Increasing Feedstock Production for Biofuels

Increasing Feedstock Production for Biofuels PDF

Author: Gale Buchanan

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2010-10

Total Pages: 167

ISBN-13: 1437921078

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A large expansion in ethanol production, along with research and innovation to develop second-generation biofuels, is underway in the U.S., spurred by volatile oil prices and energy policies. This increased focus on ethanol and other biofuels is an important element of U.S. economic, energy, environmental, and national security policies. This report will inform research recommendations to address the constraints surrounding availability of biomass feedstocks. To meet this goal, an economic assessment, which links to an analysis of the consequences for greenhouse gas emissions and sustainability, has been developed that encompasses feedstock production from agriculture and forestry sources. Illustrations.

Measuring the Indirect Land-Use Change Associated with Increased Biofuel Feedstock Production

Measuring the Indirect Land-Use Change Associated with Increased Biofuel Feedstock Production PDF

Author: Elizabeth Marshall

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2011-06

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13: 1437981542

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Summarizes the current state of knowledge of the drivers of land-use change and describes the analytic methods used to estimate the impact of biofuel feedstock production on land use. The larger the impact of domestic biofuels feedstock production on commodity prices and the availability of exports, the larger the international land-use effects are likely to be. The amount of pressure placed on land internationally will depend in part on how much of the land needed for biofuel production is met through an expansion of agricultural land in the U.S. If crop yield per acre increases through more intensive management or new crop varieties, then less land is needed to grow a particular amount of that crop. Illustrations. This is a print on demand report.

Increasing Feedstock Production for Biofuels

Increasing Feedstock Production for Biofuels PDF

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 167

ISBN-13:

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The Biomass Research and Development Board (Board) commissioned an economic analysis of feedstocks to produce biofuels. The Board seeks to inform investments in research and development needed to expand biofuel production. This analysis focuses on feedstocks; other interagency teams have projects underway for other parts of the biofuel sector (e.g., logistics). The analysis encompasses feedstocks for both conventional and advanced biofuels from agriculture and forestry sources.

Renewable Fuel Standard

Renewable Fuel Standard PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2012-01-29

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 0309187516

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In the United States, we have come to depend on plentiful and inexpensive energy to support our economy and lifestyles. In recent years, many questions have been raised regarding the sustainability of our current pattern of high consumption of nonrenewable energy and its environmental consequences. Further, because the United States imports about 55 percent of the nation's consumption of crude oil, there are additional concerns about the security of supply. Hence, efforts are being made to find alternatives to our current pathway, including greater energy efficiency and use of energy sources that could lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions such as nuclear and renewable sources, including solar, wind, geothermal, and biofuels. The United States has a long history with biofuels and the nation is on a course charted to achieve a substantial increase in biofuels. Renewable Fuel Standard evaluates the economic and environmental consequences of increasing biofuels production as a result of Renewable Fuels Standard, as amended by EISA (RFS2). The report describes biofuels produced in 2010 and those projected to be produced and consumed by 2022, reviews model projections and other estimates of the relative impact on the prices of land, and discusses the potential environmental harm and benefits of biofuels production and the barriers to achieving the RFS2 consumption mandate. Policy makers, investors, leaders in the transportation sector, and others with concerns for the environment, economy, and energy security can rely on the recommendations provided in this report.

Expanding Biofuel Production and the Transition to Advanced Biofuels

Expanding Biofuel Production and the Transition to Advanced Biofuels PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2010-04-30

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 030914714X

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While energy prices, energy security, and climate change are front and center in the national media, these issues are often framed to the exclusion of the broader issue of sustainability-ensuring that the production and use of biofuels do not compromise the needs of future generations by recognizing the need to protect life-support systems, promote economic growth, and improve societal welfare. Thus, it is important to understand the effects of biofuel production and use on water quality and quantity, soils, wildlife habitat and biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, public health, and the economic viability of rural communities.

Expanding Biofuel Production and the Transition to Advanced Biofuels

Expanding Biofuel Production and the Transition to Advanced Biofuels PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2010-03-30

Total Pages: 179

ISBN-13: 0309152917

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While energy prices, energy security, and climate change are front and center in the national media, these issues are often framed to the exclusion of the broader issue of sustainability-ensuring that the production and use of biofuels do not compromise the needs of future generations by recognizing the need to protect life-support systems, promote economic growth, and improve societal welfare. Thus, it is important to understand the effects of biofuel production and use on water quality and quantity, soils, wildlife habitat and biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, public health, and the economic viability of rural communities.

Bioenergy Feedstocks

Bioenergy Feedstocks PDF

Author: Malay C. Saha

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-04-03

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 111860945X

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Bioenergy and biofuels are generated from a wide variety of feedstock. Fuels have been converted from a wide range of sources from vegetable oils to grains and sugarcane. Second generation biofuels are being developed around dedicated, non-food energy crops, such as switchgrass and Miscanthus, with an eye toward bioenergy sustainability. Bioenergy Feedstocks: Breeding and Genetics looks at advances in our understanding of the genetics and breeding practices across this diverse range of crops and provides readers with a valuable tool to improve cultivars and increase energy crop yields. Bioenergy Feedstocks: Breeding and Genetics opens with chapters focusing primarily on advances in the genetics and molecular biology of dedicated energy crops. These chapters provide in-depth coverage of new, high-potential feedstocks. The remaining chapters provide valuable overview of breeding efforts of current feedstocks with specific attention paid to the development of bioenergy traits. Coverage in these chapters includes crops such as sorghum, energy canes, corn, and other grasses and forages. The final chapters explore the role of transgenics in bioenergy feedstock production and the development of low-input strategies for producing bioenergy crops. A timely collection of work from a global team of bioenergy researchers and crop scientists, Bioenergy Feedstocks: Breeding and Genetics is an essential reference on cultivar improvement of biomass feedstock crops.

Sustainable Biofuels

Sustainable Biofuels PDF

Author: Ajay Kumar Bhardwaj

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2015-04-24

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 3110381338

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With oil resources approaching their limits, biofuels have become increasingly attractive. This book provides a detailed description of the ecological implications of second and third generation biofuel feedstock production systems, beginning with an introduction to the importance of ecological sustainability alongside economic viability. The book is divided into sections describing theoretical foundation and benefits of various biofuel cropping systems, and providing a description of practical ecological limitations to achieve those fundamental benefits. The book covers such critical issues as greenhouse gas emissions, carbon balance, water cycle components, other biogeochemical and socioeconomic interactions alongside life cycle analysis principals for achieving sustainability. These are some of the most important sustainability, environmental and economic issues which biofuel industry and scientific community is seeking answers to.

Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States

Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2008-02-09

Total Pages: 86

ISBN-13: 030911361X

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National interests in greater energy independence, concurrent with favorable market forces, have driven increased production of corn-based ethanol in the United States and research into the next generation of biofuels. The trend is changing the national agricultural landscape and has raised concerns about potential impacts on the nation's water resources. To help illuminate these issues, the National Research Council held a colloquium on July 12, 2007 in Washington, DC. Water Implications of Biofuels Production in the United States, based in part on discussions at the colloquium, concludes that if projected future increases in use of corn for ethanol production do occur, the increase in harm to water quality could be considerable from the increases in fertilizer use, pesticide use, and soil erosion associated with growing crops such as corn. Water supply problems could also develop, both from the water needed to grow biofuels crops and water used at ethanol processing plants, especially in regions where water supplies are already overdrawn. The production of "cellulosic ethanol," derived from fibrous material such as wheat straw, native grasses, and forest trimmings is expected to have less water quality impact but cannot yet be produced on a commerical scale. To move toward a goal of reducing water impacts of biofuels, a policy bridge will likely be needed to encourage growth of new technologies, best agricultural practies, and the development of traditional and cellulosic crops that require less water and fertilizer and are optimized for fuel production.