Switchgrass and Perennial Grasses, Biomass, and Energy... 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) • EISA requires EPA to revise the Renewable Fuels Standards (RFS) program

Switchgrass and Perennial

Grasses, Biomass, and Biofuels-

2012 Ken Vogel

USDA-ARS,Lincoln, NE

http://feedstockreview.ornl.gov/pdf/billion_ton_vision.pdf

Main Conclusion

U.S. can displace over

30% of current

petroleum consumption

by 2030 using crop

residues and other

sources including

biomass from perennial

herbaceous crops for

the production of

cellulosic ethanol.

Emphasis on cellolosic

energy because of food

vs fuel problem.

2007 Energy Independence and

Security Act (EISA) • EISA requires EPA to revise the

Renewable Fuels Standards (RFS)

program to increase renewable fuel

blended into transportation fuel from 9

billion gallons in 1998 to 36 billion gallons

per year by 2022.

• Revised standards (RFS2) was finalized in

2010.

Renewable Fuel Standard

revised 2010 (RFS2) • The RFS goal is 36 billion gallons per year

for renewable fuels by 2022.

• RFS2 limits the amount of corn ethanol

that counts toward the requirement to 15

million gallons per year.

• The remaining 21 billion gallons must

come from other non-food or cellulosic

sources

• Other sources are corn stover, perennial

grasses, woody biomass, and algae.

U.S. Billion-Ton Update 2011

• Increased emphasis

on dedicated energy

crops including

herbaceous

perennials such as

switchgrass, other

grasses and woody

species.

• Sustainable use of

crop residues.

Some Questions

• Why not just use corn stover?

• Why switchgrass?

• Why other perennial grasses?

• How are we going to get fuels out of this

stuff?

• Where are we at on management,

cultivars, and other improvements?

Long term Carbon sequestration Study-

Corn & Switchgrass, Mead, NE

• Quantify carbon sequestration on cropland converted to switchgrass.

• Compare to no-till corn.

• Experiment in eastern NE established in 1998.

• In 2000, plots split and stover removed (50%) on split half of corn plots.

Corn Grain Yield – Effect of removing ½ of stover

0

5

10

15

20

25

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Mean

G ra

in B

io m

a s s (

M g

/h a )

Corn Grain Corn Grain after removal

½ s

to v e

r re

m o

v e

d

- 7.2% grain

Wally Wilhelm Gary Varvel

Factors Limiting Crop Biomass

Removal S

to v e

r to

r e ta

in (

to n

a c

-1 )

0

2

4

6

8

Soil organic carbon

Water erosion

Wind erosion

Continuous corn Corn-soybean

Moldboard

plow

No or

conservation

tillage

3.38

1.39

0.77

2.34

0.29

0.06

5.58

3.56

1.22

3.52

0.43

0.15

Moldboard

plow

No or

conservation

tillage

Wilhelm et al., 2007. Agron. J. 99:1665-1667. ARS-REAP

Switchgrass Biomass Feedstock

Research • 1980’s, : Oak Ridge National Laboratory, DOE, in

cooperative work with Universities & USDA-ARS. Species evaluations. Selected switchgrass & hybrid popular & willow.

• 1990’s, 2000-2002. Funded research at Univ. & ARS.

• 2002. DOE switchgrass work discontinued. All feedstock and conversion research switched to corn stover and crop residues.

• 2002 to present. New thrust by USDA-ARS. Perennial energy crop research. A few land-grant universities continue programs.

• 2006 – present. DOE renews major funding effort with focus on basic biology & conversion. New USDA funding. Private Companies funding inhouse research.

Why Switchgrass?

• Native to N. America east of Rocky Mtns.

• Adapted germplasm available.

• High yield potential

• Can harvest and grow like hay using farm equipment.

• Multiple uses on/off farm

• Low energy input

• Increased carbon storage.

• Soil and water conservation benefits.

• Excellent wildlife habitat.

• Buffer strips, wetlands

• Seed easy to plant

Switchgrass

Panicum virgatum L.

Upland switchgrass plant Natural distribution of switchgrass

In North America

USDA-ARS Grain, Forage, &

Bioenergy Research Unit, Lincoln, NE

Switchgrass research

1930’s to present

• Native prairie species, domestication, breeding & management work to revegetate grasslands after drought of the 30’s

• Use by livestock was emphasized

• 1990 - began work to develop switchgrass into a biofuel crop.

• 2000 - Information used for farm scale production trials

Biomass Power

Back to the Future

• 1920 - 27,000,000 horses & mules, USA

• 1954 - < 5,000,000

• Resulted in major land use change.

• 80 million acres of pasture & hayland (biomass) released for other uses.

Horse power to tractor power – land use changes,

government programs, & bioenergy

• Marginal land previously in pasture converted to grain crops. Severe erosion.

• Crop surpluses depressed prices requiring farm subsidizes

• Conservation Reserve Program (CRP): over 35 million acres in CRP.

• Annual cost is $1.7 billion.

• CRP land east of 100o W. Long. could be used for perennial biomass energy crops (switchgrass).

• All conservation benefits would be retained.

• Equivalent amount of marginal cropland in USA.

Fields in northeast Nebraska

Switchgrass field in same region

Research Accomplishments

• Harvest management and timing

• Nitrogen fertilization rates

• Cultivar evaluations, classification, and

geographic adaptation

• Genetic improvements and new cultivar

development

• Genetic diversity and gene pools

• Production economics

Harvest Management Vogel et al. (2002)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

First cut

Second cut

Harvest interval (late June to late August)

B io

m as

s Y

ie ld

( M

g /h

a)

Nitrogen Fertilization Vogel et al. (2002)

6

7

8

9

10

11

0 60 120 180 240 300

Nitrogen Applied (kg/ha)

B io

m as

s Y

ie ld

( M

g /h

a)

Mead, NE

Ames, IA

Above this point, N application rate

exceeded N removal rate, increasing NO3-N

in the soil.

Northern Plains Switchgrass Field Scale

Production & Economic Trials 2000-2005

31”-33”

Annual

Precipitation

15”-17”

Annual

Precipitation 2000-2005

On-Farm

Production

Trials:15-20 acre (6-

9 ha) fields Cooperating farmers paid

to manage fields as biomass

energy crops.

DOE/USDA Biomass Feedstock

Stage Gate Review Meeting

March 14-16, 2005

• Improved Plant & Production

Practices for Grasslands &

Biomass Crops in the Mid-

Continental USA

Kenneth P. Vogel

USDA-ARS, Lincoln, NE

Plant Genomics for Biofuels"

BP-DOE Office of Science Review June/05

Ari Patrinos (DOE) & Steve Koonin (BP)

• Participants

– Justin Adams, BP

– John Pierce, DuPont

– C. Saunders, Pioneer

– Don Doering, Winrock

– Jim Barber, Metabolix

– Biotechnology Ind. Org.

Reps.

– Other invited industry reps.

– USDA & DOE Senior

Executives

• Speakers

– Chris Somerville

– Richard Flavell

– Elliott Meyerowitz

– Craig Venter

– Jerry Tuscan

– Steve Straus

– Ed Buckler

– Ken Vogel

– 4 others

Science editorial:

1/27/ 2006

Steve Koonin, BP

Chief Scientist

endorses biofuels

from cellulosic

sources such as

switchgrass.

Science 2006 cover story.

Tillman et al.

Science 2006 314:1598-

1600. Low input-high

diversity grasslands for

biofuels.

Switchgrass for Bioenergy – On farm

economic study in NE,