Harvest and nitrogen effects on bioenergy feedstock quality of grass-legume mixtures on Conservation Reserve Program grasslands

Lin, Cheng‐Hsien; Namoi, Nictor; Hoover, Amber; Emerson, Rachel; Cortez, Marnie; Wolfrum, Ed; Payne, Courtney; Egenolf, Josh; Harmoney, Keith; Kallenbach, Robert; Lee, DoKyoung (D.K.)

doi:10.1111/gcbb.12980

Harvest and nitrogen effects on bioenergy feedstock quality of grass-legume mixtures on Conservation Reserve Program grasslands

Journal Article · Tue Jan 10 00:00:00 EST 2023 · Global Change Biology. Bioenergy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12980· OSTI ID:1922837

^[1]; Namoi, Nictor ^[2]; ^[3]; Emerson, Rachel ^[3]; Cortez, Marnie ^[3]; Wolfrum, Ed ^[4]; Payne, Courtney ^[4]; Egenolf, Josh ^[5]; Harmoney, Keith ^[6]; Kallenbach, Robert ^[7]; ^[8]

Department of Crop Sciences University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA; Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA; Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences National Chung Hsing University Taichung Taiwan
Department of Crop Sciences University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA
Idaho National Laboratory Idaho Falls Idaho USA
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Golden Colorado USA
Odum School of Ecology The University of Georgia Athens Georgia USA
Agricultural Research Center Kansas State University Hays Kansas USA
Division of Plant Sciences University of Missouri Columbia Missouri USA
Department of Crop Sciences University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA; Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA

Perennial grass mixtures established on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands can be an important source of feedstock for bioenergy production. This study aimed to evaluate management practices for optimizing the quality of bioenergy feedstock and stand persistence of grass-legume mixtures under diverse environments. A 5-year field study (2008–2012) was conducted to assess the effects of two harvest timings (at anthesis vs after complete senescence) and three nitrogen (N) rates (0, 56, 112 kg N ha^-1) on biomass chemical compositions (i.e., cell wall components, ash, volatiles, total carbon, and N contents) and the feedstock energy potential, examined by the theoretical ethanol yield (TEY) and the total TEY (i.e., the product of biomass yield and TEY, L ha^-1), of cool-season mixtures in Georgia and Missouri and a warm-season mixture in Kansas. The canonical correlation analysis (CCA) was used to investigate the effect of vegetative species transitions on feedstock quality. Although environmental variations (mainly precipitation) greatly influenced the management effect on chemical compositions, the delayed harvest after senescence generally improved feedstock quality. In particular, the overall cell wall concentrations and TEY of the warm-season mixtures increased by approximately 7%. Additional N supplies improved the total TEY of both mixtures by ~1.6–4.2 L ha^-1 per 1.0 kg N ha^-1 input but likely lowered the feedstock quality, particularly for the cool-season mixture. The cell wall concentrations of cool-season mixture reduced by approximately 3%–6%. The CCA results indicated that the increased legume compositions (under low N input) likely enhanced lignin but reduced ash concentrations. This field research demonstrated that with proper management, grass-legume mixtures on CRP lands can provide high-quality feedstock for bioenergy productions.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC07-05ID14517; AC36-08GO28308; EE0008521

OSTI ID:: 1922837

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2537902
OSTI ID: 1924020

Report Number(s):: INL/JOU--21-63885-Rev000; INL/JOU-21-63885; NREL/JA-2800-85276

Journal Information:: Global Change Biology. Bioenergy, Journal Name: Global Change Biology. Bioenergy Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 15; ISSN 1757-1693

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Harvest and nitrogen effects on bioenergy feedstock quality of grass-legume mixtures on Conservation Reserve Program grasslands

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