Economic and Sustainability Impacts of Yield and Composition Variation in Bioenergy Crops: Switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.)
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- Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States, Center for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
- Strategic Energy Analysis Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States, Center for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
- Catalytic Carbon and Transformation Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States, Center for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
- Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States, Center for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
- Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States, Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States, Center for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
- Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States, Center for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919, United States, Center for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
- Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States, Center for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
Economically viable production of biobased products and fuels requires high-yielding, high-quality, sustainable process-advantaged crops, developed using bioengineering or advanced breeding approaches. Understanding which crop phenotypic traits have the largest impact on biofuel economics and sustainability outcomes is important for the targeted feedstock crop development. Here, we evaluated biomass yield and cell-wall composition traits across a large natural variant population of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) grown across three common garden sites. Samples from 331 switchgrass genotypes were collected and analyzed for carbohydrate and lignin components. Considering plant survival and biomass after multiple years of growth, we found that 84 of the genotypes analyzed may be suited for commercial production in the southeastern U.S. These genotypes show a range of growth and compositional traits across the population that are apparently independent of each other. We used these data to conduct techno-economic analyses and life cycle assessments evaluating the performance of each switchgrass genotype under a standard cellulosic ethanol process model with pretreatment, added enzymes, and fermentation. We find that switchgrass yield per area is the largest economic driver of the minimum fuel selling price (MSFP), ethanol yield per hectare, global warming potential (GWP), and cumulative energy demand (CED). At any yield, the carbohydrate content is significant but of secondary importance. Water use follows similar trends but has more variability due to an increased dependence on the biorefinery model. Analyses presented here highlight the primary importance of plant yield and the secondary importance of carbohydrate content when selecting a feedstock that is both economical and sustainable.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- ERKP886; AC36-08GO28308; AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 2282254
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 2311876; OSTI ID: 2324036
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-2800-86950
- Journal Information:
- ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, Journal Name: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering Vol. 12 Journal Issue: 5; ISSN 2168-0485
- Publisher:
- American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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