WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2016 - Argonne National Laboratory
released a study funded
by the Energy Department’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) that examines
the potential
effects of future biofuel production on freshwater resources in the Missouri
River Basin, a region that could play a central role in the production of
cellulosic biomass like switchgrass, a perennial energy crop.
The study identified four areas that could be associated
with increased feedstock production, and demonstrated that increasing the
amount of switchgrass acreage in these hot spots could significantly improve
water quality.
This study utilized the Soil
and Water Assessment Tool, a modeling tool developed by USDA’s
Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, to examine how water quality —
nutrient and sediment loading — and flow would respond to region-specific
increases in feedstock production estimated by BETO’s Billion
Ton Update.
The results can support decision-making at an early stage of
biofuel industry development as a part of enhancing the environmental
sustainability of feedstock production, according to DOE.
Future studies will expand this work by evaluating how best
management practices influence water quality, agriculture production and
feedstock production in an integrated landscape.
This work is a part of BETO’s Strategic Analysis and Sustainability Program,
which is developing the resources, technologies and systems needed to support a
thriving bioenergy industry that protects natural resources and advances environmental,
economic and social benefits.
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