DRAFT
Conservation
Issue Brief
Resource Effects of
Biomass Energy
Production
Date: April 2006
Number:
Key Points:
• Biomass has the potential to
help meet US energy needs
but there are potential
environmental trade-offs
• What, where and how
biomass is grown will
determine it’s
environmental impact
• Crop residues provide
ecosystem services; their
harvest could increase
erosion and decrease soil
organic matter.
• Switchgrass and other
herbaceous perennial crops
provide better wildlife
habitat than annual crops
• Perennial biomass crops
have erosion problems in
their first year(s) but, with
additional conservation
measures, any negative
impacts could be mitigated.
• Guidelines for biomass
harvest are needed.
Contacts:
Dr. Susan Andrews
susan.andrews@gnb.usda.gov
Dr. Stefanie Aschmann
stefanie.aschmann@por.usda.gov
Issue
Concerns about the security and sustainability of fossil fuel use are
important drivers in the search for cleaner burning fuels that can be
produced from renewable agricultural enterprises. Recent advances
in biomass conversion technologies have increased interest in
biomass feedstocks to produce fuels and electricity to partially meet
US energy needs (Glassner et al., 1999). At present, biomass energy
provides only about 4% of the total energy used in the US. By
contrast, fossil fuels accounted for approximately 80% of US energy
use in 2005.
Renewable energy from biomass has the potential to reduce
dependency on fossil fuels. In the next few years, significant
improvements in biomass fermentation are expected. Recent
advances in fermentation technology allow cellulose and lignin (the
primary components of plant stems, stalks and woody material) to be
pretreated with specific enzymes for conversion to ethanol. Once
technology is in place to produce ethanol from cellulosic materials,
such as crop residues, switchgrass, or short-rotation tree species, it
may be more efficient and cleaner feedstock than grain ethanol
(Table 1). Pre