Development of the Integrated Biomass Supply Analysis and Logistics Model (IBSAL)

The Integrated Biomass Supply & Logistics (IBSAL) model is a dynamic (time dependent) model of operations that involve collection, harvest, storage, preprocessing, and transportation of feedstock for use at a biorefinery. The model uses mathematical equations to represent individual unit operations. These unit operations can be assembled by the user to represent the working rate of equipment and queues to represent storage at facilities. The model calculates itemized costs, energy input, and carbon emissions. It estimates resource requirements and operational characteristics of the entire supply infrastructure. Weather plays an important role in biomass management and thus in IBSAL, dictating the moisture content of biomass and whether or not it can be harvested on a given day. The model calculates net biomass yield based on a soil conservation allowance (for crop residue) and dry matter losses during harvest and storage. This publication outlines the development of the model and provides examples of corn stover harvest and logistics

Billion Ton Report

The 2011 Billion-Ton Update (BTU) found that in 2030 between 1.0 and 1.5 million dry metric tons of biomass would potentially be available in the United States at $66 per dry metric ton or less, with 70 to 80% of this biomass available for new uses. The BTU revises the 2005 Billion-Ton Study (BTS), which found between 0.9 and 1.2 million dry metric tons potentially available. The BTU includes presently used resources, and forest resources, agricultural residues, and energy crops. The BTU contains county level supply inventories of primary feedstocks, supply curves for the individual resources, and a more rigorous and explicit modeling of sustainability. The BTU has two scenarios, Baseline and High-Yield

Regional impacts of groundwater mining from the Ogallala Aquifer with increasing energy prices 1990 and 2000

The Ogallala is an unconfined fresh-water aquifer extending from just north of the Nebraska-South Dakota border to the southern edge of the Texas High Plains. The areal extent of the aquifer includes the eastern tier of counties in Colorado and New Mexico, the western third of Kansas, three counties in Oklahoma, the greater part of the state of Nebraska and the Texas "panhandle." The area assumed to overlie the aquifer adjusted to county lines is shown in Figure 1! Discontinuous segments of the Ogallala Aquifer have also been identified in other areas such as central Kansas and south-eastern Colorado and Wyoming. The aquifer may also stretch into counties adjoining the study area; the northern edge of the aquifer, for example, is actually located in South Dakota but the aquifer is of minor economic significance in these regions.</p