Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/13
Outputs
Target Audience: Target audiences for this study include all farmers, pellet manufacturers, combustion appliance manufacturers, and the general public primarily in rural areas in the Northeastern and Midwestern USA that require residential or light industrial space heating. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Training Cherney, J.H. 2012. Non-traditional uses of forage crops. Cornell Cooperative Extension Annual In-Service Training. Nov. 14, 2012. Cherney, J.H. 2009. Pros and cons of biomass combustion. Northeast Regional Certified Crop Advisor Annual Training Workshop. Dec. 8, 2009. Waterloo, NY. Professional Development Cherney, J.H. 2012. Herbaceous biomass for heat. Carbon, Energy, and Climate Conference. Sept. 26-28, 2012, Kellogg Biological Station, North Central SARE. Cherney, J.H. 2012. Biomass grasses in the Northeast. North American Alfalfa Improvement Conference and Grass Breeders Conference. July 11, 2012. Ithaca, NY. Cherney, J.H. 2012. Grass biomass as an alternative energy source. New Brunswick Soil and Crop Improvement Association Annual Conference. Mar. 1, 2012. Sussex, New Brunswick, CAN. Cherney, J.H. 2012. Grass composition for combustion. Northeast Biomass Heating Expo. Mar. 21, 2012. Saratoga Springs, NY. Cherney, J.H. 2012. Grass biomass combustion. Northeast Biomass Heating Expo. Mar. 21, 2012. Saratoga Springs, NY. Cherney, J.H. 2011. Grass Bioenergy: Burning Issues. Dale Smith Lecture. Mar. 23, 2011, Madison, WI. Univ. of Wisconsin Dept. of Agronomy. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Topics based on this research were presented and discussed at extension meetings across New York State, as well as in conferences in Michigan, New Hampshire and Canada. The website www.grassbioenergy.org was updated based on results from this project. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective1 Perennial grasses grown as a combustion fuel are a resource-efficient bioenergy strategy that has the potential for environmental and economic stability. Field experiments at several locations in New York State investigated the impacts of soil type, fertility treatments, and harvest management on biomass productivity and composition of warm and cool season grasses. A major concern for biomass combustion is the concentration of problematic elements, such as chlorine, potassium, and nitrogen. Chlorine is particularly objectionable, as it not only facilitates corrosion, but also increases the risk of emitting chlorinated hydrocarbons during combustion. Over four years of treatments and two sites, cool-season grass forage fertilized with dairy manure averaged over 10 g/kg Cl, over 20 g/kg K, and nearly 100 g/kg total ash. Switchgrass fertilized with dairy manure averaged 3 g/kg Cl, 8 g/kg K, and less than 60 g/kg total ash. Dairy manure compost resulted in slightly lower concentrations of all elements, compared to fresh dairy manure. Fertilization with KCl greatly increased Cl content of feedstocks, but not K content. This field research has consistently demonstrated that any chlorine addition to soils, either through commercial fertilizer or organic manure application, can significantly increase the composition of Cl in the biomass. Potassium and nitrogen content of biomass also will be increased with increased fertilization. The research also has shown that grass composition varies greatly due to both fertility and harvest management. Three years of overwintering switchgrass in the field has resulted in variable results due to winter and spring weather, but it appears that this is a feasible method of obtaining grass biomass with favorable composition for combustion. This project is allowing us to develop and fine-tune best management practices for grass combustion. Overwintering grass biomass in the field did result in a feedstock with improved biofuel attributes. Four years of overwintering switchgrass in the field has resulted in variable results due to winter and spring weather, but it appears that this is a feasible method of obtaining grass biomass with favorable composition. Switchgrass mowed and baled in the fall produced the highest DM yields. Overwintering switchgrass in the field resulted in field losses ranging from 15 to 50% of fall yields, over a four year period. Yield losses can be reduced over winter if grass is mowed in the fall and baled in the spring. Field surface terrain, mowing season and baling season weather conditions all impacted both yield and composition of switchgrass. Impacts Switchgrass was more productive than cool-season grasses and was very productive on a sandy soil. Four years of field research have consistently demonstrated that any chlorine addition to soils, either through commercial fertilizer or organic manure application, can significantly increase the composition of Cl, as well as K and N in the biomass. This research also has shown that grass composition varies greatly due to both fertility and harvest management. In a second field experiment, recovery of switchgrass biomass in spring was dependent on severity of the winter, but was strongly impacted by March and April rainfall patterns. Depending on the year, dry biomass suitable for baling occurred as early as mid-March and as late as early May, which accounted for much of the large range in yield recovery over four field seasons.
Publications
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Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Perennial grasses grown as a combustion fuel are a resource-efficient bioenergy strategy that has the potential for environmental and economic stability. Field experiments at several locations in New York State investigated the impacts of soil type, fertility treatments, and harvest management on biomass productivity and composition of warm and cool season grasses. A major concern for biomass combustion is the concentration of problematic elements, such as chlorine, potassium, and nitrogen. Chlorine is particularly objectionable, as it not only facilitates corrosion, but also increases the risk of emitting chlorinated hydrocarbons during combustion. Three years of field research have consistently demonstrated that any chlorine addition to soils, either through commercial fertilizer or organic manure application, can significantly increase the composition of Cl, K and N in the biomass. The research also has shown that grass composition varies greatly due to both fertility and harvest management. Three years of overwintering switchgrass in the field has resulted in variable results due to winter and spring weather, but it appears that this is a feasible method of obtaining grass biomass with favorable composition for combustion. This project is allowing us to develop and fine-tune best management practices for grass combustion. Grass bioenergy issues were presented and discussed at extension meetings in NY, as well as an invited presentation at the NC-SARE Climate conference in Michigan in September, 2012. Work was initiated on revising the grass bioenergy website to include project results. PARTICIPANTS: Grass biomass management studies at the Cornell Willsboro Experimental Farm were conducted in cooperation with M.H. Davis, Q. Ketterings, and D.J.R. Cherney, Cornell Univ. Evaluation of grass production on marginal lands was completed in cooperation with C.Stoof, B. Richards, P. Woodbury, and H. Mayton, Cornell Univ. Grass biomass genomics studies were done in cooperation with D. Costich, E.S. Buckler, and M. Casler, USDA-ARS. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences for this study include all farmers, pellet manufacturers, combustion applicance manufacturers, and the general public primarily in rural areas in the Northeastern and Midwestern USA that require residential or light industrial space heating. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Treatments, including dairy manure and dairy manure compost, were applied in 2009 through 2012 on a well-drained sandy soil and a relatively poorly drained clay soil. Three of the six field replicates were irrigated using a reel-type irrigation system, based on soil moisture sensor readings. Cool-season grasses were harvested twice per season, while switchgrass was harvested once in October each year. Switchgrass was more productive than cool-season grasses and was very productive on a sandy soil. Artificial irrigation did not significantly improve switchgrass yields. Grasses with organic fertilizer treatments accumulated high levels of K and Cl, and Cl is particularly problematic for biomass combustion. Over three years of treatments and two sites, cool-season grass forage fertilized with dairy manure averaged 9.91 g/kg chlorine and switchgrass averaged 3.75 g/kg chlorine. Cool-season grass fertilized with dairy manure compost averaged 7.33 g/kg chlorine, while switchgrass averaged 3.26 g/kg chlorine. Cool-season grass fertilized with N and P averaged 1.92 g/kg chlorine, and switchgrass averaged 1.20 g/kg chlorine. In a second experiment, switchgrass harvest methods were evaluated in two fields on a high elevation marginal soil site for three seasons. Yield loss of overwintered, windrowed grass ranged from 13 to 44% of fall yields, while yield loss of spring-mowed grass ranged from 18 to 48% of fall yields over three seasons. Recovery of biomass in spring was dependent on severity of the winter, but was strongly impacted by March and April rainfall patterns. Depending on the year, dry biomass suitable for baling occurred as early as mid-March and as late as early May, which accounted for much of the large range in yield recovery.
Publications
- Cherney J.H. and Verma V.K. (2012). Grass pellet Quality Index: A tool to evaluate suitability of grass pellets for small scale combustion systems. Applied Energy, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.10.050.
- Lu, F., Lipka, Elshire, R., Glaubitz, R.E., Cherney, J., Casler, M., Buckler, E., Costich, D.E. (2012). Switchgrass genomic diversity, ploidy and evolution: novel insights from a network-based SNP discovery protocol. PLOS Genetics (in press).
- Cherney, J.H. (2012). Non-traditional roles for forage crops. Agronomy Abstracts. Cincinnati, OH.
- Cherney, J.H., Ketterings, Q., Davis, M., Cherney, D.J.R., Paddock, K. (2012). Grass biomass management for bioheat. Agronomy Abstracts, Cincinnati, OH.
- Stoof, C.R., Richards, B., Woodbury, P., Mayton, H., and Cherney, J.H. (2012). Untapped potential: Sustainable bioenergy production from marginal lands in the Northeast US. Agronomy Abstracts, Cincinnati, OH.
- Costich, D., Redmond, P., Lu, F., Casler, M., Cherney, J.H., and Buckler, E.S. (2011). Ploidy variation and reproductive pathways in upland switchgrass. Agronomy Abstracts, San Antonio, TX.
- Lu, F., Lipka, A.E., Elshire, R., Glaubitz, J.C., Cherney, J.H., Casler, M., Buckler, E.S., and Costich, D. (2011). Characterization of the genetic diversity of perennial grasses using genotyping by sequencing. Agronomy Abstracts, San Antonio, TX.
- Lipka, A.E., Lu, F., Gore, M., Paddock, K.M., Lepak, N., Cherney, J.H., Casler, M., Buckler, E.S., and Costich, D. (2011). Genome-wide association studies and genomic selection in perennial grasses. Agronomy Abstracts, San Antonio, TX.
- Lu, F., Lipka, A.E., Elshire, R.J., Glaubitz, J., Cherney, J., Casler, M., Buckler, E.S., and Costich, D. (2012). Characterization of the genetic diversity of switchgrass using genotyping by sequencing. 14-18 Jan. 2012. Plant and Animal Genome XX Conference, San Diego, CA.
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Progress 10/01/10 to 09/30/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Resource-efficient bioenergy strategies are needed to achieve environmental and economic stability for biofuels. The overall goal of this research is to evaluate management factors impacting grass biomass yield and composition. Grass composition varies greatly due to fertility and harvest management, and biomass composition significantly affects combustion. An experiment conducted at the Cornell University Willsboro Research Farm is investigating the impacts of soil type and fertility treatments on biomass productivity and composition of warm-season and cool-season grasses. In a second experiment, harvest management of switchgrass is being evaluated in two fields on a high elevation marginal soil site. The single most negative component of grass biomass for combustion is chlorine content. The addition of chlorine to soils, either from KCl fertilizer or manure or compost, directly and immediately influences the chlorine content of the grass forage. Manure and compost treatments resulted in consistently very high Cl in the biomass, but there does not appear to be an increasing cumulative effect over years, due to the high solubility of Cl. Results of this project show that it is possible to overwinter switchgrass in NY, but standing grass left over winter will be reduced in yield by up to 40%. Yield losses can be reduced over winter if grass is mowed in the fall and baled in the spring. Field surface terrain, mowing season and baling season all impacted both yield and composition of switchgrass. While fresh manure or composted manure can provide an organic source of nutrients for grass biomass, these applications will result in lower biomass quality from a combustion fuel standpoint, compared with commercial fertilizer nitrogen applications. This project is allowing us to develop best management practices for grass combustion bioenergy. Best management practices for productivity and optimum biomass composition must include a combination of fertility management and harvest management. We also demonstrated that high switchgrass yields can be attained with little or no commercial fertilizer application. Grass bioenergy issues were discussed at extension meetings in NY, as well as other Northeastern and Midwestern states. Grass bioenergy factsheets were generated and posted on a website to inform the target audience. PARTICIPANTS: Grass biomass management studies at the Cornell Willsboro Experimental Farm were conducted in cooperation with Dr. M.H. Davis, Cornell Univ. Experiment Station. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences for this study include all farmers, pellet manufacturers, combustion appliance manufacturers, and the general public primarily in rural areas in the Northeastern and Midwestern USA that require residential or light industrial space heating. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Treatments applied in the spring of 2009, 2010, and 2011 on a well-drained sandy soil and a relatively poorly drained clay soil included N, N/P, and N/P/K fertilization, fresh dairy manure application, and composted dairy manure application, with check plots receiving no treatments. Cool-season grasses were harvested twice/season, while switchgrass was harvested once in October each year. Switchgrass yield was highest, and was least affected by treatment, while the manure, compost and check treatments produced lower yields than commercial fertilizer treatments for cool-season grasses. Composition was greatly affected by species and treatment, with fewer differences due to soil type. Manure treatment generally resulted in highest ash, K and Cl, with compost ranking second among treatments for ash, K and Cl. Chlorine, a problematic element for combustion, ranged from 15.0 g/kg in first growth of cool-season grasses with manure, to 1.1 g/kg in switchgrass with N fertilizer applied. While gross energy content was significantly lower in biomass produced from organic vs. inorganic fertilizer sources for cool-season grasses, the range among all treatments did not exceed 5%. There were no differences among treatments for gross energy content of switchgrass. Samples were taken at the time of mowing for this experiment, mowing with delayed baling would significantly reduce concentrations of leachable elements such as K and Cl. Overwintering grass biomass in the field results in a feedstock with improved biofuel characteristics, as long as this is not offset by increased soil contamination of the biomass. Switchgrass harvest management included an October mowing and baling treatment and an October mowing with a windrowed swath overwintered in the field. A spring mowing/baling treatment also was included. Over two seasons, the highest yield was from the Fall mowed-Fall baled treatment at 7700 kg/ha of dry matter. Spring mowed-Spring baled grass averaged 37% lower yielding, and Fall windrowed-Spring baled averaged 32% lower yielding, compared to the Fall mowed-Fall baled yield mean over two seasons. An exceptionally wet spring in 2011 resulted in delayed baling until May. This had no impact on switchgrass left standing overwinter, but reduced yield of Fall-windrowed-Spring baled grass significantly, compared to the previous year. Fall mowed-Fall baled biomass was over 6-fold higher in K content compared to Spring mowed-Spring baled biomass. The gross energy content of switchgrass biomass was unaffected by harvest treatments, but the problematic elements K and Cl were leached out of overwintered biomass. There were no differences in gross energy content among the mowing treatments, but Cl in Spring mowed-Spring baled grass dropped to 0.1 g/kg due to overwinter leaching.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: An experiment was initiated in 2009 and continued in 2010 at the Cornell University Willsboro Research Farm to investigate the impacts of soil type and fertility treatments on biomass productivity and composition of switchgrass, tall fescue and reed canarygrass. Treatments applied in the spring of 2009 and 2010 on a well-drained sandy soil and a relatively poorly drained clay soil included N, N/P, and N/P/K fertilization, fresh dairy manure application, and composted dairy manure application, with check plots receiving no treatments. Cool-season grasses were harvested twice/season, while switchgrass was harvested once in October. Switchgrass yield was highest, and was least affected by treatment, while the manure, compost and check treatments produced lower yields than commercial fertilizer treatments for cool-season grasses. Composition was greatly affected by species and treatment, with fewer differences due to soil type. Manure treatment generally resulted in highest ash, K and Cl, with compost ranking second among treatments for ash, K and Cl. Chlorine, a problematic element for combustion, ranged from 13.6 g/kg in first growth of cool-season grasses with manure, to 0.7 g/kg in switchgrass with or without N fertilizer applied. Manure and compost treatments resulted in consistently very high Cl in the biomass. While gross energy content was significantly lower in biomass produced from organic vs. inorganic fertilizer sources for cool-season grasses, the range among all treatments did not exceed 5%. There were no differences among treatments for gross energy content of switchgrass. In a second experiment, harvest management of switchgrass was evaluated in two fields on a high elevation marginal soil site. Harvest management included an October mowing and baling treatment and an October mowing with a flat swath overwintered in the field. A spring mowing/baling treatment also was included. Spring mowed-Spring baled grass was 38% lower yielding, and Fall windrowed-Spring baled was 32% lower yielding, compared to the Fall mowed-Fall baled yield mean. Composition of both Fall mowed-Spring baled treatments did not differ. In general, the Fall mowed-Fall baled biomass was lower in fiber and lignin, but higher in elemental composition compared to all other treatments. The Spring mowed-Spring baled treatment was in general higher in fiber and lignin, and lower in elemental composition compared to all other treatments. Fall mowed-Fall baled biomass was over 6-fold higher in K content compared to Spring mowed-Spring baled biomass. There were no differences in gross energy content among the mowing treatments, but Cl in Spring mowed-Spring baled grass dropped to 0.1 g/kg due to overwinter leaching. Field surface terrain, mowing season and baling season all impacted both yield and composition of switchgrass. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Resource-efficient bioenergy strategies are needed to achieve environmental and economic stability for biofuels. Our overall goal is to evaluate management factors impacting grass biomass yield and composition. Overwintering grass biomass in the field results in a feedstock with improved biofuel characteristics, as long as this is not offset by increased soil contamination of the biomass. Results of this project show that it is possible to overwinter switchgrass in NY, but standing grass overwinter will be reduced in yield by 40%. Yield losses can be reduced over winter if grass is mowed in the fall and baled in the spring. The gross energy content of switchgrass biomass was unaffected by harvest treatments, but the problematic elements K and Cl were leached out of overwintered biomass. We also demonstrated that high switchgrass yields can be attained with little or no commercial fertilizer applications. While fresh manure or composted manure can provide an organic source of nutrients for grass biomass, these applications will result in lower biomass quality from a combustion fuel standpoint, compared with commercial fertilizer nitrogen applications.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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