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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Potential of energy farming in the southeastern California desert

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5210790
The California Energy Commission is currently analyzing the use of energy farms to provide future sources of energy for California. Energy farms can be defined as growing plants and converting them to various forms of energy. The use of marginal desert lands in southeastern California for the siting of energy farms using acacia, Eucalyptus, euphorbia, quayule, jojoba, mesquite, or tamarisk is considered. Two hypothetical scenarios using either rainfall, or rainfall and groundwater as water sources were described to determine the maximum amount of energy produced from estimated amounts of suitable land in this area. Considering both scenarios, the maximum range of energy produced is .03 to 0.4 Quads. It is recommended that (1) genetic research be continued to increase biomass yields of these and other candidate plants grown in the desert; and (2) small test plots be established at varying desert locations to collect yield growth, and survival data. Once this information is known, the identification of the best plant(s) to use for energy farming in the California desert area will be known, as well as the cost and quantity of energy produced.
Research Organization:
California Energy Commission, Sacramento (USA)
OSTI ID:
5210790
Report Number(s):
P-500-80-017
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English