Supply of Cellulosic Biofuel Feedstocks and Regional Production Pattern

Abstract

Interest in cellulosic biofuels has grown due to recent concerns about the impact of expanding production of corn ethanol on food prices and the greater potential of cellulosic biofuels to mitigate climate change. The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 limits the production of corn ethanol to 56 billion liters after 2015 and mandates the production of at least 80 of the 136 billion liters of ethanol from non–corn starch–based cellulosic feedstocks by 2022. The Biomass Research and Development Act of 2000 had established an even more ambitious goal of using biomass to replace the equivalent of 30% of current petroleum consumption by 2030 and estimated that this would require 1 billion dry (short) tons of biomass annually (U.S. Department of Energy [USDOE 2003]). Biomass can be obtained from several different sources, including forest resources, crop residues,woody biomass,and perennial grasses. A USDA/USDOE report (Perlack et al. 2005) examined the technical feasibility of sustaining this supply of biomass and the land resources that would be required under alternative scenarios with yield-enhancing and other technological changes in conventional crops and perennial bioenergy crops. The study estimated that 0.54 to 1 billion dry tons of agricultural crop-based biomass could be obtained annually from cropland, idle cropland, and cropland pasture with moderate to high productivity gains in crop productivity, residue collection, and tillage practices.