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Ethanol from Biomass: Economic and Environmental Potential of Converting Corn Stover and Hardwood Forest Residue in Minnesota

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  • Petrolia, Daniel R.

Abstract

Research was undertaken to determine the economic feasibility and environmental impact of harvesting corn stover and hardwood forest residue in Minnesota and surrounding states for conversion to fuel ethanol at facilities located in Minnesota. It was estimated that only 7 of the total 41 million dry tons of corn stover produced and 3 of the 6.5 million dry tons of hardwood residue produced in the study region would likely be harvested each year. From these quantities, it would be physically feasible to produce about 874 million gallons of ethanol annually. It was estimated that 200 million gallons could be harvested at a delivered feedstock cost below $40 per ton. Results indicate further that ethanol derived from corn stover would be cost competitive with corn-grain ethanol, and that hardwood residue-derived ethanol would be about $0.16 per-gallon higher than the upper-bound cost for corn-grain ethanol. Furthermore, this work indicates that large-scale substitution of petroleum gasoline with biomass-derived ethanol would have huge impacts with respect to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, although SOx emissions would increase.

Suggested Citation

  • Petrolia, Daniel R., 2006. "Ethanol from Biomass: Economic and Environmental Potential of Converting Corn Stover and Hardwood Forest Residue in Minnesota," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21422, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea06:21422
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.21422
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Petrolia, Daniel R., 2006. "The Economics of Harvesting and Transporting Hardwood Forest Residue for Conversion to Fuel Ethanol: A Case Study for Minnesota," Staff Papers 14020, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    2. Petrolia, Daniel R., 2006. "The Economics of Harvesting and Transporting Corn Stover for Conversion to Fuel Ethanol: A Case Study for Minnesota," Staff Papers 14213, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    3. Perlack, R.D. & Turhollow, A.F., 2003. "Feedstock cost analysis of corn stover residues for further processing," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 28(14), pages 1395-1403.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Carriquiry, Miguel A. & Du, Xiaodong & Timilsina, Govinda R., 2011. "Second generation biofuels: Economics and policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 4222-4234, July.
    3. Yongxi (Eric) Huang & Yueyue Fan & Chien-Wei Chen, 2014. "An Integrated Biofuel Supply Chain to Cope with Feedstock Seasonality and Uncertainty," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(4), pages 540-554, November.
    4. Popp, Michael P. & Hogan, Robert J., Jr., 2007. "Assessment of two alternative switchgrass harvest and transport methods," Biofuels, Food and Feed Tradeoffs Conference, April 12-13, 2007, St, Louis, Missouri 48774, Farm Foundation.
    5. Pratt, Michelle R. & Tyner, Wallace E. & Muth, David J. & Kladivko, Eileen J., 2014. "Synergies between cover crops and corn stover removal," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 67-76.
    6. Popp, Michael P. & Hogan Jr., Robert J., 2007. "Switchgrass Harvest and Transport Comparison of Conventional Roundbaling and Hypothetical Moduling," Biofuels, Food and Feed Tradeoffs Conference, April 12-13, 2007, St, Louis, Missouri 313704, Farm Foundation.

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