29 research outputs found
Monitoring Soil Quality to Assess the Sustainability of Harvesting Corn Stover
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 near Ames, IA; St. Paul and Morris, MN; Mead, NE; University Park, PA; Florence, SC; and Brookings, SD., as part of the USDA-ARS Renewable Energy Assessment Project (REAP). A baseline soil quality assessment was made using the Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF). Corn grain and residue yield for two different stover harvest rates (∼50% and ∼90%) are being measured. Available soil data remains quite limited but sufficient for an initial SMAF analysis that confirms total organic carbon (TOC) is a soil quality indicator that needs to be closely monitored closely to quantify crop residue removal effects. Overall, grain yields averaged 9.7 and 11.7 Mg ha−1 (155 and 186 bu acre−1) in 2008 and 2009, values that are consistent with national averages for both years. The average amount of stover collected for the 50% treatment was 2.6 and 4.2 Mg ha−1 for 2008 and 2009, while the 90% treatment resulted in an average removal of 5.4 and 7.4 Mg ha−1, respectively. Based on a recent literature review, both stover harvest scenarios could result in a gradual decline in TOC. However, the literature value has a large standard error, so continuation of this long-term multi-location study for several years is warranted
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Determination of the potential market size and opportunities for biomass to electricity projects in China
Efforts are currently underway to assess the market potential and prospects for the US private sector in biomass energy development in Yunnan Province. Among the specific objectives of the study are to: estimate the likely market size and competitiveness of biomass energy, assess the viability of US private sector ventures; assess non-economic factors (e.g., resource, environmental, social, political, institutional) that could affect the viability of biomass energy; and recommend appropriate actions to help stimulate biomass initiatives. Feasibility studies show that biomass projects in Yunnan Province are financially and technically viable. Biomass can be grown and converted to electricity at costs lower than other alternatives. These projects if implemented can ease power shortages and help to sustain the region`s economic growth. The external environmental benefits of integrated biomass projects are also potentially significant. This paper summarizes a two-step screening and rank-ordering process that is being used to identify the best candidate projects for possible US private sector investment. The process uses a set of initial screens to eliminate projects that are not technically feasible to develop. The remaining projects are then rank-ordered using a multicriteria technique
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Assessment of Options for the Collection, Handling, and Transport of Corn Stover
In this report, we discuss the logistics and estimate the delivered costs for collecting, handling, and hauling corn stover to an ethanol conversion facility. We compare costs for two conventional baling systems (large round bales and large rectangular bales), a silage-harvest system, and an unprocessed-pickup system. Our results generally indicate that stover can be collected, stored, and hauled for about 48.80/dry ton (53.80/dry Mg) using conventional baling equipment for conversion facilities ranging in size from 500 to 2000 dry tons/day (450-1810 dry Mg/day). These estimates are inclusive of all costs including farmer payments for the stover. Our results also suggest that costs might be significantly reduced with an unprocessed stover pickup system provided more efficient equipment is developed
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Biomass as Feedstock for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry: The Technical Feasability of a Billion-Ton Annual Supply
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are both strongly committed to expanding the role of biomass as an energy source. In particular, they support biomass fuels and products as a way to reduce the need for oil and gas imports; to support the growth of agriculture, forestry, and rural economies; and to foster major new domestic industries--biorefineries--making a variety of fuels, chemicals, and other products. As part of this effort, the Biomass R&D Technical Advisory Committee, a panel established by the Congress to guide the future direction of federally funded biomass R&D, envisioned a 30 percent replacement of the current U.S. petroleum consumption with biofuels by 2030. Biomass--all plant and plant-derived materials including animal manure, not just starch, sugar, oil crops already used for food and energy--has great potential to provide renewable energy for America's future. Biomass recently surpassed hydropower as the largest domestic source of renewable energy and currently provides over 3 percent of the total energy consumption in the United States. In addition to the many benefits common to renewable energy, biomass is particularly attractive because it is the only current renewable source of liquid transportation fuel. This, of course, makes it invaluable in reducing oil imports--one of our most pressing energy needs. A key question, however, is how large a role could biomass play in responding to the nation's energy demands. Assuming that economic and financial policies and advances in conversion technologies make biomass fuels and products more economically viable, could the biorefinery industry be large enough to have a significant impact on energy supply and oil imports? Any and all contributions are certainly needed, but would the biomass potential be sufficiently large to justify the necessary capital replacements in the fuels and automobile sectors? The purpose of this report is to determine whether the land resources of the United States are capable of producing a sustainable supply of biomass sufficient to displace 30 percent or more of the country's present petroleum consumption--the goal set by the Advisory Committee in their vision for biomass technologies. Accomplishing this goal would require approximately 1 billion dry tons of biomass feedstock per year
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Government`s role in energy technology R&D: A proposed model for strategic guidance
There is very little argument that the federal government has a role in the funding of basic research. There is also consensus that the federal government should not fund research that the private sector would do on its own volition. In this paper, we examine the role of government in the ``grey`` area between these extremes. This area includes generic, crosscutting, and applied technology development and deployment. We first present some general trends in US R&D investment and make international comparisons. These trends clearly show that the amount the US spends on R&D has fallen precipitously since the 1980s. The R&D expenditure data also reveal striking differences in the shares of government R&D allocated to different social objectives between the US and other major industrialized countries. We then review the linear model--the model that characterizes much of the postwar paradigm for US technology policy-- and evaluate alternatives to it. These alternative models allow for different types of innovation and explicitly account for feedback from the marketplace and linkages to the private sector, universities, national laboratories. Based on the nonlinear model of innovation, we outline a structure for an R&D technology council that would provide guidance to DOE on energy technology R&D. The energy technology R&D council would advise DOE on funding priorities for different types of research. Basic research would be conducted at universities and national laboratories as appropriate. Generic technology development would be conducted by teams consisting of national laboratories, the private sector, and universities. The private sector would participate directly in the generic technology development by supplying information and funding. For those activities requiring the development of applied technology, the private sector would cost share in much the same way as is done in the current system with cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs)
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Designing cost accounting models for woody biomass systems and direct applications of geothermal energy
A framework for determining the characteristics of cost accounting models most appropriate to evaluating energy technologies at different stages in their development is outlined. This analytical perspective is used to evaluate existing models for wood energy plantations and for direct (non-electric) applications of geothermal energy. The concern is with micro-economic cost estimation systems based on a simulation of the technology's physical plant and the projected cash flow resulting from the investment. For discussion purposes three general stages of technology evaluation are described. The level of detail in the engineering simulation should increase as the evaluation progresses through the three stages. Too much detail in the preliminary stage restricts applicability of model outputs to specific system designs, some of which may be inappropriate for other potentially attractive applications. The economic analysis should gradually shift from a general economic perspective on all costs and benefits of system operation to a more specific depiction of cash flows as seen by project developers. Unfortunately, developers of cost models for both woody biomass plantations and direct applications of geothermal energy appear to build all the engineering and financial detail available into their models. They then apply them to any stage in the evaluation process to inaccurate assessments
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Alternative methods to determine headwater benefits
In 1992, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) began using a Flow Duration Analysis (FDA) methodology to assess headwater benefits in river basins where use of the Headwater Benefits Energy Gains (HWBEG) model may not result in significant improvements in modeling accuracy. The purpose of this study is to validate the accuracy and appropriateness of the FDA method for determining energy gains in less complex basins. This report presents the results of Oak Ridge National Laboratory`s (ORNL`s) validation of the FDA method. The validation is based on a comparison of energy gains using the FDA method with energy gains calculated using the MWBEG model. Comparisons of energy gains are made on a daily and monthly basis for a complex river basin (the Alabama River Basin) and a basin that is considered relatively simple hydrologically (the Stanislaus River Basin). In addition to validating the FDA method, ORNL was asked to suggest refinements and improvements to the FDA method. Refinements and improvements to the FDA method were carried out using the James River Basin as a test case
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Biomass fuel from woody crops for electric power generation
This report discusses the biologic, environmental, economic, and operational issues associated with growing wood crops in managed plantations. Information on plantation productivity, environmental issues and impacts, and costs is drawn from DOE`s Biofuels Feedstock Development as well as commercial operations in the US and elsewhere. The particular experiences of three countries--Brazil, the Philippines, and Hawaii (US)--are discussed in considerable detail