Biomass Energy from Crop and Forest Residues

Abstract

Residues remaining after the harvest of crop and forestry products are being proposed as a substantial energy source for the nation. An estimated 22 percent of the residues might be utilized, providing a renewable source of high-grade energy with the potential of supplying 1 percent of the current U.S. gasoline consumption as ethanol or 4 percent of the total electrical energy used. These net energy benefits are limited by high energy costs to collect, transport, and process the residues. Environmental threats include soil erosion, water runoff, and nutrient loss.

Radiometric Correction of Terrestrial LiDAR Data for Mapping of Harvest Residues Density

“…By now several studies indicate a high value for 3D vegetation description, such as in agricultural monitoring of trees (Rosell and Sanz, 2012;Seidel et al, 2011), field crops (Höfle, 2013;Saeys et al, 2009;Lumme et al, 2008) or harvest residues (Lenaerts et al, 2012). Harvest residues play an important role in agricultural management, for instance concerning the calculation of biomass and subsequently the need of fertilization as 'humus compensation' (Fink, 1996) or for renewable energy production (Pimentel, 1981). Knowledge of the quantity and the spatial distribution of harvest residues are important for the determination of surface properties.…”

Are Biofuels an Effective and Viable Energy Strategy for Industrialized Societies? A Reasoned Overview of Potentials and Limits

“…Since then, the debate over biofuels has gained momentum, and ethical, socio-economic and environmental issues have begun to be widely discussed, both within the scientific community and in the wider society. Some scholars questioned the energy efficiency of biofuels, claiming that it was an unproductive enterprise (e.g., [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]), a point already made in the 1970s by energy experts such as Prof. David Pimentel (e.g., [2]), and Prof. Vaclav Smil (e.g., [4]). Biofuels, in fact, call for the adoption of those very same agricultural practices that for decades have been blamed for being highly energivorous and water consuming, and for contaminating the environment and threatening biodiversity and soil health [2][3][4][5][14][15][16][17].…”

“…In the USA, where energy and agricultural policies supporting the transformation of corn into ethanol have been in force since the 1970s, the debate over the sustainability of biofuels is an old story (e.g., [2,[40][41][42][43]. Lester Brown, although considering biofuels an option to be explored, already warned governments about "… encouraging the production of alcohol fuel without inadvertently launching an industry that directly competes with food production" [40] (p. 37).…”

“… the complexity of the chemical processes involved in transforming lignocellulosic material to ethanol (or methanol); the large and complex infrastructures that are needed, and the economic investment required; the huge quantity of biomass required for a unit of fuel [2,4,6,7,9,10,121]. The arduousness of the challenge can be depicted by the continuous failure of experts' forecasts.…”

Planning report :

“…• (Tables 3.6 and 3.7) ; and 0 promise of discovering or of acquiring higher value added speciality oroducts such as pharmaceuticals (23,25,92,(95)(96)(97) (49,55,108).…”