skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Drought effects on composition and yield for corn stover, mixed grasses, and Miscanthus as bioenergy feedstocks

Journal Article · · Biofuels

Drought conditions in 2012 were some of the most severe reported in the United States. It is necessary to explore the effects of drought on the quality attributes of current and potential bioenergy feedstocks. Compositional analysis data for corn stover, Miscanthus, and CRP grasses from one or more locations for years 2010 (normal precipitation levels) and 2012 (a known severe drought year nationally) was collected. Results & discussion: The general trend for samples that experienced drought was an increase in extractives and a decrease in structural sugars and lignin. The TEY yields were calculated to determine the drought effects on ethanol production. All three feedstocks had a decrease of 12-14% in TEY when only decreases of carbohydrate content was analyzed. When looking at the compounded effect of both carbohydrate content and the decreases in dry matter loss for each feedstock there was a TEY decrease of 25%-59%. Conclusion: Drought had a significant impact on the quality of all three bioenergy crops. In all cases where drought was experienced both the quality of the feedstock and the yield decreased. These drought induced effects could have significant economic impacts on biorefineries.

Research Organization:
Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE - EE
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC07-05ID14517
OSTI ID:
1214763
Report Number(s):
INL/JOU-13-30592
Journal Information:
Biofuels, Vol. 5, Issue 3; ISSN 1759--7269
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (36)

Assessment of ethanol production options for corn products journal December 1996
A quantitative review comparing the yields of two candidate C4 perennial biomass crops in relation to nitrogen, temperature and water journal July 2004
Comparison of Arundo donax L. and Miscanthus x giganteus in a long-term field experiment in Central Italy: Analysis of productive characteristics and energy balance journal April 2009
Meeting US biofuel goals with less land: the potential of Miscanthus journal September 2008
Nitrogen and harvest management of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grassland for sustainable biomass feedstock production journal May 2012
Beneficial Biofuels--The Food, Energy, and Environment Trilemma journal July 2009
Carbon-Negative Biofuels from Low-Input High-Diversity Grassland Biomass journal December 2006
The potential impacts of biomass feedstock production on water resource availability journal March 2010
Monitoring and Understanding Changes in Heat Waves, Cold Waves, Floods, and Droughts in the United States: State of Knowledge journal June 2013
Second generation bioenergy crops and climate change: a review of the effects of elevated atmospheric CO 2 and drought on water use and the implications for yield journal April 2009
Understanding plant responses to drought — from genes to the whole plant journal January 2003
Counteraction of Drought Stress on Soybean Plants by Seed Soaking in Salicylic Acid journal April 2006
Effect of a drought period on the mobilisation of non-structural carbohydrates, photosynthetic efficiency and water status in an epiphytic orchid journal November 2001
Alteration of the Physical and Chemical Structure of the Primary Cell Wall of Growth-Limited Plant Cells Adapted to Osmotic Stress journal September 1989
Improved multivariate calibration models for corn stover feedstock and dilute-acid pretreated corn stover journal June 2009
Compositional Analysis of Lignocellulosic Feedstocks. 1. Review and Description of Methods
  • Sluiter, Justin B.; Ruiz, Raymond O.; Scarlata, Christopher J.
  • Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Vol. 58, Issue 16, p. 9043-9053 https://doi.org/10.1021/jf1008023
journal August 2010
Qualitative and quantitative analysis of lignocellulosic biomass using infrared techniques: A mini-review journal April 2013
Fast classification and compositional analysis of cornstover fractions using Fourier transform near-infrared techniques journal October 2008
Near-infrared analysis of the chemical composition of rice straw journal August 2007
Quantifying Actual and Theoretical Ethanol Yields for Switchgrass Strains Using NIRS Analyses journal August 2010
Developing and Evaluating NIR Calibration Models for Multi-Species Herbaceous Perennials journal October 2012
Rapid Characterization of Woody Biomass Digestibility and Chemical Composition Using Near-infrared SpectroscopyFree Access journal November 2010
Determination of Botanical Composition in Multispecies Forage Mixtures by Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy book January 2010
Variability of biomass chemical composition and rapid analysis using FT-NIR techniques journal July 2010
Compositional Analysis of Lignocellulosic Feedstocks. 2. Method Uncertainties journal August 2010
Variability in biomass yield, chemical composition, and ethanol potential of individual and mixed herbaceous biomass species grown in North Dakota journal January 2013
Is osmotic adjustment required for water stress resistance in the Mediterranean shrub Atriplex halimus L? journal September 2004
Drought response strategies define the relative contributions of hydraulic dysfunction and carbohydrate depletion during tree mortality journal December 2012
Tissue chemistry and carbon allocation in seedlings of Pinus palustris subjected to elevated atmospheric CO2 and water stress journal April 1999
Water-stressed maize, barley and rice seedlings show species diversity in mechanisms of leaf growth inhibition journal December 1998
Water Deficits Affect Caffeate O -Methyltransferase, Lignification, and Related Enzymes in Maize Leaves. A Proteomic Investigation journal February 2005
Metabolomic and proteomic changes in the xylem sap of maize under drought journal March 2008
Drought and Salt Tolerance in Plants journal February 2005
Miscanthus: A Promising Biomass Crop book January 2010
Long-term corn grain and stover yields as a function of tillage and residue removal in east central Minnesota journal August 2000
Effect of corn stover compositional variability on minimum ethanol selling price (MESP) journal July 2013

Cited By (9)

Sources of Biomass Feedstock Variability and the Potential Impact on Biofuels Production journal November 2015
Sulfuric acid hydrolysis of various lignocellulosic materials and its mixture in ethanol production journal November 2015
Nutrient and drought stress: implications for phenology and biomass quality in miscanthus journal August 2018
Impact of drought stress on growth and quality of miscanthus for biofuel production journal July 2016
Inhibition of microbial biofuel production in drought-stressed switchgrass hydrolysate journal November 2016
Water Deficit-Responsive QTLs for Cell Wall Degradability and Composition in Maize at Silage Stage journal April 2019
Assembly and seasonality of core phyllosphere microbiota on perennial biofuel crops journal September 2019
Biomass Accumulation and Cell Wall Structure of Rice Plants Overexpressing a Dirigent-Jacalin of Sugarcane (ShDJ) Under Varying Conditions of Water Availability journal February 2019
Marginal Lands to Grow Novel Bio-Based Crops: A Plant Breeding Perspective journal March 2020