Digital Commons Network^™

Perennializing Marginal Croplands: Going Back To The Future To Mitigate Climate Change With Resilient Biobased Feedstocks, Salvador Ramirez Ii, Marty R. Schmer, Virginia L. Jin, Robert B. Mitchell, Catherine E. Stewart, Jay Parsons, Daren D. Redfearn, John J. Quinn, Gary E. Varvel, Kenneth P. Vogel, Ronald F. Follett

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Managing annual row crops on marginally productive croplands can be environmentally unsustainable and result in variable economic returns. Incorporating perennial bioenergy feedstocks into marginally productive cropland can engender ecosystem services and enhance climate resiliency while also diversifying farm incomes. We use one of the oldest bioenergy-specific field experiments in North America to evaluate economically and environmentally sustainable management practices for growing perennial grasses on marginal cropland. This long-term field trial called 9804 was established in 1998 in eastern Nebraska and compared the productivity and sustainability of corn (Zea mays L.)—both corn grain and corn stover—and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum …

Phenotypic Evaluation Of Energycane (Saccharum Spp.) Genotypes In Northcentral Mississippi, Wyatt Armistead Eason

Theses and Dissertations

As fossil fuel supplies decrease and concerns of climate change increase, the search for alternative sources of fuel has pushed biomass crops to the forefront of discussion. Saccharum spontaneum readily hybridizes with commercial sugarcane and lends cold tolerance and greater yields to the hybrid progeny, called energycane. Twenty genotypes were tested against an energycane variety (Ho 02-113) as a control. Two locations were tested: the HH Leveck Animal Research Center (planted in 2019), and the Bearden Dairy Research Center (planted in 2020). The Bearden Dairy Research Center yielded significantly higher than the HH Leveck Animal Research Center regarding dry matter …

Optimization And Analytics Of Decarbonized Forest And Biomass Supply Chains, Xufeng Zhang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

First, a data-driven holistic analysis framework was developed to aid the industrial development of forest biomass for bioenergy to promote the regional bioeconomy. Leveraging the existing but fragmented multi-source data, four components of industrial bioenergy development were integrated into the framework including spatial statistical analysis of biomass feedstock and bioenergy production, machine learning-based suitability assessment, bioenergy plant sites identification and ranking, and socio-economic impacts assessment. A case study was conducted for forest biomass to pellet fuel in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region. Our results indicate that the great potential of forest biomass with high variation at the county level is primarily …

A Three-Stage Thermochemical Conversion Process For The Production Of Biochar, Alessandro Scova, Vander Tumiatti, Francesco Lenzi

Biochar: Production, Characterization and Applications

Within a French consortium of four companies and five laboratories from two scientific groups, Sea Marconi is one of the industrial partners of the LORVER project (www.lorver.org). The project aims at the sustainable redevelopment of brownfield deriving from the deindustrialization of the Lorraine region (France) by soil reconstruction, cultivation of different non-food biomasses and their final conversion into valuable outputs (biochar, bioenergy, natural fibers, metals).

Please click on the file below for full content of the abstract.

Bioenergy And Carbon Farming Opportunities In The Pilbara, Robert Sudmeyer, Kim Brooksbank, David Rogers

Bulletins 4000 -

The Pilbara region covers 270 000 square kilometres of north-west Western Australia. Its main agricultural land use is pastoralism, with beef cattle grazing native pastures. Currently, only 24km² is under irrigation, with irrigated fodder the principal crop, but this could expand to 100km². This expansion has the potential to significantly broaden the economic base of the Pilbara.

Irrigation and the opportunities for changing land use and management may facilitate greater participation in the carbon economy by Pilbara land managers. Bioenergy feedstocks could be sourced from purpose-grown crops or agricultural wastes. Carbon farming activities may be facilitated by …

Carbon Abatement And Emissions Associated With The Gasification Of Walnut Shells For Bioenergy And Biochar Production, Engil Isadora Pujol Pereira, Emma C. Suddick, Johan Six

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

By converting biomass residue to biochar, we could generate power cleanly and sequester carbon resulting in overall greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) savings when compared to typical fossil fuel usage and waste disposal. We estimated the carbon dioxide (CO2) abatements and emissions associated to the concurrent production of bioenergy and biochar through biomass gasification in an organic walnut farm and processing facility in California, USA. We accounted for (i) avoided-CO2 emissions from displaced grid electricity by bioenergy; (ii) CO2 emissions from farm machinery used for soil amendment of biochar; (iii) CO2 sequestered in the soil through stable biochar-C; and (iv) direct …

Dedicated Energy Crops And Crop Residues For Bioenergy Feedstocks In The Central And Eastern Usa, R. B. Mitchell, M. R. Schmer, W. F. Anderson, V. Jin, K. S. Balkcom, J. Kiniry, A. Coffin, P. White

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Dedicated energy crops and crop residues will meet herbaceous feedstock demands for the new bioeconomy in the Central and Eastern USA. Perennial warm-season grasses and corn stover are well-suited to the eastern half of the USA and provide opportunities for expanding agricultural operations in the region. A suite of warm-season grasses and associated management practices have been developed by researchers from the Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and collaborators associated with USDA Regional Biomass Research Centers. Second generation biofuel feedstocks provide an opportunity to increase the production of transportation fuels from recently fixed plant carbon …

Soil Resource And Production Dynamics Of A Tree-Grass Intercropping System Managed Across Gradients Of Interspecific Competition, Kurt Joseph Krapfl

Theses and Dissertations

Belowground competition presents a threat to the production and sustainability of tree-grass ecosystems. Management scenarios designed to optimize the spatial and temporal distribution of soil resources will improve resource-use efficiency and promote greater co-production. We conducted three experiments to assess competition dynamics between loblolly pine and switchgrass. In a three-year field trial, loblolly pine and switchgrass were intercropped across varying competitive intensities. Interspecific competition decreased loblolly pine annual growth; however, establishing vegetation exclusion zones surrounding pines largely mitigated these effects. Switchgrass yields were less affected by interspecific competition compared to pines and land equivalency ratios indicated that with proper management …

Phytocapping: An Alternative Technology For The Sustainable Management Of Landfill Sites, Dane Lamb, Kartik Venkatraman, Nanthi Bolan, Nanjappa Ashwath, Girish Choppala, Ravi Naidu

Dr Girish Choppala

Landfill remains the predominant means of waste disposal throughout the globe. Numerous landfills exist in developed and underdeveloped countries, engineered with contrasting degrees of effectiveness. Modern landfill closure in developed countries involves the conventional capping of waste with materials such as compacted clay or geosynthetic clay liners, typically overlain with other soil materials. Conventional capping technologies are now accepted to be increasingly ineffective in reducing percolation into waste. Cost-effective alternative systems are of increasing interest, including the use of plants to control and limit water entry into waste, otherwise known as “Phytocapping”. Phytocapping reduces percolation through three main mechanisms: (a) …

Biomass Scoping Study: Opportunities For Agriculture In Western Australia, Kim Brooksbank, Mitchell Lever, Harriet Paterson, Melissa Weybury

Bulletins 4000 -

This report aims to provide a summary of national and international activity in the use of agricultural by-products for the production of bioenergy and biofuels. The summary is primarily an internal report for the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA), but will hopefully be of some value to industry proponents that are interested in pursuing the opportunities provided by what are currently low value agricultural waste products. We outline three processes for obtaining energy from these by-products that may be appropriate for the farming sector in Western Australia (WA).

Crop Residue Mass Needed To Maintain Soil Organic Carbon Levels: Can It Be Determined?, Jane M. F. Johnson, Jeff M. Novak, Gary E. Varvel, Diane E. Stott, Shannon L. Osborne, Douglas Karlen, John A. Lamb, John Baker, Paul R. Adler

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Corn’s (Zea mays L.) stover is a potential nonfood, herbaceous bioenergy feedstock. A vital aspect of utilizing stover for bioenergy production is to establish sustainable harvest criteria that avoid exacerbating soil erosion or degrading soil organic carbon (SOC) levels. Our goal is to empirically estimate the minimum residue return rate required to sustain SOC levels at numerous locations and to identify which macroscale factors affect empirical estimates. Minimum residue return rate is conceptually useful, but only if the study is of long enough duration and a relationship between the rate of residue returned and the change in SOC can …

Biofuel Production From Water Hyacinth In The Pantanal Wetland, Ivan Bergier, Suzana M. Salis, César H.B. Miranda, Enrique Ortega, Carlos A. Luengo

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The Pantanal is a major wetland in the inner South America, with the potential for production of large quantities of biomass of aquatic floating species, especially water hyacinth (Eicchornia crassipes and E. azurea), during the aquatic phase of the flood pulse characteristic for this ecosystem. Such biomass could be wisely managed for the production of biofuels. This should be based on the concepts of renewability and ecosystem surplus, and could help in neutralizing of regional and global industrial carbon impacts and to induce socioeconomic development. The aquatic biomass exploitation would require low fossil energy and materials inputs, leaving …

Libra, A Novel Lignin Biorefinery Approach For The Pyrolytic Extraction Of Phenolics And Biochar From 2nd Generation Biorefinery Side-Streams, Paul J. De Wild, W. Huijgen, R. Van Der Laan, J. Van Hal, C. Daza Montano, H. Reith, H. Den Uil

Bioenergy III: Present and New Perspectives on Biorefineries

No abstract provided.