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Title: Biomass Production a Stronger Driver of Cellulosic Ethanol Yield than Biomass Quality

Abstract

Core Ideas Fermentable sugars were greatest in corn stover > perennial grasses > polycultures. Corn stover had the highest ethanol content. Miscanthus had the highest ethanol yield potential on a per hectare basis. Ethanol yield potential per hectare of switchgrass ≥ corn stover. Biomass yield was the strongest driver of per hectare ethanol yield. Many crops have been proposed as feedstocks for the emerging cellulosic ethanol industry, but information is lacking about the relative importance of feedstock production and quality. We compared yield and sugar content for seven bioenergy cropping systems in south‐central Wisconsin (ARL) and southwestern Michigan (KBS) during three growing seasons (2012 through 2014). The cropping systems were (i) continuous corn stover ( Zea mays L.), (ii) switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.), (iii) giant miscanthus ( Miscanthus × giganteus Greef & Deuter ex Hodkinson & Renvoize), (iv) hybrid poplar ( Populus nigra × P. maximowiczii A. Henry ‘NM6’), (v) native grass mix, (vi) early successional community, and (vii) restored prairie. A high‐throughput pretreatment and fermentation assay showed corn stover with the highest sugar content (213 g glucose kg −1 [Glc] and 115 g xylose kg −1 [Xyl]) followed by the two monoculture perennial grass treatments (154 [Glc] andmore » 88 [Xyl]) and then the herbaceous polycultures (135 [Glc] and 77 [Xyl]). Biomass production and sugar content were combined to calculate ethanol yields. Miscanthus had the highest per hectare ethanol yields (1957 l ha −1 yr −1 ARL, 2485 l ha −1 yr −1 KBS) followed by switchgrass (1091 l ha −1 yr −1 ARL, 1017 l ha −1 yr −1 KBS) and corn stover (1121 l ha −1 yr −1 ARL, 878 l ha −1 yr −1 KBS). Perennial grass cropping systems (i.e., switchgrass and miscanthus) had higher per hectare ethanol yields at both sites relative to diverse systems that included dicots. Despite feedstock differences in fermentable sugars, biomass production was the strongest driver of per hectare ethanol yield.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [4]
  1. DOE‐Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison 1552 University Ave. Madison WI 53726, Dep. of Agronomy Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison 1575 Linden Drive Madison WI 53706
  2. W.K. Kellogg Biological Station Michigan State University Hickory Corners MI 49060
  3. DOE‐Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center Michigan State Univ. East Lansing MI 48824, Dep. of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences Michigan State Univ. East Lansing MI 48824, W.K. Kellogg Biological Station Michigan State University Hickory Corners MI 49060
  4. DOE‐Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center Michigan State Univ. East Lansing MI 48824, Dep. of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences Michigan State Univ. East Lansing MI 48824
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
OSTI Identifier:
1826808
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1418642
Grant/Contract Number:  
FC02-07ER64494; AC05-76RL01830
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Agronomy Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Agronomy Journal Journal Volume: 109 Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 0002-1962
Publisher:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
09 BIOMASS FUELS

Citation Formats

Sanford, Gregg R., Oates, Lawrence G., Roley, Sarah S., Duncan, David S., Jackson, Randall D., Robertson, G. Philip, and Thelen, Kurt D. Biomass Production a Stronger Driver of Cellulosic Ethanol Yield than Biomass Quality. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.2134/agronj2016.08.0454.
Sanford, Gregg R., Oates, Lawrence G., Roley, Sarah S., Duncan, David S., Jackson, Randall D., Robertson, G. Philip, & Thelen, Kurt D. Biomass Production a Stronger Driver of Cellulosic Ethanol Yield than Biomass Quality. United States. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2016.08.0454
Sanford, Gregg R., Oates, Lawrence G., Roley, Sarah S., Duncan, David S., Jackson, Randall D., Robertson, G. Philip, and Thelen, Kurt D. Fri . "Biomass Production a Stronger Driver of Cellulosic Ethanol Yield than Biomass Quality". United States. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2016.08.0454.
@article{osti_1826808,
title = {Biomass Production a Stronger Driver of Cellulosic Ethanol Yield than Biomass Quality},
author = {Sanford, Gregg R. and Oates, Lawrence G. and Roley, Sarah S. and Duncan, David S. and Jackson, Randall D. and Robertson, G. Philip and Thelen, Kurt D.},
abstractNote = {Core Ideas Fermentable sugars were greatest in corn stover > perennial grasses > polycultures. Corn stover had the highest ethanol content. Miscanthus had the highest ethanol yield potential on a per hectare basis. Ethanol yield potential per hectare of switchgrass ≥ corn stover. Biomass yield was the strongest driver of per hectare ethanol yield. Many crops have been proposed as feedstocks for the emerging cellulosic ethanol industry, but information is lacking about the relative importance of feedstock production and quality. We compared yield and sugar content for seven bioenergy cropping systems in south‐central Wisconsin (ARL) and southwestern Michigan (KBS) during three growing seasons (2012 through 2014). The cropping systems were (i) continuous corn stover ( Zea mays L.), (ii) switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.), (iii) giant miscanthus ( Miscanthus × giganteus Greef & Deuter ex Hodkinson & Renvoize), (iv) hybrid poplar ( Populus nigra × P. maximowiczii A. Henry ‘NM6’), (v) native grass mix, (vi) early successional community, and (vii) restored prairie. A high‐throughput pretreatment and fermentation assay showed corn stover with the highest sugar content (213 g glucose kg −1 [Glc] and 115 g xylose kg −1 [Xyl]) followed by the two monoculture perennial grass treatments (154 [Glc] and 88 [Xyl]) and then the herbaceous polycultures (135 [Glc] and 77 [Xyl]). Biomass production and sugar content were combined to calculate ethanol yields. Miscanthus had the highest per hectare ethanol yields (1957 l ha −1 yr −1 ARL, 2485 l ha −1 yr −1 KBS) followed by switchgrass (1091 l ha −1 yr −1 ARL, 1017 l ha −1 yr −1 KBS) and corn stover (1121 l ha −1 yr −1 ARL, 878 l ha −1 yr −1 KBS). Perennial grass cropping systems (i.e., switchgrass and miscanthus) had higher per hectare ethanol yields at both sites relative to diverse systems that included dicots. Despite feedstock differences in fermentable sugars, biomass production was the strongest driver of per hectare ethanol yield.},
doi = {10.2134/agronj2016.08.0454},
journal = {Agronomy Journal},
number = 5,
volume = 109,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2016.08.0454

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 18 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables:

Figure 1 Figure 1: (A, B) Annual [Glc], (C, D) [Xyl], (E, F) [EtOH], (G,H) biomass production, and (I,J) ethanol yields at ARL and KBS, respectively. Lowercase letters indicate significant differences between years within system and site (p < 0.05), while uppercase letters indicate cropping system differences within a site across yearsmore » (p < 0.05).« less

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Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.