Technology that would enable use of lignocellulosic biomass for biorefinery feedstock is under development. The 2002 Farm Bill permitted managed harvesting of biomass from Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land. This study was conducted to determine the cost to procure, harvest, store, and...

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 includes a provision designed to double the production and use of ethanol in fuels by 2012, and that beginning in 2013, a minimum of 250 million gallons per year of ethanol be produced from lignocellulosic sources such as corn stover, wheat straw, and switchgrass....

Biomass yield to nitrogen response functions were determined for four perennial grass species. The species, nitrogen level, and harvest frequency that maximize expected net returns given the climate and soils of the U.S. Southern Plains were determined. For most combinations of biomass and...

Switchgrass has been proposed as a dedicated energy crop to fulfill long-term policy goals. Production costs were determined for switchgrass and three alternative perennial grass species for four levels of nitrogen fertilizer and two harvest systems. For the alternatives evaluated, biomass...

The objective of this paper is to determine production costs of switchgrass, eastern gammagrass, and giant miscanthus using Mississippi and Oklahoma data. Production costs were computed using a standard enterprise budgeting approach by species and method of harvest. Results indicate cost...

While theoretically more efficient than starch-based ethanol production systems, conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol is not without major challenges. A multi-region, multi-period, mixed integer mathematical programming model encompassing alternative feedstocks, feedstock production,...

The objective of this research is to determine the cost to harvest lignocellulosic biomass, such as crop residue and perennial grasses, for use as biorefinery feedstock, and to determine the potential economies of size that might result from a coordinated structure. The estimates show that...

The logistics of providing an orderly flow of lignocellulosic feedstock to a biorefinery have not been addressed by most biorefinery feasibility studies. A mixed integer mathematical programming model is developed that includes integer decision variables enabling investment in harvest machines...