Sustainable feedstock for bioethanol production: Impact of spatial resolution on the design of a sustainable biomass supply-chain

Mahmoud A Sharara; Kamalakanta Sahoo; Ashwan Daram Reddy; Seungdo Kim; Xuesong Zhang; Bruce Dale; Curtis Dinneen Jones; Roberto Cesar Izaurralde; Troy M Runge

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2020.122896

Sustainable feedstock for bioethanol production: Impact of spatial resolution on the design of a sustainable biomass supply-chain

Bioresour Technol. 2020 Apr:302:122896. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.122896. Epub 2020 Jan 25.

Authors

Mahmoud A Sharara¹, Kamalakanta Sahoo², Ashwan Daram Reddy³, Seungdo Kim⁴, Xuesong Zhang⁵, Bruce Dale⁴, Curtis Dinneen Jones³, Roberto Cesar Izaurralde³, Troy M Runge⁶

Affiliations

¹ Biological and Agricultural Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA; Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and Biological Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
² Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and Biological Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
³ Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
⁴ Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI, USA.
⁵ Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
⁶ Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and Biological Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA. Electronic address: trunge@wisc.edu.

PMID: 32018088
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.122896

Abstract

This study assesses the role of spatial-resolution and spatial-variations in environmental impacts estimation and decision-making for corn-stover harvesting to produce biofuels. Geospatial corn-stover yields and environmental impacts [global warming potential (GWP), eutrophication, and soil-loss] dataset for two study areas in Wisconsin and Michigan were generated through Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model and aggregated at different spatial-resolutions (i.e., 100; 1000; 10,000 ha). For each spatial-resolution, decision-making was accomplished using an optimization routine to minimize different environmental impacts associated with harvesting stover to meet varied biomass demands. The results of the study showed that selective harvesting at higher-resolution (or lower-aggregation level) can result in significantly lower environmental impacts, especially at low stover demand levels. Additionally, the increased spatial resolution had more impact in minimizing the environmental impacts of corn stover harvest under a more variable landscape such as terrains and its influences are more pronounced for soil-loss and eutrophication potential compared to GWP.

Keywords: Biofuel; Environmental impacts; Life cycle assessment; Optimization; Spatial analysis.

MeSH terms

Biofuels*
Biomass
Environment
Soil*
Zea mays

Substances

Biofuels
Soil