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Title: Assessment of Perennial Grass Inventories Predicted in the Billion-Ton Studies

Abstract

Here, we report the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has estimated herbaceous biomass availability through simulations with the Policy Analysis System (POLYSYS) agricultural modeling framework. An operational assumption for POLYSYS limited conversion of pastureland to perennial grass crops to counties east of the 100th meridian as a proxy for precipitation sufficient for economically viable yield, but allowed cropland conversion regardless of location. Knowledge of local conditions raised questions about predicted biomass quantities for Texas counties in the 2011 assessment. POLYSYS was rerun with different assumptions, specifically replacing the 100th meridian boundary with annual average precipitation data and limiting cropland conversion in low-rainfall counties. Perennial grass production was found to be overestimated by 8% and 87% in the U.S. and Texas, respectively (at $66.14 DMg-1), when limiting all land conversion to regions with >635 mm precipitation. Total herbaceous biomass predicted was approximately the same as in the BT2, but the biomass geographical location changed across the nation. Texas’ biomass contribution decreased from 6% to 1% at $66.14 DMg-1and from 16% to 11% at $88.18 DMg-1. Lastly, subsequent to this research being conducted, the DOE released the 2016 biomass inventory assessment, and these results are compared to those newest estimates.

Authors:
 [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3]
  1. Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States)
  2. Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
OSTI Identifier:
1468049
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Transactions of the ASABE (Online)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 61; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 2151-0040
Publisher:
American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Billion-Ton Study; Biomass; Perennial grass; Precipitation; Switchgrass

Citation Formats

Jones, Daniela Sofia, Searcy, Stephen W., and Eaton, Laurence M. Assessment of Perennial Grass Inventories Predicted in the Billion-Ton Studies. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.13031/trans.12505.
Jones, Daniela Sofia, Searcy, Stephen W., & Eaton, Laurence M. Assessment of Perennial Grass Inventories Predicted in the Billion-Ton Studies. United States. https://doi.org/10.13031/trans.12505
Jones, Daniela Sofia, Searcy, Stephen W., and Eaton, Laurence M. 2018. "Assessment of Perennial Grass Inventories Predicted in the Billion-Ton Studies". United States. https://doi.org/10.13031/trans.12505. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1468049.
@article{osti_1468049,
title = {Assessment of Perennial Grass Inventories Predicted in the Billion-Ton Studies},
author = {Jones, Daniela Sofia and Searcy, Stephen W. and Eaton, Laurence M.},
abstractNote = {Here, we report the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has estimated herbaceous biomass availability through simulations with the Policy Analysis System (POLYSYS) agricultural modeling framework. An operational assumption for POLYSYS limited conversion of pastureland to perennial grass crops to counties east of the 100th meridian as a proxy for precipitation sufficient for economically viable yield, but allowed cropland conversion regardless of location. Knowledge of local conditions raised questions about predicted biomass quantities for Texas counties in the 2011 assessment. POLYSYS was rerun with different assumptions, specifically replacing the 100th meridian boundary with annual average precipitation data and limiting cropland conversion in low-rainfall counties. Perennial grass production was found to be overestimated by 8% and 87% in the U.S. and Texas, respectively (at $66.14 DMg-1), when limiting all land conversion to regions with >635 mm precipitation. Total herbaceous biomass predicted was approximately the same as in the BT2, but the biomass geographical location changed across the nation. Texas’ biomass contribution decreased from 6% to 1% at $66.14 DMg-1and from 16% to 11% at $88.18 DMg-1. Lastly, subsequent to this research being conducted, the DOE released the 2016 biomass inventory assessment, and these results are compared to those newest estimates.},
doi = {10.13031/trans.12505},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1468049}, journal = {Transactions of the ASABE (Online)},
issn = {2151-0040},
number = 2,
volume = 61,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}

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Cited by: 1 work
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Figures / Tables:

Figure 1. Figure 1.: BT2 perennial grass production for 2017 at the farmgate price of $55.12 DMg-1.

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