Dedicated Feedstocks

Dedicated feedstocks are perennial grasses and trees grown as crops specifically to provide the required raw materials to industrial enterprises especially bioenergy producers. The Bioenergy Feedstock Development Program, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, has identified hybrid poplars, hybrid willows, silver maples, and switchgrass as having the most potential for dedicated use as bioenergy feedstocks over a wide geographic range. Other feedstocks such as agricultural and forest wastes, recycled paper, or municipal wastes are valuable short term bioenergy resources but do not provide the same long term advantages as dedicated feedstocks.

Advantages

  • Environmental Sustainability
  • Predictable Supply
  • Uniform Quality
  • High Yield per Unit of Area
  • High Energy Output/Input Ratios
  • Vast Potential Supply

Benefits

  • Soil and Water Conservation
  • Wildlife Habitat
  • CO2 Sequestration
  • Domestic Energy Supply
  • Rural Agricultural Development
  • Possible Co-products: pulp and paper, chemicals, forage

Management

  • Single Establishment Period
  • Relatively low agro-chemical inputs (fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides)
  • Minimal cultivation
  • Multiple crops and harvesting options
    • Switchgrass harvested annually or twice annually
    • Trees harvested on 3-8 year cycles, minimizing storage requirements

Where can dedicated feedstocks be grown?

Available Land mapRecent studies estimate that most of the approximately 400 million acres of land classified as cropland in the U.S. are suitable for growing dedicated feedstocks. Perennial grasses and trees can often be economically grown on land that is not suitable for conventional crops and can provide the same protection from erosion recommended for agricultural set aside or Conservation Reserve Program lands.

Once markets are established, land owners will have the option of generating additional or new income with environmentally sustainable crops.

For more information, contact

Bioenergy Feedstock Development Program
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P.O. Box 2008
Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6422
865-576-8143 (fax)
bfdp@ornl.gov