The greenhouse gas intensity and potential biofuel production capacity of maize stover harvest in the US Midwest

Jones, Curtis D.; Zhang, Xuesong; Reddy, Ashwan D.; Robertson, G. Philip; Izaurralde, Roberto César

doi:10.1111/gcbb.12473

Title: The greenhouse gas intensity and potential biofuel production capacity of maize stover harvest in the US Midwest

Journal Article · Sat Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Global Change Biology. Bioenergy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12473· OSTI ID:1511053

^[1]; Zhang, Xuesong ^[1]; Reddy, Ashwan D. ^[1]; Robertson, G. Philip ^[2]; Izaurralde, Roberto César ^[3]

Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)
Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Michigan State Univ., Hickory Corners, MI (United States)
Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); Texas A&M AgriLife Research & Extension Center, Temple, TX (United States)

Agricultural residues are important sources of feedstock for a cellulosic biofuels industry that is being developed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy independence. While the US Midwest has been recognized as key to providing maize stover for meeting near-term cellulosic biofuel production goals, there is uncertainty that such feedstocks can produce biofuels that meet federal cellulosic standards. Here, we conducted extensive site-level calibration of the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) terrestrial ecosystems model and applied the model at high spatial resolution across the US Midwest to improve estimates of the maximum production potential and greenhouse gas emissions expected from continuous maize residue-derived biofuels. A comparison of methodologies for calculating the soil carbon impacts of residue harvesting demonstrates the large impact of study duration, depth of soil considered, and inclusion of litter carbon in soil carbon change calculations on the estimated greenhouse gas intensity of maize stover-derived biofuels. Using the most representative methodology for assessing long-term residue harvesting impacts, we estimate that only 5.3 billion liters per year (bly) of ethanol, or 8.7% of the near-term US cellulosic biofuel demand, could be met under common no-till farming practices. However, appreciably more feedstock becomes available at modestly higher emissions levels, with potential for 89.0 bly of ethanol production meeting US advanced biofuel standards. Adjustments to management practices, such as adding cover crops to no-till management, will be required to produce sufficient quantities of residue meeting the greenhouse gas emission reduction standard for cellulosic biofuels. Considering the rapid increase in residue availability with modest relaxations in GHG reduction level, it is expected that management practices with modest benefits to soil carbon would allow considerable expansion of potential cellulosic biofuel production.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: FC02-07ER64494; AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 1511053

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1406708

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA-129759

Journal Information:: Global Change Biology. Bioenergy, Vol. 9, Issue 10; ISSN 1757-1693

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 14 works

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09 BIOMASS FUELS
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Title: The greenhouse gas intensity and potential biofuel production capacity of maize stover harvest in the US Midwest

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