Texas is the nation's second-leading agricultural-producing state, and almost all agricultural operations are still run by individuals or families. But with unpredictable weather and economic
uncertainty, our farmers and ranchers are increasingly challenged to make a living from their lands. Biomass could generate a significant percentage of our energy and fuel while
offering rural communities a new economic market.
Texas is rapidly expanding its use of biomass in the production of fuel, electricity and biofuels. Biofuel production typically creates far more local jobs
than other types of energy projects because biomass
fuels are usually produced by local suppliers within
close proximity to the site.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, biomass recently surpassed
hydropower as the largest domestic source of renewable energy, and biomass consumption in
electric utilities is expected to double every 10 years
through 2030, with forest land and agricultural land being the two largest potential biomass sources.
| The Role of Renewable Energy Consumption in the Nation’s Energy Supply, 2004 |
Source: DOE's Energy Information Agency
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Dedicated Energy Crops
Energy crops involve a "closed-loop process" in that they grown specifically for their ability to generate energy. Crops such as switchgrass, hybrid poplars (cottonwoods), hybrid willows and sugarcane are being studied by for their ability to serve as energy crops for fuel. One of their great advantages is that they are short rotation crops; they re-grow after each harvest, allowing multiple harvests without having to re-plant. Corn and sorghum serve a dual purpose as they can be grown for fuel, with the leftover by-products being used for other purposes, including food.
Perennial woody crops (also referred to as short-rotation woody crops) are also
a potential primary biomass resource. Timber is one of Texas' most valuable agricultural commodities, representing 35 percent of East Texas' agricultural income. Harvested forest biomass such as sawdust, bark and wood chips from saw mills
and pulp mills are currently being
used in East Texas to generate steam and electricity
for local use, or occasionally for resale to the grid.
Federal funds have been allocated for research on energy crops of hybrid willow trees and hybrid poplar trees (cottonwoods), which are ideal candidates for cellulosic ethanol processing.
The poplar's extraordinarily rapid growth, and its relatively compact genome size of 480 million nucleotide units (40 times smaller than the genome of pine), are among the many features that led researchers to target poplar as a model crop for biomass energy production.
willow energy crops
Photos courtesy of DOE
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poplar energy crops
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Texas Possibilities
Texas crops that are being considered for development as energy crops for biofuel potential are sorghum, sugarcane, switchgrass, and canola. The National Commission on Energy Policy estimates that by 2025, producing the crops to make biofuels could provide farmers with profits of more than $5 billion per year. Grains and oilseeds are the primary feedstocks used to produce ethanol and biodiesel fuels. Ethanol and biodiesel production offers rural communities the greatest opportunity for economic growth because biorefineries are constructed near the source of the required source of fuel and feedstocks. These biomass resources account for about 25 percent of biomass consumption.
Texas HB 1090: Biomass Power Generation and Revised Renewable Energy Requirements
During its 80th Legislative Session in 2007, the Texas Legislature focused on biomass power production and passed HB 1090, which authorizes $30 million annually for Department of Agriculture grants to farmers, loggers, and diverters who provide qualified agricultural biomass, forest wood waste, urban wood waste, or storm-generated biomass debris to facilities that use biomass to generate electrical energy. The bill provides funding for those who provide waste in the form of:
• Landfill diversions
• Forest wood waste from logging operations
• Storm debris
• Urban wood waste
• Landscape right-of-way trimmings
• Other agricultural organic waste
Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credits
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005)mandates that electricity generated from biomass under the closed loop
biomass system (dedicated energy crop) is eligible to receive 1.9 cents per Kwh credit. For this purpose, "closed-loop biomass" includes any organic material from a plant which is planted exclusively for purposes of being used at a qualified facility to produce
electricity. See Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credits. This summary of EPAct 2005 tax credits for renewable energy generation is provided by Northeast Regional Biomass Program.
Source: USDA ARS
Canola is the edible version of rapeseed, the highest
yielding oil source in the U.S., at 122 gallons
per acre. Soy yields 46 gallons per acre. |
Canola for Biodiesel
Once termed a Cinderella crop, canola, a Texas native plant, is now gaining recognition as a biodiesel fuel, valued for its high oil content, increased lubricity for engines, better fuel pump response, excellent diesel engine wear protection, and low levels of saturated fats which means improved performance in cold climates.
Texas
High Plains
Most U.S. canola production is centered in North
Dakota and Minnesota, but now it is being considered
as a Texas biodiesel energy crop for the Northeast
region and the Texas High Plains region. Several
producers have planted circles of canola in the
Dumas and Dalhart areas in the northwest corner
of the Panhandle. Researchers are currently developing
best practices for planting and growing canola
and new gene enhancement technology is being developed
to increase the yields of canola as well as other
energy crops by more than 20 percent.
Texas
Canola Oil May Soon Burn In Engines Rather Than
Frying Pans
A
Science Daily Article, November 2005. |
Robert Soreng, USDA-NRCS
Milo maize is a small drought-resistant grain sorghum. In Texas milo, as elsewhere, is often added to corn as a feedstock for ethanol production. See Texas ethanol plants. |
Sorghum for Ethanol
Ag is changing. We're no longer about just feed and food. We're about fuel and bioenergy. I think it's caught people in this country by surprise. Jeff Dahlberg, president, National Sorghum Producers.
Farmers on the hot, dry High Plains in the Texas Panhandle and in the Central Texas "corn belt" grow and use grain sorghum, or milo, like midwest corn belt farmers use corn. It grows well in the Pan Handle because it is drought resistant and a "water-sipping" crop, requiring less intensive irrigation. A prolific producer, sorghum is a short rotation crop, meaning that it can can be harvested multiple times throughout the year.
Though used mainly for livestock feed, 15% of sorghum crops goes to ethanol production. Texas A&M Extension agronomist, Juerg Blumenthal, said at a March 2007 renewable fuels conference that sweet sorghum is a promising renewable fuels crop for Texas producers. See these Southwest Farm Press articles:.
Sweet Sorghum: Good Option as Renewable Entergy Crop in Texas March 2007
Texas Sorghum Producers Optimistic About Biofuel Potential August 2007
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Harvesting switchgrass
A Potential Goldmine
Switchgrass, a Texas native plant, contains enormous amounts of sugar that can be refined into ethanol. It can be burned to produce electricity or used as a feedstock for cellulosic ethanol. Many farmers already grow switchgrass, either as forage for livestock or as a ground cover to control erosion, so cultivating it as an energy crop would be an easy switch.
The challenge for scientists is in unlocking the sugars held in switchgrass so that it can be converted into cellulosic ethanol.
Finely ground switchgrass is an excellent feedstock to co-fire with coal in a coal-firing energy facility to displace a small amount of coal used.
DOE has stepped up its research on the role of switchgrass in biomass production, with the goal of promoting its use in producing ethanol and biodiesel at prices competitive with gasoline and diesel.
Resources:
Switchgrass Profile
Biofuels from Switchgrass
Iowa State University Brochure
Next Midwest Energy Source
Switchgrass Saves Carbon
Switchgrass |
Switchgrass for Ethanol & Biodiesel
Switchgrass is highly adaptive. You can grow it from the Rocky Mountains of Canada all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. It was promoted for its wildlife benefits and all of that years ago. Then, when switchgrass was recognized as having the best potential for energy, the focus started to shift. John Sellers, Jr., Iowa farmer
Switchgrass has one of the highest potentials for use as a biofuel crop in the United States, mainly because it grows well under a wide range of conditions.
As a fast growing energy crop, or closed loop biomass, switchgrass yields over 1,000 gallons per acre, more than 3 times the yield of corn. Switchgrass and sorghum are from the same family; both are short term crops and produce prolifically with limited water, insecticides or fertilizer needs. Switchgrass prevents soil erosion as it restores vital organic nutrients to the soil, so that it can be cultivated repeatedly in the same enriched soil.
In his January 28, 2006 State of the Union address, President Bush emphasized that the U.S. must break its addiction to foreign sources of energy and outlined an initiative to make fuel ethanol from renewable energy crops such as switchgrass by 2012.
Texas Governor Rick Perry announced the Texas Bioenergy Strategy, and awarded a $5 million Texas Emerging Technology Fund grant to Texas A&M University for research and biofuel advancements. In a four year project, Texas A&M University and the Chevron Corroboration are partnering on research efforts to find ways to speed up harvesting of cellulose crops and turning them into biofuels. The Governor said that Texas will focus on creating biofuels through cellulosic feedstock such as switchgrass, wood chips and corn stems - rather than from corn crops, which are a staple for the Texas cattle industry.
The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation scientists are stepping up their exploration of best management practices to establish and grow switchgrass as a crop for a cellulosic ethanol. The foundation now has a switchgrass breeding, production and management program. The foundation is also partnering with Ceres, Inc., a plant biotechnology company for the development and commercialization of new biomass crops for ethanol production.
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Source: Rod Santa Ana, A&M
Irrigated sugarcane field
north
of Weslaco, Texas
See this 2006 USDA report on the feasibility of producing ethanol from sugar.
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Sugarcane for Ethanol
Sugarcane is a tropical crop which is processed into raw sugar and molasses. Because alcohol is created by fermenting sugar, sugar crops like sugarcane and sugar beets are the the easiest to convert into alcohol.
According to the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) one acre of sugarcane would yield 665 gallons of ethanol in Texas, corn would yield 370 - 430 gallons, and sorghum would yield about 172 gallons of ethanol.
Texas is the fourth largest sugar cane growing state, with most of it grown in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Because it is more profitable, sugarcane growers are selling their cane to sugar refineries rather than to ethanol distilleries. Still, sugarcane holds out great promise as an ethanol feedstock, exemplified by Brazil's fuel self-sufficiency through its use of sugarcane to produce ethanol as the major fuel source.
Currently there are no U.S. plants producing ethanol from sugar feedstocks, but the Energy Policy Act of 2005 created a $36 million Sugar Cane Ethanol Program to study the production of ethanol from sugar cane in Texas.
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Sugarcane Bagasse for Ethanol
After sugarcane has been processed into sugar or ethanol, the fibrous material that is left over (bagasse) can be used as fuel, eliminating the need to use fuel from outside sources. The cost of ethanol production from sugarcane would decline if the
excess bagasse could also be converted to electricity for sale to the power grid.
Electricity generated from biomass under the closed loop
biomass system (dedicated energy crop) is eligible to receive 1.5 cents per Kwh credit under the 2005 Energy Policy Act of 2005. See Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credits, produced by the Northeast Regional Biomass Program.
In Texas, the Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers is studying the feasibility of using bagasse as a fuel for ethanol distilleries. Because it contains large quantities of cellulose, Bagasse is also being studied by federal, university and private sector researchers for it's potential as a cellulosic ethanol feedstock.
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Biofuel Feedstocks
We’ve looked at the research and we’ve concluded that a diverse, sustainable set of biofuels-technologies will measurably improve our energy security and the health of our environment. Secretary Samuel W. Bodman, DOE 2008
Ethanol Feedstocks
The rapid rise in ethanol production is providing an economic stimulus for U.S. agriculture because corn makes up 90% of the feedstock used to produce ethanol. By 2013 the price of corn is projected to be up about 30 cents per bushel, or 12 percent, and the estimates that net farm income will increase by approximately $1.4 billion (2.3%) over that same period. Grain sorghum, barley, wheat, cheese whey and potatoes are some other feedstocks used. Texas and national corn and sorghum producers have formed coalitions to advance the use of Texas grown grains by the renewable fuels industry.
Corn is most often used to produce ethanol because it is a relatively low-cost source of starch that can easily be converted into sugar, fermented and distilled into ethanol. Because it is less expensive to produce ethanol close to the feedstock source, most ethanol plants are located in the Midwest corn belt. However that is changing. Several Texas ethanol plants are under construction in the Panhandle and Central Texas, and a few are owned by farmer co-ops. Industry experts project that by 2008 Texas ethanol plants will be producing 500 million gallons of ethanol per year. Texas corn and milo producers will be major contributors to these new markets.
Biodiesel Feedstocks
In the United States, most biodiesel is made from soybean oil or recycled cooking oils. Other vegetable oils, such as corn, cottonseed, canola (rape seed), flax, sunflower and peanut also can be used, as can animals fats, depending on their costs and availability.
Although Texas is the country's largest producer of biodiesel and its climate and soil conditions are well suited for growing crops that could eventually end up in biodiesel production, Texas biodiesel producers import much of the feedstocks used in their refineries. In April 2006, the Biodiesel Coalition of Texas (BCOT) appeared before the Texas House Committee on Agriculture and Livestock to discuss the potential
contributions of Texas agriculture to biodiesel feedstocks and to suggest ways that the legislature can encourage Texas biodiesel producers to use Texas agricultural products in their refineries. BCOT members advocate the development of native Texas crops such as cottonseed and sunflower seed oil. Canola, another Texas native plant, is also being considered as a possible biodiesel energy crop for the Panhandle and Northeast Texas.
Currently, Texas A&M University is working with Galveston Bay Biodiesel to develop and commercialize new biodiesel feedstock technologies as options to soybean and canola feedstocks.
Growing Algae for Biofuels
Algae grow rapidly and can have a high percentage of lipids, or oils which conventional petroleum refineries can convert into jet fuel or diesel fuel—a product known as “green diesel.” Algae organisms use energy from the sun to
combine water with carbon dioxide (CO2) to create biomass. They can double their mass several times a day and produce at least 15 times more oil per acre than alternatives such as rapeseed, palms, soybeans, or jatropha. As the slime grows, it makes a kind of vegetable oil, similar to the oil produced from sunflower seeds or soybeans.
Because algae can grow under severe conditions — extremes of
temperature, pH and salinity, algae-growing facilities can be built on arid coastal land unsuitable for conventional agriculture. Key technical challenges include identifying the strains with the highest oil content and growth rates and developing cost-effective growing and harvesting methods.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) research facility laboratory for biofuels research and development. NREL's genetic engineering work has produced algae with a high lipid content that can be used as a source
of biodiesel fuel. In October 2007 NREL and Chevron announced that they have entered into a collaborative research and development agreement to produce biofuels from algae. Under the agreement, Chevron and NREL scientists will collaborate to identify and develop algae strains that can be economically harvested and processed into transportation fuels such as jet fuel. See the NREL press release. Shell is another oil company that is exploring the potential of algae. See the Shell press release.
Texas Algae
El Paso Algae Farm
Like all plants, algae require carbon dioxide, water with nutrients and sunlight for growth. El Paso, with almost unlimited year-round sunshine, is the ideal location for growing a clean, green algae. Valcent Products has commissioned the world's first commercial-scale bioreactor pilot project at its El Paso test facility.
Valcent and Global Green Solutions are collaborating in a joint venture named Vertigro to extract non-polluting biodiesel fuel from algae. Vertigro's algae-growing process uses 10-foot-long water-filled plastic bags suspended in a greenhouse-like setting in the desert to grow the algae.
According to Vertigo, the bioreactor system can be deployed on non-arable land, requires very little water due to its closed circuit process, does not incur significant labor costs and does not employ fossil fuel burning equipment, unlike traditional food/biofuel crops such as soy and palm oil. Vertigro hopes to begin producing enough biodiesel to sell commercially by mid to late 2008. For an excellent, descriptive presentation of the growing of algae, see this Vertigro video.
Texas Algae for Jet Fuel
South Texas will be home to a proposed research and development program to develop algae derived
JP8 jet fuel. The project will be part of PetroSun’s initial commercial algae-to-biofuels facility in Rio
Hondo, Texas. The algae farm is estimated to produce at least 4.4 million gallons of algal oil and 110
million pounds of biomass annually. See this Marketwire article, PetroSun Issues Algae-to-Biofuels Corporate Updates.
A Look Back at the DOE
Aquatic Species Program: Biodiesel from Algae
This U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) report provides a summary of
the research activities carried out from 1980 to 1996, with an emphasis on algae for
biodiesel production.
Additional resources
A 2005 joint study conducted by the Departments of Energy and Agriculture estimates that 1.3 billion tons of biomass feedstock is potentially available in the U.S. for the production of biofuels. This is enough biomass feedstock to displace approximately 30 percent of current gasoline consumption on a sustainable basis. See Feedstock for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry:
The Technical Feasibility of a Billion-Ton Annual Supply.
An Economic Examination of Potential Ethanol Production in
Texas
SECO commissioned this 2003 report by Texas A & M University's Department of Agricultural
Economics to provide a broad overview of ethanol production
and to evaluate its potential as an economic development strategy for rural Texas. Abbreviated version
Outlook for Biomass Ethanol Production and Demand
An in-depth look by DOE's Energy Information Administration.
Bioenergy Feedstock Characteristics
A detailed analysis by DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Phyllis
Phyllis is a database, containing information on the composition of biomass and waste. Phyllis enables you to make analysis data of individual biomass or waste materials available and offers you the possibility to obtain the average composition of any combination of groups and/or subgroups. You can get answers on questions like:
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