Bioenergy Information Network

Feedstock Sustainability efforts at ORNL address questions on the sustainability of biomass production raised by researchers, producers, and environmental organizations,. Its current focus is integrating environmental and economic analysis, including developing the underlying data needed to support such integration in assessing the sustainability of collecting corn stover.

ORNL supported a number of biodiversity studies in its first years of studying feedstock sustainability. These studies were in response to concerns expressed during early environmental roundtables. The general conclusions from biodiversity studies in tree and grass crops were that energy crops are intermediate in habitat value between annual crops and natural ecosystems, and that the management systems used for energy crops can be designed to improve habitat value. The biodiversity studies were followed by long-term research on soil and water quality, first with energy crops and later with corn residue collection. Field and laboratory studies on the effects of stover collection on soils, initiated with USDA-ARS in 1999, are ongoing.

Studies using small monitored watersheds quantified erosion rates and the movement of nutrients and herbicides into surface and ground waters during the establishment of perennial energy crops. They identified the importance of vegetation cover during the first year of establishment, documented water quality improvements compared to conventional crops after the first year, and produced the data necessary for regional impact and for life cycle comparisons between perennial energy crops and other cropping options.

A 5-year interagency agreement was signed with USDA in 1999 that expanded USDA-ARS studies on corn management practices to include the effects of residue removal. A stakeholders’ workshop in February, 2000, identified key research objectives which emphasize long- and short-term effects on indicators of soil quality, including soil carbon, microbial biomass, aggregate stability, and grain yields. Six different ARS research units are involved in this work, which includes some new studies and redirections and expansions of existing research.

One area of future research that appears to be of interest to both environmental organizations and potential research collaborators is developing methodologies to link economic models of the agricultural sector and regional environmental models, so it will be possible to project the effects of the large-scale development of biobased industries on water quality, regional water supplies, and biodiversity.

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