Rabobank predicts greater use of agricultural residues in the EU

Biomass Magazine
By Erin Voegele | January 08, 2014


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Researchers explore bioenergy utilization in China

Phys.org
July 3, 2012

With China the largest growing economy in the world, scientists and policymakers alike are keenly interested in the country's increasing use of biomass – instead of polluting and climate-harming fossil fuels – for energy generation. Although bioenergy consumption has more than doubled from 2005 to 2010, few studies have evaluated exactly where, in the vast country, this shift is taking place and through what means.
In a new paper, Shiyan Chang, an assistant professor of energy system analysis at Beijing's Tsinghua University, and graduate student Lili Zhao examine changes in the geographical distribution of bioenergy utilization in China, like biogas and biomass power generation, and biomass resources, like livestock and poultry excrement, agricultural residues, and municipal waste. The paper appears in a special issue of the American Institute of Physics' Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy (JRSE) that focuses on emerging energy trends in China.

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Crop Residues: Issues Relating to Collection, Transportation and Storage

Biomass Power & Heat
By Kate Bechen February 22, 2011

Bioenergy producers looking to purchase crop residues must understand and be willing to work with farmers to determine the most viable options for harvesting the feedstock.

Crop residues, such as corn stover (leaves and stalks of corn plants left in the field after harvest), are poised to be a significant source as a feedstock for biofuel production and as biomass for creation of electricity, but prohibitively high collection and transportation costs are often cited as major impediments to completion of projects. Despite these issues, crop residues offer significant benefits as a feedstock. First, crop residues are, as the name suggests, waste that is left over after harvesting the primary crop. This waste can be significant. Corn stover, for example, makes up about half of the yield of a corn crop. Second, use of the crop residue, rather than the primary crop, avoids the food vs. fuel debate. Third, the feedstock can come from a variety of crops (including corn, wheat or sorghum, just to name a few).

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ARS Scientists Study Long-Term Impacts of Biofuels on Land

Biofuels Journal
Date Posted: February 8, 2011

Madison WI—The growing development and implementation of renewable biofuel energy has considerable advantages over using declining supplies of fossil fuels.

However, meeting the demands of a fuel-driven society may require utilizing all biofuel sources including agricultural crop residues.

While a useful biofuel source, crop residues also play a crucial role in maintaining soil organic carbon stock.

This stock of organic carbon preserves soil functions and our global environment as well ensures the sustainable long-term production of biofuel feedstock.

In a study funded by the USDA Agriculture Research Service, scientists analyzed five classical long term experiments.

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Energy crops impact environmental quality

EurekaAlert.com
American Society of Agronomy

What happens to the soil when you remove the plants?
MADISON, WI, April 5, 2010 -- Crop residues, perennial warm season grasses, and short-rotation woody crops are potential biomass sources for cellulosic ethanol production. While most research is focused on the conversion of cellulosic feeedstocks into ethanol and increasing production of biomass, the impacts of growing energy crops and the removal of crop residue on soil and environmental quality have received less attention. Moreover, effects of crop residue removal on soil and environmental quality have not been compared against those of dedicated energy crops.

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Biomass Research

KSmc.com
Sep 9 2009 1:48PM
KXMBTV Bismarck

Farmers are always trying to generate as many dollars as possible from their acres., but when does taking too much from the soil turn negative? At the Northern Great Plains Research Lab south of Mandan one expert is trying to find out if you can harvest your crop and all the plant that comes with it...without hurting your long-term production.

It's about give and take.

You can only expect so much from your soil before you better start looking at giving a little back. (Dave Archer / Ag. Economist) "How do you maintain the soil resource at what point is it worth economically is it worth removing that material versus returning it to the soil and having it enhance productivity of subsquent crops." Ag Economist Dave Archer is breaking down the dollars and cents of harvesting biomass. (Dave Archer / Ag. Economist) "So we can look at some of those trade offs on getting paid for it right now versus what you are going to lose in terms of crop yields." Archer says if cellulosic materiallike strawbecomes a standard staple in creating bio-energy we need to know how much material we can harvest off our fields without hurting the soil.

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Ethanol Production Could Jeopardize Soil Productivity

ScienceDaily

ScienceDaily (June 2, 2009) — There is growing interest in using crop residues as the feedstock of choice for the production of cellulosic-based ethanol because of the more favorable energy output relative to grain-based ethanol. This would also help provide a solution to the debate of food versus fuel, because less of the grain would be diverted to ethanol production, leaving more available for food and feed consumption.

Crop residues are viewed as a low cost and readily available source of material since more than 50% of crop production is residues. However, crop residues should not be considered simply a waste or benign material. They possess a critical role in sustaining soil organic matter.

Consequently, extensive removal of crop residues for ethanol production—or for other industrial purposes—may impact the long-term productivity of soils.

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Study examines biomass harvesting, water quality

High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal
By Larry Dreiling

It's been said that one man's trash is another's treasure. The "trash," or residue, left in no-till fields is considered valuable for soil preservation. Grain sorghum, a crop becoming more popular on the High Plains because of its low moisture needs and heat tolerance, is rich in residue.

With the construction of the Abengoa Bioenergy refinery near Hugoton, Kan.--the nation's first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol refinery--expected to be fully completed by 2011, the dream of producers selling the refuse of their crops to make ethanol from cellulosic biomass to reduce both dependence on imported fossil fuels and emissions of greenhouse gases is within reach.

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