HR: 0800h
AN: B41B-0462    [Abstracts]
TI: An Assessment of Bio-Energy Crops Use in Illinois
AU: Jain, A
EM: jain1@uiuc.edu
AF: University of Illinois, 105 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL 61801, United States
AU: Khanna, M
EM: khanna1@uiuc.edu
AF: University of Illinois, 1301 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, United States
AU: * Barman, R
EM: rbarman2@atmos.uiuc.edu
AF: University of Illinois, 105 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL 61801, United States
AU: Yang, X
EM: xyang5@uiuc.edu
AF: University of Illinois, 105 S. Gregory Street, Urbana, IL 61801, United States
AU: Dhungana, B
EM: dhungana@uiuc.edu
AF: University of Illinois, 1301 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, United States
AU: Chen, X
EM: xchen29@uiuc.edu
AF: University of Illinois, 1301 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, United States
AB: Growing concern about climate change and energy security has led to increasing interest in developing domestically available renewable energy sources for meeting the electricity, heating and fuel needs in the United States. Illinois has a significant potential to grow perennial grasses that can provide bio-energy. Two perennial grasses, Switchgrass and Miscanthus, have been identified as among the best choices for low input bio-energy production in the US and Europe. The purpose of this talk is two fold. First, we will examine the optimal areas in Illinois to locate perennial grasses as feedstocks. These areas will be determined based on biophysical conditions (such as heterogeneity in soil quality and climatic factors) and costs of production and costs of land that differ across locations. Second, we will determine the CO2 mitigation benefits to be provided by bioenergy crops, both in the form of soil carbon sequestration and displacement of carbon emissions from gasoline. This analysis will be undertaken using detailed GIS data on soil quality, climate and land use for 0.1deg by 0.1deg grid cells in Illinois. This data will be used together with the Integrated Science Assessment Model (ISAM), a terrestrial ecosystem model, to estimate the yields of Switchgrass and Miscanthus as well as their potential to sequester carbon in the soil. Yield for row crops will be based on historical data and will be used to determine the opportunity cost of converting land currently under corn and soybean production to perennial grasses. Costs of production for the alternative crops here include expenses incurred by farmers on fertilizer inputs, machinery, harvesting and transportation and will be used to determine the profitability of alternative land uses in each grid cell. The framework developed here will be used to examine the optimal locations to grow bio-energy crops to achieve various carbon mitigation targets cost-effectively.
DE: 0402 Agricultural systems
DE: 0414 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0793, 1615, 4805, 4912)
DE: 0466 Modeling
DE: 0485 Science policy (6620)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting