Progress 07/01/09 to 09/30/14
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience included research scientists, extension specialists, industry representatives, teachers, farmers/landowners, graduate students, undergraduate students, high school students, and the general public. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Training was provided for county agents and educators during the BioEnergy Summit. A field tour during the Summit and at field days also allowed for the opportunity for those attending to see and learn more about switchgrass and the different feedstocks that could be grown in South Carolina and their potential end use. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? A website was constructed that has all of the presentations from the BioEnterprise Summit on it. There was also television, newspaper, and popular press coverage of the Summit and my research/education programs as well. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
After 5 years of research, we found that switchgrass can be grown to produce profitable yields of 3 to 9 tons per acre. Many factors were found to influence the yield produced. Harvest time during the growing season had a major impact on yield. Harvesting during the summer resulted in highest yield but also the greatest nutrient removal during the growing season. The response to N fertilizer rate also depended the harvest timing. For a summer harvest, 90 lbs N per acre was optimal, whereas 60 lbs per acre was sufficient for when the switchgrass was harvested in the spring. Although soil type did not affect the response of switchgrass to the different management practices, higher yields were found on the soils with higher organic matter. Yield differences between soil types were smaller than would be expected for other crops. During this time, management effects on biomass yield was studied for corn as well. Data is in the process of being summarized and published. A 2-day BioEnergy Summit was held on September 19-20, 2013 in Florence, SC. Approximately 300 attended over the 2 days. Representatives of several different end users of biomass presented, identifying woody, switchgrass, and sorghum biomass as the biomass most needed in the near future. Algae may also be utilized in the production of aviation fuel. A subcommittee of the SC Biomass Council and SC BESTA programs was formed to address the needs of these future end users. Geographic areas in South Carolina of potential industrial location were discussed. Since the Summit, this group met twice with the economic development association for the region (NESA) for the first time to collaborate on recruiting more bioenterprises to the Pee Dee region of SC. The needs for educational demonstrations were discussed and preliminary plans are in place to establish feedstock demonstrations in the Southwestern part of the I-95 Corridor. The potential to torrify the biomass was discussed as a means to reduce transportation and storage costs for both the domestic and foreign markets. A biomass torrifaction facility is now under initial stages of construction in that part of South Carolina. Research posters, short presentations, and a field tour of research plots made the industry more aware of the bioenergy research experiments being conducted along the I-95 Corridor. Television and newspaper coverage informed the general public of the value of bioenergy and newbioenterprises to the I-95 corridor. During the past year, ongoing discussions have been conducted with a major bioenergy company (Abengoa) who is now finalizing a major research contract with Clemson University.
Publications
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Progress 01/01/13 to 09/30/13
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience included research scientists, extension specialists, industry representatives, teachers, farmers/landowners, graduate students, undergraduate students, high school students, and the general public. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Training was provided for county agents and educators during the BioEnergy Summit. A field tour during the Summit and at field days also allowed for the opportunity for those attending to see and learn more about switchgrass and the different feedstocks that could be grown in South Carolina and their potential end use. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? A website was constructed that has all of the presentations from the BioEnterprise Summit on it. There was also television, newspaper, and popular press coverage of the Summit and my research/education programs as well. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
After 5 years of research, we found that switchgrass can be grown to produce profitable yields of 3 to 9 tons per acre. Many factors were found to influence the yield produced. Harvest time during the growing season had a major impact on yield. Harvesting during the summer resulted in highest yield but also thegreatest nutrient removal during the growing season. The response to N fertilizer rate also depended the harvest timing. For a summer harvest, 90 lbs N per acre was optimal, whereas 60 lbs per acre was sufficient for when the switchgrass was harvested in the spring. Although soil type did not affect the response of switchgrass to the different management practices, higher yields were found on the soils with higher organic matter. Yield differences between soil types were smaller than would be expected for other crops. During this time, management effects on biomass yield was studied for corn as well. Data is in the process ofbeing summarized and published. A 2-day BioEnergy Summit was held on September 19-20, 2013 in Florence, SC. Approximately 300 attended over the 2 days.Representatives of several different end users of biomass presented, identifying woody,switchgrass, andsorghum biomass as the biomass most needed in the near future. Algae may also be utilized in the production of aviation fuel. A subcommittee of the SC Biomass Council and SC BESTA programs was formed to address the needs of these future end users. Geographic areas in South Carolina of potential industrial location were discussed. Since the Summit, this group met twice with the economic development association for the region (NESA) for the first time to collaborate on recruiting more bioenterprises to the Pee Dee region of SC. The needs for educational demonstrations were discussed and preliminary plans are in place to establish feedstock demonstrations in the Southwestern part of the I-95 Corridor. The potential to torrify the biomass was discussed as a means to reduce transportation and storage costs for both the domestic and foreign markets. A biomass torrifaction facility is now under initial stages of construction in that part of South Carolina. Research posters, short presentations, and a field tour of research plots made the industry more aware of the bioenergy research experiments being conducted along the I-95 Corridor. Television and newspaper coverage informed the general public of the value of bioenergy and newbioenterprises to the I-95 corridor.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Distribution of Energy in Corn Plants. 2012. K. Cantrell, J. Novak, J. Frederick, D. Karlen, and D. Watts. National Sun Grant Meeting. Oct 2-5.
Corn Grain, Stover Yield and Nutrient Removal Validations at Regional Partnership Sites. Karlen, Douglas L.*, Stuart J. Birrell, Jane M.F. Johnson, Shannon L. Osborne, Thomas E. Schumacher, Gary E. Varvel, Richard B. Ferguson, Jeff M. Novak, James R. Fredrick, John M. Baker, John A. Lamb, Paul R. Adler, Greg W. Roth, and Emerson D. Nafziger. Bioenergy Research.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Corn Grain, Stover Yield and Nutrient Removal Validations at Regional Partnership Sites. Karlen, Douglas L.*, Stuart J. Birrell, Jane M.F. Johnson, Shannon L. Osborne, Thomas E. Schumacher, Gary E. Varvel, Richard B. Ferguson, Jeff M. Novak, James R. Fredrick, John M. Baker, John A. Lamb, Paul R. Adler, Greg W. Roth, and Emerson D. Nafziger. Bioenergy Research.
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Progress 01/01/12 to 12/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Several research studies were conducted related to developing cropping practices and systems that will optimize the economic and environmental sustainability of switchgrass production on the southeastern Coastal Plain. We examined how production practices affect switchgrass growth and development, chemical composition, pest management, and environmental parameters such as soil quality. Research results were presented at national scientific meetings, in trade magazines, and in newspapers and on television. Energy studies on other biomass crops were initiated, including corn residues,purposely grown trees, and biomass sorghum. PARTICIPANTS: Partnering organizations and agencies in this project include USDA-ARS, USDA-NRCS, SC State University, Francis Marion University, Agri-Tech Producers LLC, Carolina Pacific LLC, SC Energy Office, Honda of SC, Arborgen, several school districts, and Ernst Conservation Seeds. Jeff Novak, USDA-ARS; Keri Cantrell, USDA-ARS, Bruce Fortnum, Clemson. Francis Reay-Jones, Clemson University; Terry Walker, Clemson University; Caye Drapcho, Clemson University. TARGET AUDIENCES: Farmers, general public, bioenergy/biofuel industry. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Switchgrass is now considered the most promising bioenergy crop for South Carolina based on our results related to biomass yield, drought tolerance, and low input requirements. Carolina-Pacific LLC is now using our results to begin contracting with farmers and/or leasing of land for switchgrass production, which will be shipped overseas as a coal replacement. A producer cooperative was established in the state and over 300 acres were planted by the cooperative as test plots. One measure of success was the formation of the SC BioEnergy Science and Technology Alliance, a working group of over 40 scientists from a number of agencies across the state. At $100 per ton for coal and 15.5 million tons used annually in SC, the cost of 10% of the state's coal is $155,000,000. The cost of producing enough switchgrass to replace 10% of the coal would be $92,300,000 (assuming switchgrass has .7 of the energy value of coal,cost $250/acre to produce, and yields 6 tons/acre). Thus a cost savings could be realized to use biomass such as switchgrass. Progress towards biofuels this past year has been slowed by a combination of factors including the recession, federal budget cuts in bioenergy incentive programs, cheap natural gas, and being an election year. However, the industry itself and most of the general public remain optimistic.
Publications
- Rebuilding organic carbon contents in Coastal Plain soils using conservation tillage systems. 2012. J.M. Novak, J.R. Frederick, P.J. Bauer, and D.W. Watts. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 73:622-629.
- P. Bauer, M. Ransom, J. Frederick, and G. Hardee. 2012. Southern Coastal Plain and Atlantic Coast Flatwoods (Chapter 25). In Conservation Tillage Systems: Productivity, Profitability, and Stewardship. (In press).
- Non-invasive Field Measurements of Soil Water Content using a pulsed 14 meV Neutron Generator. 2012. S. Mitra, L. Wielopolski, R. Omonode, J. Novak, J. Frederick, and A.S.K. Chan. Soil and Tillage Research (in press).
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Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: OUTPUTS: Several research studies were conducted related to developing cropping practices and systems that will optimize the economic and environmental sustainability of switchgrass production on the southeastern Coastal Plain. We examined how production practices affect switchgrass growth and development, chemical composition, pest management, and environmental parameters such as soil quality. Research results were presented at national scientific meetings, in trade magazines, at the SC BioEnergy Summit, and in newspapers. Energy studies on other biomass crops were initiated, including corn residues,sweet sorghum, miscanthus, and purposely-grown trees. TARGET AUDIENCES: This project targets producers, private industry, k-12 school students, undergraduate and graduate students, farmers, industry leaders, politicians, and the general public. Focus of the educational activities were on the economic and environmental benefits that biofuels can provide. PARTICIPANTS: This project invovled participation of scientists and educators from Clemson University, SC State University, University of South Carolina, Claflin University, Lander University, Francis Marion University, Florence-Darlington Technical College, ArborGen, Mendel Biotechnologies, Chromatin, and Ernst Conservation Seeds. USDA-ARS, USDA-NRCS, US Forest Service, Savannah River National Lab, Agri-Tech Producers LLC, Carolina Pacific LLC, SC Energy Office, SC Biomass Marketing Cooperative, several school districts. Trainings were held as part of field days and field tours given to different group meetings at the Clemson University Pee Dee REC. TARGET AUDIENCES: farmers, industry leaders, policy makers, fellow researchers, k-12 students, appropriate federal and state agencies, producers, private industry, undergraduate and graduate students, farmers, politicians, and the general public. Focus of the educational activities were on the economic and environmental benefits that biofuels can provide. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Switchgrass is now considered the most promising bioenergy crop for South Carolina based on our results related to biomass yield, drought tolerance, and low input requirements. Carolina-Pacific LLC is now using our results to begin contracting with farmers and/or leasing of land for switchgrass production, which will be shipped overseas as a coal replacement. A producer cooperative was established in the state and over 300 acres were planted by the cooperative as test plots. One measure of success was the high number of individuals (about 300) who attended the SC BioEnergy Summit to learn more about the crop and the formation of the SC Switchgrass Initative, a working group of over 40 scientists from a number of agencies across the state. At $100 per ton for coal and 15.5 million tons used annually in SC, the cost of 10% of the state's coal is $155,000,000. The cost of producing enough switchgrass to replace 10% of the coal would be $92,300,000 (assuming switchgrass has .7 of the energy value of coal,cost $250/acre to produce, and yields 6 tons/acre). Thus a cost savings could be realized to use biomass such as switchgrass. Progress towards biofuels this past year has been slowed by a combination of factors including the recession, federal budget cuts in bioenergy incentive programs, and being an election year. However, the industry itself and most of the general public remain optimistic
Publications
- 1. Bauer, P.J., M. Ransom, J. Frederick, and G. Hardee. Southern Coastal Plain and Atlantic Coast Flatwoods (Chapter 25). 2011. In Conservation Tillage Systems: Productivity, Profitability, and Stewardship. (In press). 2. Sarkar, S., S.A. Miller, and J.R. Frederick. Modeling nitrogen loss from switchgrass agricultural systems. 2011. Biomass and Bioenergy. (In press). 3. Rebuilding organic carbon contents in Coastal Plain soils using conservation tillage systems. 2011. J.M. Novak, J.R. Frederick, P.J. Bauer, and D.W. Watts. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 73:622-629. 4. Non-invasive Field Measurements of Soil Water Content using a pulsed 14 meV Neutron Generator. S. Mitra, L. Wielopolski, R. Omonode, J. Novak, and J. Frederick. Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment (accepted with revision). 5. Chamberlain, J., S. Miller, and J. Frederick. 2011. Using DAYCENT to quantify on-farm GHG emmissions and nitrogen dynamics of land use conversion to nitrogen-managed switchgrass in the southern U.S. Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment (in press).
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Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Several research studies were conducted related to developing cropping practices and systems that will optimize the economic and environmental sustainability of switchgrass production on the southeastern Coastal Plain. We examined how production practices affect switchgrass growth and development, chemical composition, pest management, and environmental parameters such as soil quality. Research results were presented at national scientific meetings, in trade magazines, at the SC BioEnergy Summit, and in newspapers. Energy studies on other biomass crops were initiated, including corn residues and sweet sorghum. PARTICIPANTS: USDA-ARS, USDA-NRCS, SC State University, Francis Marion University, US Forest Service, Savannah River National Lab, Agri-Tech Producers LLC, ArborGen, Carolina Pacific LLC, Mendel Biotechnologies, Ceres, SC Energy Office, SC Biomass Marketing Cooperative, Honda of SC, Arborgen, several school districts, and Ernst Conservation Seeds. Trainings were held as part of field days and field tours given to different group meetings at the Clemson University Pee Dee REC. TARGET AUDIENCES: This project targets producers, private industry, k-12 school students, undergraduate and graduate students, farmers, industry leaders, politicians, and the general public. Focus of the educational activities were on the economic and environmental benefits that biofuels can provide. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Switchgrass is now considered the most promising bioenergy crop for South Carolina based on our results related to biomass yield, drought tolerance, and low input requirements. Carolina-Pacific LLC is now using our results to begin contracting with farmers for switchgrass production, which will be shipped overseas as a coal replacement. A producer cooperative was established in the state and over 300 acres were planted by the cooperative as test plots. One measure of success was the high number of individuals (about 300) who attended the SC BioEnergy Summit to learn more about the crop and the formation of the SC Switchgrass Initative, a working group of over 45 scientists from a number of agencies across the state. At $100 per ton for coal and 15.5 million tons used annually in SC, the cost of 10% of the state's coal is $155,000,000. The cost of producing enough switchgrass to replace 10% of the coal would be $92,300,000 (assuming switchgrass has .7 of the energy value of coal,cost $250/acre to produce, and yields 6 tons/acre). This would result in a profit of about $250 per acre even without the aid of government programs like BCAP and does not include the environmental benefits.
Publications
- Novak, J.M., J.R. Frederick, P.J. Bauer, D. W. Watts. Rebuilding organic carbon contents in Coastal Plain soils using conservation tillage systems. 2010. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 73:622-629.
- Cantrell, K.B., J.M. Novak, J.R. Frederick, D.L. Karlen, and D.W. Watts. Distribution of energy in corn plants. Abstracts of 2010 Annual Meeting of American Society of Agronomy.
- Vandenbrink, J.P., M.P. Delgado, J.R. Frederick, and F.A. Feltus. A sorghum diversity panel biofuel feedstock screen for genotypes with high hydrolysis yield potential. 2010. Industrial Crops and Products.
- Sarkar, S., S.A. Miller, and J.R. Frederick. Modeling nitrogen loss from switchgrass agricultural systems. 2011. Biomass and Bioenergy. In review.
- Holguin, C.M., F.P.F. Reay-Jones, J.R. Frederick, T.J. Savereno and B.A. Fortnum. 2010. Insect composition of a switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) monoculture in South Carolina. Annual Meeting of the South Carolina Entomological Society, Columbia, SC, October 8-9.
- Bauer, P.J., M. Ransom, J. Frederick, and G. Hardee. Southern Coastal Plain and Atlantic Coast Flatwoods (Chapter 25). 2011. In Conservation Tillage Systems: Productivity, Profitability, and Stewardship. In press.
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Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Several research studies were conducted related to developing cropping practices and systems that will optimize the economic and environmental sustainability of switchgrass production on the southeastern Coastal Plain. We examine how production practices affect switchgrass growth and development, chemical composition, pest management, and environmental parameters such as soil quality. Research results were presented at national scientific meetings, in trade magazine, at the SC BioEnergy Summit, and in newspapers. Energy studies on other biomass crops were initiated, including corn residues and sweet sorghum. PARTICIPANTS: Partnering organizations and agencies in this project include USDA-ARS, USDA-NRCS, SC State University, Francis Marion University, Savannah River National Lab, Agri-Tech Producers LLC, Carolina Pacific LLC, SC Energy Office, SC Biomass Marketing Cooperative, Honda of SC, Arborgen, several school districts, and Ernst Conservation Seeds. TARGET AUDIENCES: This projects targets producers, private industry, k - 12 school students, undergraduate and graduate students, and the general public. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Switchgrass is now considered the most promising bioenergy crop for South Carolina based on our results related to biomass yield, drought tolerance, and low input requirements. Carolina-Pacific LLC is now using our results to begin contracting with farmers for switchgrass production, which will be shipped overseas as a coal replacement. A producer cooperative was established in the State and over 300 acres were planted by the coop as test plots. One measure of success was the high number of individuals who attended the SC BioEnergy Summit to learn more about the crop and the formation of the SC Switchgrass Initative, a working group of over 45 scientists from a number of agencies across the state. To replace 10% of the coal used in the State to generate electricity, over 600,000 acres would be needed. This will make it the biggest crop in the State
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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