply curves of short-rotation woody crop and switchgrass biomass projected to
be available from the entire region, the amount and location of crop and
pasture land that would be used, and the conventional agricultural crops that
would be displaced as a function of energy crop production. The results of
sensitivity analysis on the projected cost and supply of energy crop biomass
are also shown. In particular, the separate impacts of varying energy crop
production costs and yields, as well as interest rates, are examined.
- Short-rotation Eucalypt Plantations in
Brazil: Social and Environmental Issues
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Laércio Couto, Departamento de Engenharia Florestal, Universidade Federal de
Viçosa and David Betters, Department of Forest Sciences, Colorado State
University. February 1995. ORNL/TM-12846.
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This report presents an overview of the historical and current legislative,
social, and environmental aspects of the establishment of large-scale eucalypt
plantations in Brazil. The report consolidates the vast experience and
knowledge related to these forest plantation systems and highlights lessons
learned and new trends. This overview should prove useful to those interested
in comparing or beginning similar endeavors.
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- Research to Develop Improved Production Methods for Woody and Herbaceous
Biomass Crops.
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John Ferrell, Acting Director, Biofuels Systems Division, U.S. Department of
Energy, and Lynn Wright and Gerald Tuskan, BFDP
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The U.S. Department of Energy's Biofuels Feedstock Development Program has led
the nation in developing short-rotation woody crops and herbaceous energy crops
as feedstocks for renewable energy. During the past 15 years, BFDP has examined
the performance of 154 woody species and 35 herbaceous species in field trials
across the United States. It has managed research projects involving more than
100 federal, university, and private research institutions. One result of this
effort to date has been the prescription of silvicultural systems for hybrid
poplars and hybrid willows and agricultural systems for switchgrass. Selected
clones of woody species are producing dry-weight yields in research plots on
agricultural land that are 3 to 7 times greater than those obtained from mixed
species stands on forest land and that are at least 2 times the yields of
southern plantation pines. Selected switchgrass varieties are producing
dry-weight yields 2 to 7 times greater than average forage grass yields on
similar sites. Crop development research is continuing efforts to translate
this potential, in a sustainable manner, to larger, more geographically diverse
acreage. Research on environmental aspects of biomass crop production is aimed
at developing sustainable systems that will contribute to the biodiversity of
agricultural landscapes. Systems integration aims to understand all factors
affecting bringing the crop to market. Factors affecting price and potential
supplies of biomass crops are being evaluated at regional and national scales.
Scale-up studies, feasibility analyses and demonstrations are establishing
actual costs and facilitating the commercialization of integrated biomass
systems. Information management and dissemination activities are facilitating
the communication of results among a community of researchers, policymakers,
and potential users and producers of energy crops.
- Demonstration and Commercial Production of Biomass for Energy.
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Lynn Wright, BFDP
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Five years ago, environmentally benign biomass crop technologies were only
beginning to be commercialized and they were being used for products other than
fuels. Twenty organizations in the United States and Canada could be identified
that had plantings of at least 50 acres of short-rotation woody crops. Of
those, 12 were established by forest products companies. All commercial
activity was with woody crops because herbaceous crops were still being
evaluated by the DOE program. Since then, significant progress has been made in
identifying the potential of a herbaceous crop-- switchgrass--as an
environmentally desirable and highly productive potential energy feedstock. The
harvest and use of hybrid poplars for pulp and paper production have clearly
demonstrated the value of genetically superior hybrid poplar clones.
Significant progress has been made in developing sophisticated techniques that
will enable even more improvement of hybrid poplars for a variety of locations.
Interest is emerging from the forest products industry in all parts of the
country regarding the potential of short-rotation woody crops. While the
primary use of commercially planted woody crops continues to be for pulp and
paper, energy is a coproduct in nearly all situations. Additionally, some
serious consideration is being given to the economics of using woody and
herbaceous crops for a variety of energy production processes. Feasibility
studies have been or are being conducted by ten or more groups around the
country and several serious proposals for biomass energy demonstrations have
recently been received by the U.S. Department of Energy in response to a
solicitation for cost-shared demonstration projects. There continue to be
numerous constraints to the commercialization of biomass crops for energy
without federal assistance or policy modifications. The success of research and
demonstrations over the next 5 years will be key to determining the rate of
adoption of biomass energy technologies in the United States.
- Large-scale Biomass Plantings in Minnesota: Scale-up and Demonstration
Projects in Perspective.
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Thomas Kroll, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources--Forestry, and Mark
Downing, BFDP
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Scale-up projects are an important step toward demonstration and
commercialization of woody biomass because simply planting extensive acreage of
hybrid poplar will not develop markets. Project objectives are to document the
cost to plant and establish woody biomass on agricultural land as well as the
effort needed to monitor and maintain it. Conversion technologies and
alternative end uses are examined in a larger framework in order to afford
researchers and industrial partners information necessary to develop supply and
demand on a local or regional scale. Likely to be determined are risk factors
of crop failure and differences between establishment of research plots and
agricultural scale field work. Production economics are only one consideration
in understanding demonstration and scale-up. Others are environmental,
marketing, industrial, and agricultural in nature. Markets for energy crops are
only beginning to develop. Although information collected as a result of
planting up to 5000 acres of hybrid poplar in central Minnesota will not
necessarily be transferable to other areas of the country, a national
perspective will come from development of regional markets for woody and
herbaceous crops. Several feedstocks, with alternative markets in different
regions, will eventually constitute the entire picture of biofuels feedstock
market development. Current projects offer opportunities to learn about the
complexity and requirements that will move biomass from research and
development to actual market development.
- Energy, Economic, and Environmental Implications of Production of Grasses
as Biomass Feedstocks.
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Mark Downing, Sandy McLaughlin, and Marie Walsh, BFDP
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Perennial prairie grasses offer many advantages to the developing biofuels
industry. High-yielding varieties of native prairie grasses such as switchgrass
combine lower levels of nutrient demand, diverse geographical growing range,
high net energy yields, and high soil and water conservation potential. These
advantages provide strong reasons that the grasses could and should supplement
annual row crops such as corn in developing alternative fuels markets.
Favorable net energy returns, increased soil erosion prevention, and a
geographically diverse land base that can incorporate energy grasses into
conventional farm practices will provide direct benefits to local and regional
farm economies and lead to accelerated commercialization of conversion
technologies. Displacement of row crops with perennial grasses will have major
agricultural, economic, sociological, and cross-market implications. Thus,
perennial grass production for biofuels offers significant economic advantages
to a national energy strategy that considers both agricultural and
environmental issues.
- Environmental Effects of Planting Biomass Crops at
Larger Scales on Agricultural Lands.
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Virginia Tolbert and Mark Downing, BFDP
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A shift from research-scale to larger scale plantings of herbaceous and
short-rotation woody crops on agricultural land in the United States has raised
questions about the positive and negative environmental effects of farmland
conversion. Research currently under way at experimental plot scales enables us
to examine runoff quality and quantity, erosion, and changes in soil
characteristics associated with energy crops and compare the results to facts
associated with conventional row crops. A study of the fate of chemicals
applied to the different crop types will enhance our knowledge of uptake,
release, and off-site movement of nutrients and pesticides. Ongoing
biodiversity studies in the north central United States allow us to compare the
effects that different planting scales have on bird and small mammal
populations and habitat use. Plantings of 50-100 or more contiguous acres are
needed to allow both researchers and producers to determine the benefits of
including temporal energy crop rotations in the landscape. Results from these
larger scale plantings will help identify (1) the monitoring requirements
needed to determine environmental effects of larger scale plantings, (2) the
best methods to determine the environmental effects of rotation length, and (3)
the best crop management strategies for full-scale production. Because of the
variations in soils, temperature, rainfall, and other climatic conditions, as
well as differences in the types of energy crops most suited to different
regions, monitoring of large-scale plantings in these different regions of the
United States will be required to predict the environmental effects of regional
agricultural land-use shifts to full-scale plantings.
- Is There a Need for Site Productivity Functions for Short-rotation Woody
Crop Plantings?
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Mark Downing and Gerald Tuskan, BFDP
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For more than a decade, researchers have used small-scale research plots to
assist development and selection of high-yielding, pest-resistant clones of
fast-growing hardwoods such as hybrid poplar (Populus spp.). Substantial
advances have been made in the techniques and criteria for screening species
and selecting clones. Data from these research plots indicate that the ultimate
performance of selected clones is dependent upon variable factors in the
environment. Until now, researchers could determine only the suitability of a
given site for such clones, not the actual yield potential of the site.
Recently in the north central United States, several clones were planted on
larger-than-research-scale plots on private land recontracted under the
Conservation Reserve Program.
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Historical data could not provide a framework that would allow producers to
predict the yield potential of a particular clone on a specific site. Through a
systematic combination of clonal trials on experimental research-scale plots
and operational plantings on 50- to 100-acre agricultural-scale field plots, it
may be possible to develop yield functions or site quality equations that would
predict biomass yields at rotation for selected clones. Such estimates will (1)
reduce the probability of planting failure, (2) allow maximum expression of the
genetic potential of selected superior clones, and thus (3) facilitate accurate
economic planning for both the producer and the conversion facility manager.
- Evaluating the Economic Costs, Benefits, and Tradeoffs of Dedicated Biomass
Energy Systems: the Importance of Scale.
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Robin Graham and Marie Walsh, BFDP
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The economic and environmental costs, benefits, and tradeoffs of bioenergy from
dedicated biomass energy systems must be addressed in the context of the scale
of interest. At different scales there are different economic and environmental
features and processes to consider. The depth of our understanding of the
processes and features that influence the potential of energy crops also varies
with scale, as do the quality and kinds of data that are needed and available.
Finally, the appropriate models to use for predicting economic and
environmental impacts change with the scale of the questions. This paper
explores these issues at three scales: the individual firm, the community, and
the nation.
- Priorities for Ecological Research on Energy Crops.
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Steven Ugoretz, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Ken Rineer, Public
Services Commission of Wisconsin, and Mark Downing, BFDP
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Following the principles set by the National Biofuels Roundtable, a workshop
held in March 1995 brought together a group of stakeholders and experts in the
field of biomass energy and ecology. The mission of the workshop was to
identify and set priorities for ecological research to ensure that large-scale
biomass energy development occurs in an ecologically sound, sustainable manner.
The workshop participants found that questions about the landscape-scale
deployment of biomass plantations were most pressing. The participants
recommended that adaptive resource management principles be applied in a phased
development of increasingly larger plantations. Each phase of development would
help to answer questions about landscape-scale development and help to design
the following phases to minimize impacts. Principles of sustainable agriculture
should also be applied to biomass plantations to help minimize impact on soils
and water quality and to maintain productivity. Results of the workshop will be
helpful to natural resource and research agencies as well as utilities and
biomass energy developers.
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