Biodiesel Foundation: Investing in good science helps the industry

Biodiesel Magazine


By NBB | May 27, 2014


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Ethanol to reduce GHGs by 106 million metric tons in 2014

Ethanol Producer Magazine


By Global Renewable Fuels Alliance | May 22, 2014


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Report provides estimates of bioenergy capacity, investments

Biomass Magazine


By Erin Voegele | February 06, 2014


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USDA, dairy producers renew agreement to reduce GHGs

Biomass Magazine

By USDA | April 25, 2013

 

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Can Bioenergy from Forest Products Significantly and Sustainably Reduce Fossil Fuel Use?

CO2 Science
Volume 15, Number 34: 22 August 2012
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In an invited editorial in the journal Global Change Biology Bioenergy, Schulze et al. (2012) set the stage for their analysis of this important question by writing that "climate change impacts resulting from fossil fuel combustion challenge humanity to find energy alternatives that would reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions." And one of the strategies that they indicate could substantially diminish our dependence on fossil fuels without competing with food production is the use of bioenergy obtained from forests, either by direct combustion of wood or its conversion to cellulosic ethanol. However, they say "there are important questions about GHG reduction, economic viability, sustainability and environmental consequences" that are associated with this strategy; and they go on to discuss them in some detail.

First of all, the five scientists - hailing from Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland and the United States - argue that "such an increase in biomass harvest would result in younger forests, lower biomass pools, depleted soil nutrient stocks and a loss of other ecosystem functions," such that "the proposed strategy is likely to miss its main objective, i.e. to reduce GHG emissions, because it would result in a reduction of biomass pools that may take decades to centuries to be paid back by fossil fuel substitution, if paid back at all." In the long run, therefore, they feel that "depleted soil fertility will make the production unsustainable and require fertilization, which in turn increases GHG emissions due to N2O emissions," which ultimately makes the large-scale production of bioenergy from forest biomass, in their opinion, "neither sustainable nor GHG neutral."

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Study shows impact of market forces on bioenergy GHG emissions

Biomass Power & Thermal
By Luke Geiver March 29, 2012

A new study completed by Christopher Galik, senior policy associate at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions highlights the important role market forces play in calculating the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from woody biomass used for bioenergy applications.

Market forces, Galik said, are shorthand for landowner and forestry industry response to changing market conditions created by an increased demand for forest biomass. “With changes in demand, you get changes in prices paid for forest biomass and a related change in landowner behavior—planting, management, conversion to other land uses, that sort of thing,” he said. Galik’s study, titled “The Effect of Assessment Scale and Metric Selection on the Greenhouse Gas Benefits of Woody Biomass,” shows that those changes result in more carbon being stored on the landscape, which in turn, lowers the net GHG emissions associated with widespread biomass use.

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Biomass Evaluation Has To Include Market Forces

Duke University Research Blog
By Ashley Mooney

As researchers look for alternative fuel sources, researcher Christopher Galik of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions finds that any discussion of biomass has to include market forces.

Galik and fellow scientist Robert Abt wanted to eliminate the differences between studies on the feasibility of biomass to compare them evenly. Theyidentified which variables caused both positive and negative conclusions in earlier studies and found that accounting for market forces changes the estimated greenhouse gas emissions of biomass.

“One of the things that is often mentioned with regard to biomass—specifically when you’re talking about greenhouse gas emissions—is whether or not it’s better or worse than a fossil fuel alternative,” Galik said. “Does using biomass help bring down greenhouse gas emissions or bring it up? There have been a number of studies that said both.”

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Thirsty for More

Ethanol Producer Magazine
By Kris Bevill February 22, 2012

Ethanol’s high octane rating may be the ticket for meeting escalating fuel efficiency standards in engines

In November, the U.S. EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration jointly announced the next step in the Obama administration’s plan to improve vehicle fuel efficiency and significantly reduce emissions over the next 15 years. The proposed Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards unveiled by the agencies, which reportedly had the support of major automakers and environmental groups, would steadily increase fuel efficiency requirements for light-duty truck and passenger cars from an average of 34 miles per gallon (mpg) in 2016 to more than 50 mpg in 2025 and reduce allowable emissions to 163 grams of CO2 per mile in model year 2025 vehicles.

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