Potential for ethanol production from conservation reserve program lands in Oregon

This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by American Institute of Physics and can be found at: http://www.aip.org/. This research was funded by Western Sun Grant Center, OregonState University, and USDA-ARS base funding through national programs Agricultural SystemComp...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors Juneja, Ankita, Kumar, Deepak, Williams, John D, Wysocki, Donald J, Murthy, Ganti S
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published American Institute of Physics 01.11.2011
Subjects
Biomass
Corn stover
Hydrolysis
Lignocellulosic materials
Pretreatment technologies
Switchgrass
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Summary:This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by American Institute of Physics and can be found at: http://www.aip.org/. This research was funded by Western Sun Grant Center, OregonState University, and USDA-ARS base funding through national programs Agricultural SystemCompetitiveness and Sustainability and Climate Change, Soils, and Emissions. Increase in energy demand has led towards considering lignocellulosic feedstocks as potential for ethanol production. Aim of this study was to estimate the potential of grass straws from conservation reserve program (CRP) lands as feedstocks for ethanol production. The CRP was initiated to ensure reduction in soil erosion with a concomitant improvement in water quality and aquatic habitats. Species and abundance of various grasses in CRP sites can vary substantially. Ethanol yield from biomass is directly correlated to sugar content among other factors. It therefore becomes important to study the variability in the biomass composition from different CRP sites to reliably estimate biofuel production potential. Grass samples were collected from five fields contracted to CRP in Umatilla County in Northeastern Oregon. Composition of these samples was experimentally determined and was statistically verified to be similar for most of the sites. Sugar content was highest (60.70%) and statistically different for only one site (CRA 8.2). Our results suggest that biomass harvested from different sites did not significantly vary in terms of their chemical composition and therefore could be used in a single integrated process to produce bioethanol. Total potential ethanol yield from various CRP lands in Oregon, assuming a 10 yr harvesting frequency, was estimated to be 40 x 10(6) 1 of ethanol (28.5-53.7 x 10(6) 1/yr) with current management practices subject to other constraints. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3658399]