In a nutshell: Using corn stalks, leaves, and cobs to make ethanol is leading to increased carbon dioxide emissions in fields due to loss of natural ground cover and fertilization.

The findings by a University of Nebraska-Lincoln team of researchers cast doubt on whether corn residue can be used to meet federal mandates to ramp up ethanol production and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Corn stover – the stalks, leaves and cobs in cornfields after harvest – has been considered a ready resource for cellulosic ethanol production. The U.S. Department of Energy has provided more than $1 billion in federal funds to support research to develop cellulosic biofuels, including ethanol made from corn stover. While the cellulosic biofuel production process has yet to be extensively commercialized, several private companies are developing specialized biorefineries capable of converting tough corn fibers into fuel.

The researchers, led by assistant professor Adam Liska, used a supercomputer model at UNL’s Holland Computing Center to estimate the effect of residue removal on 128 million acres across 12 Corn Belt states. The team found that removing crop residue from cornfields generates an additional 50 to 70 grams of carbon dioxide per megajoule of biofuel energy produced (a joule is a measure of energy and is roughly equivalent to 1 BTU). Total annual production emissions, averaged over five years, would equal about 100 grams of carbon dioxide per megajoule – which is 7 percent greater than gasoline emissions and 62 grams above the 60 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions as required by the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act.

Importantly, they found the rate of carbon emissions is constant whether a small amount of stover is removed or nearly all of it is stripped.

“If less residue is removed, there is less decrease in soil carbon, but it results in a smaller biofuel energy yield,” Liska said.

Continued on Teatro Naturale International

Broken Links

If any of the links above do not work, copy the URL and paste it into the form below to check the Wayback Machine for an archived version of that webpage.

Sharing is Caring

Support ClimateViewer

Donate on PayPal
Support ClimateViewer
Donate on GoFundMe

Reuse License

Creative Commons LicenseBiofuels could not help climate change by Jim Lee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Based on a work at climateviewer.com/. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at climateviewer.com/terms.

You are free to:

  • • Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
  • • Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
Under the following terms:
  • • Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
  • • NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
  • • ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.

Comments


Cloud ionization and signal generating antennas to steer weather and atmospheric rivers, clean the air of pollution, and make it rain! ... Continue reading


What do these have in common? CONTROL. Find out the truth about the CLIMATE CHANGERS, national sovereignty, and one world government of a borderless world. ... Continue reading

ClimateViewer TV

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE“Jim Lee ClimateViewer” on YouTube

Jim Lee speaking at the US. EPA hearing on flight pollution
Geoengineering
Pollution
Privacy
Propaganda
HAARP
#CirrusCloudsMatter
Nuclear
Electrosmog