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Energy Production with Biomass: What Are the Prospects

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  • Gallagher, Paul W.
Abstract
The advantages and limitations of the U.S. ethanol industry have both become apparent during the current period of high petroleum prices. One advantage is that ethanol is cost-reducing as a gasoline additive and as a gasoline replacement using E85 (motor fuel blends of 85 percent ethanol and just 15 percent gasoline). However, corn supply limits ethanol's role in energy markets; ethanol-based corn demand will surpass exports when the 7.5 billion gallon Renewable Fuel Standard is fully implemented; and even if the Midwest were to secede from The Union, the entire Midwestern corn crop could only supply two-thirds of regional gasoline demand with ethanol. Clearly, a broader resource base and other processing technologies are needed if bioenergy is going to expand its role in the national energy scene. There are wide ranging assessments of biomass-energy's potential role in expanding our national energy supplies. Those accustomed to pumping liquid petroleum scoff at the idea that an energy industry could be based on bulky crops or residues from farm land or forest. Or biotechnologists sometimes multiply laboratory processing yields times the physical intensity of biomass on land times land area, resulting in an enormous estimate for biomass energy potential. Somewhere in between zero and the enormous estimates we should find reality. This paper examines the primary factors that limit the potential size of a biomass-energy industry in the United States. First, the fraction of the existing biomass that can be economically harvested from farmland is reviewed. Second, the current and potential processing technologies and practices are discussed. And finally, the unknowns and uncertainties of bioenergy supply that could be shaped by public policy are also reviewed.

Suggested Citation

  • Gallagher, Paul W., 2006. "Energy Production with Biomass: What Are the Prospects," Staff General Research Papers Archive 12559, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:isu:genres:12559
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    Cited by:

    1. Pat Westhoff & Wyatt Thompson & John Kruse & Seth Meyer, 2007. "Ethanol Transforms Agricultural Markets in the USA L'éthanol transforme les marchés agricoles aux Etats‐Unis Ethanol transformiert die Agrarmärkte in den USA," EuroChoices, The Agricultural Economics Society, vol. 6(1), pages 14-21, April.
    2. John Quiggin, 2010. "Agriculture and global climate stabilization: a public good analysis," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(s1), pages 121-132, November.
    3. Henderson, Jason R. & Gloy, Brent A., 2008. "The Impact of Ethanol Plants on Land Values in the Great Plains," 2007 Agricultural and Rural Finance Markets in Transition, October 4-5, 2007, St. Louis, Missouri 48148, Regional Research Committee NC-1014: Agricultural and Rural Finance Markets in Transition.
    4. Chao Bi & Jingjing Zeng & Wanli Zhang & Yonglin Wen, 2020. "Modelling the Coevolution of the Fuel Ethanol Industry, Technology System, and Market System in China: A History-Friendly Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-26, February.
    5. Thompson, Wyatt & Meyer, Seth & Westhoff, Pat, 2009. "How does petroleum price and corn yield volatility affect ethanol markets with and without an ethanol use mandate?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 745-749, February.
    6. Antar, Mohammed & Lyu, Dongmei & Nazari, Mahtab & Shah, Ateeq & Zhou, Xiaomin & Smith, Donald L., 2021. "Biomass for a sustainable bioeconomy: An overview of world biomass production and utilization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    7. Quiggin, John, 2005. "Counting the cost of climate change at an agricultural level," Risk and Sustainable Management Group Working Papers 152085, University of Queensland, School of Economics.
    8. Quiggin, John C., 2009. "Agriculture and global climate stabilization," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 53204, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. Henderson, Jason R. & Gloy, Brent A., 2008. "The Impact of Ethanol Plants on Cropland Values in the Great Plains," Working Papers 51080, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    10. Brent A. Gloy & Jason Henderson, 2008. "The impact of ethanol plants on cropland values in the Great Plains," Regional Research Working Paper RRWP 08-01, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

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