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Impact Of Switchgrass Bioenergy Feedstock Production On Soil Carbon Dioxide Flux And Below Ground Soil Organic Carbon Storage In East Tennessee, Leah Denise Soro

Masters Theses

Bioenergy production from switchgrass has shown promise in restoring degraded soils and helping to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. CO₂ loss and C-sequestration in soils are important topics for research to better understand the environmental impacts of bioenergy crops. The need for more thorough research of the carbon cycle in soils used for bioenergy production precipitated the primary interest of this study. The specific objectives of this study were 1) to measure SOC under switchgrass production in order to predict storage of carbon in soils based on previous cropping history, land management, soil physical characteristics, and time; and to …

Evaluation Of Capital Investment And Cash Flows For Alternative Switchgrass Feedstock Supply Chain Configurations, Jie Chen

Masters Theses

Biofuels have been widely recognized as a potential renewable energy source, and the United States’ government has been interested in producing ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass such as switchgrass. To evaluate whether lignocellulosic biomass based biofuels production is economically feasible, this paper estimated the capital investment outlays, operation costs, and net present value for investment in alternative switchgrass feedstock supply chain configurations in East Tennessee a 25 million gallon per year ethanol biorefinery. Two scenarios are analyzed in the study. The conventional hay harvest scenario includes the production, harvest, storage and transportation of biomass feedstocks from the fields to the biorefinery. …

Establishment And Persistence Of Legumes In Switchgrass Biomass And Forage/Biomass Production Systems, Kara Spivey Warwick

Masters Theses

Switchgrass, Panicum virgatum, is being developed as an economically and ecologically sustainable biomass crop. Nitrogen is considered one of the most limiting inputs of switchgrass. Alternatives to synthetic nitrogen fertilization may be nitrogen-fixing legumes interseeded into switchgrass. The objectives of this research were: (1) develop efficient legume management strategies for switchgrass production systems, (2) evaluate and identify cool and warm-season legumes that can be grown compatibly with switchgrass, (3) determine whether switchgrass yields are increased by legume N-fixation, and (4) determine N-fixation of common (Vicia sativa) and hairy vetch (Vicia villosa).

This study examined the …

W271 Improving Switchgrass Yields For Bioenergy Production, Jason P. De Koff, Donald D. Tyler

Biofuels

Version 3.0

Sp704-A Potential Impacts On Wildlife Of Switchgrass Grown For Biofuels, Craig A. Harper, Patrick D. Keyser

Biofuels

Version 3.0

Sp701-B Using Switchgrass For Forage, Gary Bates, Pat Keyser, Craig Harper, John Waller

Biofuels

Version 2.0

Sp701-B Using Switchgrass For Forage, Gary Bates, Pat Keyser, Craig Harper, John Waller

Forages

Version 2.0

Nitrogen Fixation And Seeding Rates Of Common Vs. Hairy Vetch For Interseeding Into Established Switchgrass Stands, K. Warwick, F. L. Allen, Patrick D. Keyser, G. E. Bates, D. D. Tyler, P. L. Lambdin, A. J. Ashworth

Research Reports

Interest in alternatives to synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizer sources for switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) production, such as interseeding with N- fixing legumes continues to increase. Common vetch (Vicia sativa) is a N-fixing legume that occurs naturally throughout the U.S. and has less hard seed than hairy vetch (Vicia villosa), making it potentially less invasive, and it may fix N at similar rates to that of hairy vetch. However, little data exist to substantiate this. In this study, N-fixation rates via the N-difference method were determined to be 59.3 and 43.3 kg N ha-1 …