West, Robert D. Perlack, Craig C. Brandt, Stan D. Wullschleger, Latha M. Baskaran, Erin G. Wilkerson, Mark E. Downing, and Carla A. Gunderson. Establishment costs of about $200 per acre, or $30 per acre when annualized over 10 years. Transportation is a tradeoff to capital costs. Laser, Mark, Eric Larson, Bruce Dale, Michael Wang, Nathanael Greene and Lee Lynd. The startup loan section (Figure 1.) Fike, R. Ferris, E. Heaton, D.I. When burned, such as in a furnace, Switchgrass produces 7,500 BTU's per pound. Since then, corn ethanol has increased to almost the maximum limit specified by the RFS2, but the cellulosic ethanol mandate is far behind schedule. Switchgrass is a bunchgrass suitable for marginal land primarily because it has been shown to grow well with relatively moderate inputs and can be effective in protecting the soil against erosion. At a minimum, they will have to pay at least its value as livestock feed, which is expected to be about $95 per ton of DM (equivalent to $83 per ton of 15%-moisture hay). ?Currently, there is not an exact figure available on how much it actually costs to produce ethanol from switchgrass because that industry is not really born yet.? But do the economics justify that? In Eastern Canada, heating oil is selling at 50 cents per litre and natural gas prices are continuing to rise. Co-firing in steam boilers, usually with coal. They were also asked for a base bid in dollars per acre plus an incentive payment in dollars per dry ton of switchgrass produced, assuming an average yield of 5.5 tons per acre. Debnath, et al, estimated that these intangible benefits could raise the value of a switchgrass crop by $13 to $46 per ton relative to intangible benefits from no-till wheat. There is no revenue in the first year. 2010. Will switchgrass converted into cellulosic ethanol be price-competitive with corn ethanol? Assuming a farm price of $120/tonne, switchgrass pellets provide the same cost for heating as oil at 25 cents per litre. However, on land that cannot consistently produce at least 60 bushels per acre or so, according to our calculations, switchgrass could be more profitable. The switchgrass price per ton is considered by two life cycle stages: (1) switchgrass cultivation and harvesting and (2) transportation. Owens, V.N., D.R. All switchgrass grown for biomass is likely to be grown under contract with biorefineries because these plants will require a steady supply of large amounts of feedstock.Â, The economics of switchgrass for bioenergy are influenced not only by feedstock prices and production costs, but also by competing uses and products. Pellets for fuel. Increasing land rents will significantly increase production costs because they account for nearly half of all production costs. Given budgeted costs for a pyrolytic biorefinery that produces half gasoline/half diesel, the price of oil must reach the vicinity of $110 per barrel in order to allow a switchgrass-based refinery to pay farm gate prices at or above current production costs. Switchgrass production costs ranged from just over $40 per ton on marginal soils to $34.80 per ton on highly productive soils. Switchgrass records the highest expected yield, lowest cost per ton, and highest expected net return per hectare. This tardiness is due to the fact that massive research and development efforts have so far failed to create tested, industrial-scale technology for the difficult process of turning cellulosic materials into biofuels. Viands, H.S. Regions: 1,2,3,4,5,6. The Market value of Switchgrass Pellet Switchgrass in particular has attracted attention as a fiber source for bio fuel since it will typically result in lower ash content than other fiber sources. It is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12155-008-9005-y. $ 0.27 43 11.74 Fertilizer Application acre $ 4.14 1 4.14 Switchgrass field in NE South Dakota. The height and extensive root system of Switchgrass can cause it to become dominant over time in mixtures with other natives. dry short ton switchgrass price, individual county switchgrass If a plant is located relatively close to biomass feedstock production forecast ranges between 0 and 130 000 with an supplies, then the lowered transportation cost will be average of 26 000 tons per … And without mandates, cellulosic ethanol is unlikely to be competitive with gasoline unless petroleum prices are consistently above $110 per barrel. Â. In these situations, marginal substitution of switchgrass for coal might be cheaper than substitution of other renewable fuels. This estimate is based on: The final production cost per ton depends on average yields. Switchgrass offers additional environmental benefits such as helping to improve water quality and wildlife habitat, helping to reduce carbon emissions through carbon sequestration in the soil, and serving as a replacement for fossil fuel… MISCANMOD: a biophysical model for miscanthus Switchgrass for forage and bioenergy: harvest and nitrogen rate effects on biomass yields and nutrient composition. CenUSA is supported by Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant no. 2011. Perrin said in a news release from the university. *It's not about fancy blends and deer cover mixes! The Upton plant is operated by an affiliate of KL Process Design Group LLC of Rapid City. switchgrass yield is assumed to be 10 tons per year, the stand life as 10 years and the transportation distan ce as 50 miles. For example, given the expenditures above, an average yield of 2 tons per acre would result in a cost above $110 per ton; at 6 tons per acre, the production cost would fall to about $38 per ton. New varieties are being developed that may provide higher yields than our estimate of 3.5 tons of DM. However the RFS2 and the price of petroleum have the greatest potential impact on the economic prospects for growing switchgrass, and these two factors can certainly change the economic balance in favor of switchgrass for bioenergy. This is despite the fact that advanced biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol (derived from crop residues, grasses, and trees) are mandated to exceed the amount of corn ethanol produced. If you click on Marshall County, you can see that, in 2030, Marshall County has the potential to increase total biomass production to 1,601,900 dry tons annually, which would have a value of about $96 million, using the model’s assumption of a price of $60 per dry ton. These plants are expected to produce more than 130 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. There is also an ethanol plant in Upton, Wyo., which produces cellulosic ethanol from wood waste. Eleven bids were received and five were accepted. Conversion Corn Price Price; 1 Bushel ≈ 0,035 m³ Corn Price Per 1 m³ 122.59 USD 1 Bushel ≈ 35,239 Liter Corn Price Per 1 Liter 3. There are other potential markets for switchgrass as an energy crop: Growing switchgrass for biofuel can provide ecosystem services benefits that do not have a direct cash valueâat least in todayâs marketplace. The technology to convert cellulosic materials to ethanol on a commercial scale has been difficult to develop. Profitability Analysis of Cellulosic Energy Crops Compared with Corn.Â, Khanna, Madhu, Atul Jain and Anthony Oliver. A number of cellulosic ethanol plants are in operation, including one in York, Neb., but most are pilot-scale plants. Nitrogen use in switchgrass grown for bioenergy across the USA. Switchgrass pellets are only half the cost of conventional fuels for farmers. There are several pathways for converting cellulosic feedstocks such as switchgrass into bioenergy products, including hydrolysis and fermentation, pyrolysis, and gasification. A comparison across harvest systems indicates that for most of the species, the double harvest system more than doubles the optimum N application. These two prices are only used as examples. 2013. In the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) legislation passed in 2007, Congress escalated mandates for the amounts of biofuels to be used in transportation fuel sold in the U.S. Land was marginal cropland that would have qualified for the Conservation Reserve Program. Still, some studies have attempted to put a dollar figure on these values. 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