Systems Study of Fuels from Grains and Grasses. Phase I. Final Report.

摘要

The program reported on herein consists of a first phase analysis of the potential for significant and economically viable contributions to U.S. energy needs from grasses and grains by the photosynthetic production of biomass. The study does not include other cultivated crops such as sugar cane,sugar beets,cotton,tobacco,vegetables,fruits,etc. The scope of the study encompasses grain crop residues,whole plant biomass from grain crops and nongrain crops on cropland,and whole plant biomass from grasses on pasture, rangeland,and federal range. The basic approach to the study involves first an assessment of current total biomass generation from the various grasses and grains on cropland,pasture,range,and federal range,and aggregating the production by combinations of crop residues and whole plant biomass;second,evaluation of possibilities for introduction of new crops and expanding production to marginal or presently idle land;third,development of proposed reasonable scenarios for actually harvesting biomass from selected combinations of crop residues, forages and hays,and new crops from land now in production,plus additional marginal or underutilized land brought into production;and finally,assessment on national and regional or local scales of the production that might be affected by reasonable scenarios. This latter effort includes analysis of tentative possibilities for reallocating priorities and needs with regard to production of grain for export or for livestock production. The overall program includes a case study analysis of production economics for a representative farm of about 1,000acres (405ha) located in Iowa. (ERA citation 04:000431)