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Title: Opportunities for Energy Crop Production Based on Subfield Scale Distribution of Profitability

Abstract

Incorporation of dedicated herbaceous energy crops into row crop landscapes is a promising means to supply an expanding biofuel industry while increasing biomass yields, benefiting soil and water quality, and increasing biodiversity. Despite these positive traits energy crops remain largely unaccepted due to concerns over their practicality and cost of implementation. This paper presents a case study on Hardin County, Iowa to demonstrate how subfield decision making can be used to target candidate areas for conversion to energy crop production. The strategy presented integrates switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) into subfield landscape positions where corn (Zea mays L.) grain is modeled to operate at a net economic loss. The results of this analysis show that switchgrass integration has the potential to increase sustainable biomass production from 48 to 99% (depending on the rigor of conservation practices applied to corn stover collection) while also improving field level profitability. Candidate land area is highly sensitive to grain price (0.18 to 0.26 US$ kg-1) and dependent on the acceptable net profit for corn production (ranging from 0 to -1,000 US$ ha-1). This work presents the case that switchgrass can be economically implemented into row crop production landscapes when management decisions are applied at amore » subfield scale and compete against areas of the field operating at a negative net profit.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
OSTI Identifier:
1418713
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1177646
Report Number(s):
INL/JOU-14-32056
Journal ID: ISSN 1996-1073; ENERGA; PII: en7106509
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC07-05ID14517
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Energies (Basel)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Energies (Basel) Journal Volume: 7 Journal Issue: 12; Journal ID: ISSN 1996-1073
Publisher:
MDPI AG
Country of Publication:
Switzerland
Language:
English
Subject:
09 BIOMASS FUELS; Biomass; corn stover; Landscape Environmental Assessment Framework; Subfield management; switchgrass

Citation Formats

Bonner, Ian, Cafferty, Kara, Muth, Jr., David, Tomer, Mark, James, David, Porter, Sarah, and Karlen, Douglas. Opportunities for Energy Crop Production Based on Subfield Scale Distribution of Profitability. Switzerland: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.3390/en7106509.
Bonner, Ian, Cafferty, Kara, Muth, Jr., David, Tomer, Mark, James, David, Porter, Sarah, & Karlen, Douglas. Opportunities for Energy Crop Production Based on Subfield Scale Distribution of Profitability. Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.3390/en7106509
Bonner, Ian, Cafferty, Kara, Muth, Jr., David, Tomer, Mark, James, David, Porter, Sarah, and Karlen, Douglas. Mon . "Opportunities for Energy Crop Production Based on Subfield Scale Distribution of Profitability". Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.3390/en7106509.
@article{osti_1418713,
title = {Opportunities for Energy Crop Production Based on Subfield Scale Distribution of Profitability},
author = {Bonner, Ian and Cafferty, Kara and Muth, Jr., David and Tomer, Mark and James, David and Porter, Sarah and Karlen, Douglas},
abstractNote = {Incorporation of dedicated herbaceous energy crops into row crop landscapes is a promising means to supply an expanding biofuel industry while increasing biomass yields, benefiting soil and water quality, and increasing biodiversity. Despite these positive traits energy crops remain largely unaccepted due to concerns over their practicality and cost of implementation. This paper presents a case study on Hardin County, Iowa to demonstrate how subfield decision making can be used to target candidate areas for conversion to energy crop production. The strategy presented integrates switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) into subfield landscape positions where corn (Zea mays L.) grain is modeled to operate at a net economic loss. The results of this analysis show that switchgrass integration has the potential to increase sustainable biomass production from 48 to 99% (depending on the rigor of conservation practices applied to corn stover collection) while also improving field level profitability. Candidate land area is highly sensitive to grain price (0.18 to 0.26 US$ kg-1) and dependent on the acceptable net profit for corn production (ranging from 0 to -1,000 US$ ha-1). This work presents the case that switchgrass can be economically implemented into row crop production landscapes when management decisions are applied at a subfield scale and compete against areas of the field operating at a negative net profit.},
doi = {10.3390/en7106509},
journal = {Energies (Basel)},
number = 12,
volume = 7,
place = {Switzerland},
year = {Mon Oct 13 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Mon Oct 13 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.3390/en7106509

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 33 works
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Works referenced in this record:

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Wear Properties of Ash Minerals in Biomass
journal, November 2018

  • Lacey, Jeffrey A.; Aston, John E.; Thompson, Vicki S.
  • Frontiers in Energy Research, Vol. 6
  • DOI: 10.3389/fenrg.2018.00119

Where can switchgrass production be more profitable than corn and soybean? An integrated subfield assessment in Iowa, USA
journal, May 2018

  • Brandes, Elke; Plastina, Alejandro; Heaton, Emily A.
  • GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 10, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1111/gcbb.12516