Life Sciences Commons^™

Quantifying The Effects Of Biomass Market Conditions And Policy Incentives On Economically Feasible Sites To Establish Dedicated Energy Crops, Sandhya Nepal, Marco A. Contreras, George A. Stainback, John M. Lhotka

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

This study used a spatially-explicit model to identify the amount and spatial distribution of economically feasible sites for establishing dedicated energy crops under various market and policy scenarios. A sensitivity analysis was performed for a biomass market with different discount rates and biomass prices as well as policy scenarios including propriety tax exemption, carbon offset payments, and the inclusion of farmland for biomass production. The model was applied to a four-county study area in Kentucky representing conditions commonly found in the Ohio River Valley. Results showed that both biomass price and discount rate have a can strongly influence the amount …