Title: Hydrologic and water quality impacts of biofuel feedstock production in the Ohio River Basin

Abstract

Our study addresses the uncertainties related to potential changes in land use and management and associated impacts on hydrology and water quality resulting from increased production of biofuel from the conventional and cellulosic feedstock. The Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was then used to assess the impacts on regional and field scale evapotranspiration, soil moisture content, stream flow, sediment, and nutrient loadings in the Ohio River Basin. The model incorporates spatially and temporally detailed hydrologic, climate and agricultural practice data that are pertinent to simulate biofuel feedstock production, watershed hydrology and water quality. Three future biofuel production scenarios in the region were considered, including a feedstock projection from the DOE Billion-Ton (BT2) Study, a change in corn rotations to continuous corn, and harvest of 50% corn stover. The impacts were evaluated on the basis of relative changes in hydrology and water quality from historical baseline and future business-as-usual conditions of the basin. The overall impact on water quality is an order of magnitude higher than the impact on hydrology. For all the three future scenarios, the sub-basin results indicated an overall increase in annual evapotranspiration of up to 6%, a decrease in runoff up to 10% and minimal change inmore » soil moisture. The sediment and phosphorous loading at both regional and field levels increased considerably (up to 40–90%) for all the biofuel feedstock scenario considered, while the nitrogen loading increased up to 45% in some regions under the BT2 Study scenario, decreased up to 10% when corn are grown continuously instead of in rotations, and changed minimally when 50% of the stover are harvested. Field level analyses revealed significant variability in hydrology and water quality impacts that can further be used to identify suitable locations for the feedstock productions without causing major impacts on water quantity and quality.« less

Authors:

Demissie, Yonas  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-2600-5809"

Yan, Eugene ^[2]; Wu, May ^[3]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Washington State University 2700 Crimson Dr. Richland WA 99352 USA
2. Environmental Science Division Argonne National Laboratory 9700 South Cass Ave. Argonne IL 60439 USA
3. Energy Systems Division Argonne National Laboratory 9700 South Cass Ave. Argonne IL 60439 USA

Publication Date:

Mon Jul 10 00:00:00 EDT 2017

Research Org.:

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

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

OSTI Identifier:

1368632

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1368633; OSTI ID: 1416957

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC02-06CH11357

Resource Type:

Published Article

Journal Name:

Global Change Biology. Bioenergy

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Name: Global Change Biology. Bioenergy Journal Volume: 9 Journal Issue: 12; Journal ID: ISSN 1757-1693

Publisher:

Wiley-Blackwell

Country of Publication:

United Kingdom

Language:

English

Subject:

09 BIOMASS FUELS; billion-ton study; bioenergy; corn rotation; evapotranspiration; nutrient loading; runoff; sediment loading; soil moisture; stover harvest