Perennial grass production for biofuels: Soil conservation considerations
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
- Auburn Univ., AL (United States)
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ., Blacksburg, VA (United States)
The increased use of renewable fuels for energy offers the United States a mechanism for significantly reducing national dependency on imported oil, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and improving regional agricultural economies. As mandated by law, a wide range of issues have been raised regarding the net environmental impacts of implementation of these new technologies. While uncertainties regarding both positive and negative environmental influences still exist in many areas of this new technology, it is now possible to address with substantial certainty the positive aspects of perennial herbaceous energy crops on several important soil conservation issues. Past experience with forage grasses and recent research with switchgrass, a warm season perennial forage grass selected as one of the model bioenergy species, indicates that important benefits will be gained in the area of soil conservation as grasses replace energy-intensive annual row crops. These include reduced erosion, improved conservation of water and nutrients, and increased productivity of soil by the deep and vigorous rooting systems of perennial warm-season grasses.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 135673
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9410176-; TRN: 96:005511
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 6. national bioenergy conference, Reno, NV (United States), 2-6 Oct 1994; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of Bioenergy `94 using biofuels for a better environment. Technical papers, Volume 1 and Volume 2; Farrell, J.; Sargent, S.; Dwanson, D. [eds.] [and others]; PB: 753 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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