Policies to Facilitate Conversion of Millions of Acres to the Production of Biofuel Feedstock

First-generation grain ethanol biofuel has affected the historical excess capacity problem in U.S. agriculture. Second-generation cellulosic ethanol biofuel has had difficulty achieving cost-competitiveness. Third-generation drop-in biofuels are under development. If lignocellulosic biomass from perennial grasses becomes the feedstock of choice for second- and third-generation biorefineries, an integrated system could evolve in which a biorefinery directly manages feedstock production, harvest, storage, and delivery. Modeling was conducted to determine the potential economic benefits from an integrated system. Relatively low-cost public policies that could be implemented to facilitate economic efficiency are proposed.biomass, bio-oil, cellulosic, drop-in fuels, ethanol, land-lease contract, lignocellulosic, pyrolysis, switchgrass, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q16, Q18, Q15, Q42,

Switchgrass to Ethanol: A Field to Fuel Approach

The U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 mandates the production of 16 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuels by 2022. Desirable feedstock properties, biomass to biofuel conversion rate, and investment required in plant and equipment differs depending on which of several competing technologies is used. The objective is to determine the breakeven ethanol price for a cellulosic biorefinery. A comprehensive mathematical programming model that encompasses the chain from land acquisition to ethanol production was constructed and solved. For a capital requirement of $400 million for a 100 million gallons per year plant and a conversion rate of 100 gallons of ethanol per dry ton, the breakeven ethanol price is$1.91 per gallon: $0.20 for land rental and switchgrass production;$0.14 for feedstock harvest; $0.18 for feedstock storage and transportation;$0.75 for biorefinery operation and maintenance; and $0.64 for biorefinery investment. Biomass to ethanol conversion rate and the cost of biorefinery construction, operation, and maintenance are critical issues.biorefinery, breakeven price, cellulosic ethanol, mathematical programming, switchgrass, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Production Economics, Q42, Q48,

Switchgrass biomass to ethanol production economics: Field to fuel approach

Scope and Method of Study: Switchgrass has been proposed as a dedicated energy crop. The first essay determines switchgrass yield response to nitrogen fertilizer for a single annual harvest in July and for a single annual harvest in October based on a field experiments conducted at Stillwater, OK. Data were fitted to several functional forms to characterize both the July harvest and the October harvest response functions. Extending the harvest window to take advantage of reduction in harvest machinery investment costs has important biological consequences. The second essay determines the cost to deliver a ton of switchgrass biomass to a 2,000 tons per day plant located in Oklahoma. The model accounts for differences in yield and nitrogen fertilizer requirements across harvest months. The data were incorporated into a multi-region, multi-period, monthly time-step, mixed integer mathematical programming model that was constructed to determine the optimal strategy. Desirable feedstock properties, biomass to biofuel conversion rate, and investment required in plant differs depending on which conversion technology is used. The third essay determines the breakeven ethanol price for a cellulosic biorefinery. A comprehensive mathematical programming model that encompasses the chain from land acquisition to ethanol production was constructed and solved.Findings and Conclusions: The July and October harvest plateau yield of 4.36 and 5.49 tons per acre were achieved with an estimated annual nitrogen fertilizer application of 80 and 63 pounds per acre, respectively. Farm gate production costs were estimated to be 60 per ton for the July harvest and 50 per ton for the October harvest. Based on the model results, the strategy of extending harvest over many months is economically preferable to a strategy of harvesting only in peak yield harvest months. Restricting harvest to a two-month harvest season would increase the cost to deliver feedstock by 23 percent. For a capital requirement of 400 million for a 100 million gallons per year biorefinery and a conversion rate of 100 gallons of ethanol per dry ton, the breakeven ethanol price is 1.93 per gallon. Biomass to ethanol conversion rate and the cost of biorefinery construction, operation, and maintenance are critical issues in the determination of the cost of producing ethanol from switchgrass

Managing Nitrogen and Phosphorus Nutrients for Switchgrass Produced for Bioenergy Feedstock in Phosphorus-Deficient Soil

There is limited information available explaining the agronomic and economic relationships between yield and nitrogen and phosphorus applications to growing switchgrass produced in phosphorus-deficient soils. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers on feedstock yield and measures of expected total cost, gross revenue, net return, and breakeven price of feedstock produced in phosphorus-deficient soils in the southern Great Plains. Data were collected from a three-year, two-location agronomic field study conducted in south-central Oklahoma. Two discrete nitrogen treatments (0 and 134 kg ha-1) and four discrete phosphorus treatments (0, 30, 60 and 90 kg ha-1) were randomly assigned to small plots arranged in a randomized complete block designed (RCBD) study. Random effects mixed ANOVA models were used to estimate the effects of nitrogen, phosphorus and nitrogen by phosphorus interactions on feedstock yield and the economic variables specified. Results showed that, on average over site-years, switchgrass yield increases from 10.5 to 12.3 Mg ha-1 with the highest (101-kg ha-1) treatment; however, we found no statistical difference in net profitability between phosphorus treatments. Yield and net return did respond significantly to 135 kg-1 of N ha-1. Our results suggest that phosphorus-deficient soils do not seem to have the same impact on switchgrass yield and profitability as they do for the yields and profitability of other crops traditionally grown in this region.bioenergy feedstock, economics, phosphorus-deficient soils, nitrogen, switchgrass, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics,

Cost to Produce Cellulosic Biomass Feedstock: Four Perennial Grass Species Compared

Switchgrass has been proposed as a dedicated energy crop to fulfill long-term policy goals. Production costs were determined for switchgrass and three alternative perennial grass species for four levels of nitrogen fertilizer and two harvest systems. For the alternatives evaluated, biomass production cost per ton was lowest for switchgrass.Crop Production/Industries,

An Empirical Analysis of U.S. Foreign Direct Investment and Exports of Processed Food Industries

This study examined the determinants of U.S. foreign direct investment (FDI) and exports of processed food. This study also examined the impact of U.S. FDI on U.S. exports on processed food. FDI and export models used for estimation in this study were based on the cost-minimizing production function. The analysis focused on ten countries for the period of 1989-2004. Four of them were Asian countries: India, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand. Six of them were European countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The model was estimated using the two-way error component three-stage least squares (EC3SLS) method. Results from this study show that U.S. FDI and U.S. exports of processed food are complements. Major factors affecting U.S. FDI in the processing industry are GDP, GDP per capita, exchange rate, tariff rate, labor compensation cost, interest rate, and distance. Major factors affecting U.S. exports in the processed food industry are GDP, distance, and GDP from the agri-sector

Policies to Facilitate Conversion of Millions of Acres to the Production of Biofuel Feedstock

First-generation grain ethanol biofuel has affected the historical excess capacity problem in U.S. agriculture. Second-generation cellulosic ethanol biofuel has had difficulty achieving cost-competitiveness. Third-generation drop-in biofuels are under development. If lignocellulosic biomass from perennial grasses becomes the feedstock of choice for second- and third-generation biorefineries, an integrated system could evolve in which a biorefinery directly manages feedstock production, harvest, storage, and delivery. Modeling was conducted to determine the potential economic benefits from an integrated system. Relatively low-cost public policies that could be implemented to facilitate economic efficiency are proposed

Optimal Switchgrass Harvest Strategies Accounting for Yield and Nitrogen Requirement Differences by Month of Harvest

Extending switchgrass harvest over many months would require a smaller investment in harvest machines, but would result in a lower average harvestable yield per acre and would require more nitrogen fertilizer, less land for storage, and more land for growing switchgrass. A model was constructed and solved to determine the optimal strategy

Switchgrass to Ethanol: A Field to Fuel Approach

The U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 mandates the production of 16 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuels by 2022. Desirable feedstock properties, biomass to biofuel conversion rate, and investment required in plant and equipment differs depending on which of several competing technologies is used. The objective is to determine the breakeven ethanol price for a cellulosic biorefinery. A comprehensive mathematical programming model that encompasses the chain from land acquisition to ethanol production was constructed and solved. For a capital requirement of $400 million for a 100 million gallons per year plant and a conversion rate of 100 gallons of ethanol per dry ton, the breakeven ethanol price is$1.91 per gallon: $0.20 for land rental and switchgrass production;$0.14 for feedstock harvest; $0.18 for feedstock storage and transportation;$0.75 for biorefinery operation and maintenance; and $0.64 for biorefinery investment. Biomass to ethanol conversion rate and the cost of biorefinery construction, operation, and maintenance are critical issues