Title: Environmental limitation mapping of potential biomass resources across the conterminous U nited S tates

Abstract

Abstract Several crops have recently been identified as potential dedicated bioenergy feedstocks for the production of power, fuels, and bioproducts. Despite being identified as early as the 1980s, no systematic work has been undertaken to characterize the spatial distribution of their long‐term production potentials in the United states. Such information is a starting point for planners and economic modelers, and there is a need for this spatial information to be developed in a consistent manner for a variety of crops, so that their production potentials can be intercompared to support crop selection decisions. As part of the Sun Grant Regional Feedstock Partnership (RFP), an approach to mapping these potential biomass resources was developed to take advantage of the informational synergy realized when bringing together coordinated field trials, close interaction with expert agronomists, and spatial modeling into a single, collaborative effort. A modeling and mapping system called PRISM‐ELM was designed to answer a basic question: How do climate and soil characteristics affect the spatial distribution and long‐term production patterns of a given crop? This empirical/mechanistic/biogeographical hybrid model employs a limiting factor approach, where productivity is determined by the most limiting of the factors addressed in submodels that simulate water balance, wintermore » low‐temperature response, summer high‐temperature response, and soil pH , salinity, and drainage. Yield maps are developed through linear regressions relating soil and climate attributes to reported yield data. The model was parameterized and validated using grain yield data for winter wheat and maize, which served as benchmarks for parameterizing the model for upland and lowland switchgrass, CRP grasses, Miscanthus, biomass sorghum, energycane, willow, and poplar. The resulting maps served as potential production inputs to analyses comparing the viability of biomass crops under various economic scenarios. The modeling and parameterization framework can be expanded to include other biomass crops.« less

Authors:

Daly, Christopher  ^[1];

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Halbleib, Michael D. ^[1]; Hannaway, David B. ^[2]; Eaton, Laurence M. ^[3]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. PRISM Climate Group Northwest Alliance for Computational Science and Engineering 2000 Kelley Engineering Center Oregon State University Corvallis OR USA
2. Department of Crop and Soil Science Oregon State University 125 Crop Science Building Corvallis OR USA
3. Bioenergy Resource and Engineering Systems Group Environmental Sciences Division Oak Ridge National Laboratory PO BOX 2008 MS6036 Oak Ridge TN 37831‐6036 USA

Publication Date:

Mon Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2018

Research Org.:

Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO); United States Dept. of Agriculture (USDA); Oregon State Univ. (United States)

OSTI Identifier:

1417003

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1423054; OSTI ID: 1460580

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC05-00OR22725; FC36-05GO85041; PO 4500073924

Resource Type:

Published Article

Journal Name:

Global Change Biology. Bioenergy

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Name: Global Change Biology. Bioenergy Journal Volume: 10 Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 1757-1693

Publisher:

Wiley-Blackwell

Country of Publication:

United Kingdom

Language:

English

Subject:

09 BIOMASS FUELS; biomass crop; biomass production potential; biomass resource map; biomass resources; biomass sorghum; energycane; miscanthus; PRISM-ELM; Sun Grant; switchgrass