Journal ArticleDOI
The development of short-rotation willow in the northeastern United States for bioenergy and bioproducts, agroforestry and phytoremediation
Timothy A. Volk,Lawrence P. Abrahamson,Christopher A. Nowak,Lawrence B. Smart,Pradeep J. Tharakan,Edwin H. White +5 more
TLDR
Research on willow (Salix spp.) as a locally produced, renewable feedstock for bioenergy and bioproducts began in New York in the mid-1980s in response to growing concerns about environmental impacts associated with fossil fuels and declining rural economies as discussed by the authors.Abstract:
Research on willow (Salix spp.) as a locally produced, renewable feedstock for bioenergy and bioproducts began in New York in the mid-1980s in response to growing concerns about environmental impacts associated with fossil fuels and declining rural economies. Simultaneous and integrated activities—including research, large-scale demonstrations, outreach and education, and market development—were initiated in the mid-1990s to facilitate the commercialization of willow biomass crops. Despite technological viability and associated environmental and local economic benefits, the high price of willow biomass relative to coal has been a barrier to wide-scale deployment of this system. The cost of willow biomass is currently $ 3.00 GJ - 1 ( $ 57.30 odt - 1 ) compared to $ 1.40 – 1.90 GJ - 1 for coal. Yield improvements from traditional breeding efforts and increases in harvesting efficiency that are currently being realized promise to reduce the price differential. Recent policy changes at the federal level, including the provision to harvest bioenergy crops from Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land and a closed-loop biomass tax credit, and state-level initiatives such as Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) will help to further reduce the difference and foster markets for willow biomass. Years of work on willow biomass crop research and demonstration projects have increased our understanding of the biology, ecophysiology and management of willow biomass crops. Using an adaptive management model, this information has led to the deployment of willow for other applications such as phytoremediation, living snowfences, and riparian buffers across the northeastern US.read more
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ReportDOI
U.S. Billion-ton Update: Biomass Supply for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry
Mark Downing,Laurence Eaton,Robin L. Graham,Matthew Langholtz,Robert D. Perlack,Anthony F Turhollow Jr,Bryce J. Stokes,Craig C. Brandt +7 more
TL;DR: The report, Biomass as feedstock for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry: The Technical Feasibility of a Billion-Ton Annual Supply (generally referred to as the 2005 BTS), was an estimate of “potential” biomass within the contiguous United States based on numerous assumptions about current and future inventory and production capacity, availability, and technology as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bioremediation of Heavy Metals from Soil and Aquatic Environment: An Overview of Principles and Criteria of Fundamental Processes
Ruchita Dixit,Wasiullah,Deepti Malaviya,K. Pandiyan,Udai B. Singh,Asha Sahu,Renu Shukla,Bhanu Pratap Singh,Jai P. Rai,Pawan Sharma,Harshad Lade,Diby Paul +11 more
TL;DR: In this article, a review of the abilities of microorganisms and plants in terms of tolerance and degradation of heavy metals is presented, with special reference to the genomics of heavy metal accumulator plants and the identification of functional genes involved in tolerance and detoxification.
Journal ArticleDOI
Biomass energy and the environmental impacts associated with its production and utilization
TL;DR: In this article, the authors take stock of the various sources of biomass and the possible ways in which it can be utilized for generating energy, and examine the environmental impacts, including impact vis a vis greenhouse gas emissions, of different biomass energy generation-utilization options.
Journal ArticleDOI
Plant-microbe interactions: novel applications for exploitation in multipurpose remediation technologies.
TL;DR: This opinion article highlights three promising approaches that provide environmental and economic benefits of bioremediation: transgenics, low-input 'designer' plants and nanotechnology.
Journal ArticleDOI
Environmental and sustainability factors associated with next-generation biofuels in the U.S.: what do we really know?
TL;DR: The production of next-generation feedstocks in the U.S. (e.g., municipal solid waste, forest residues, dedicated energy crops, microalgae) are expected to fare better than corn-grain or soybean production on most environmental and sustainability factors, although the magnitude of these differences may vary significantly among feedstocks.
References
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Book
Native American Ethnobotany
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an extraordinary compilation of the plants used by North American native people for medicine, food, fiber, dye, and a host of other things, which is the most massive ethnobotanical survey ever undertaken, preserving an enormous store of information for the future.
Posted ContentDOI
The Energy Balance of Corn Ethanol: An Update
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify the factors causing the wide variation in the net energy value (NEV) of corn ethanol and develop a more consistent NEV estimate, which is used in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
Life cycle assessment of a willow bioenergy cropping system
TL;DR: In this article, the environmental performance of willow biomass crop production systems in New York (NY) is analyzed using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology using the base case, which represents current practices in NY, produces 55 units of biomass energy per unit of fossil energy consumed over the biomass crop's 23-year lifetime.
Journal ArticleDOI
Groundwater nitrate dynamics in grass and poplar vegetated riparian buffer strips during the winter
N.E. Haycock,Gilles Pinay +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the potential of winter retention in riparian buffer strips and found that the poplar-vegetated buffer strip was more resilient than the grass buffer strip in the winter months.
Buffer zones: their processes and potential in water protection
TL;DR: Haycock et al. as discussed by the authors reviewed the literature on riparian buffer zones and the factors which limit their effectiveness in various settings, with an emphasis on streams and water quality, and concluded that the knowledge base concerning the water quality buffering effects of riparian zones is far from adequate.