ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF MARGINAL LANDS FOR ENERGY CROPS
Open Access
- Author:
- Jiang, Wei
- Graduate Program:
- Forest Resources
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- July 05, 2017
- Committee Members:
- Michael Gregory Jacobson, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Michael Gregory Jacobson, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Marc Eric Mcdill, Committee Member
Armen Ricardo Kemanian, Committee Member
Katherine Yoder Zipp, Outside Member - Keywords:
- Biomass and Bioenergy
Energy Crops
Economic Analysis - Abstract:
- As countries seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector and lessen dependence on petroleum-based fuels, biofuels attract attention as one possible solution. Cellulosic ethanol currently draws attentions due to its potentials to provide significant lifecycle GHG reductions compared to petroleum-based gasoline and may yield a greater energy return on investment compared to grain-based sources. However, large-scale ethanol production based on cellulosic feedstocks, especially based on the dedicated energy crops, does not currently exist on a commercial basis. One of the issues with large-scale perennial energy crop production is increasing land use competition between “food and feed” and “fuel.” A commonly suggested solution is to limit energy crop plantation to marginal lands. However, the concept and the method used to identify marginal lands remain vague and inconsistent across bioenergy-related studies. The subject matter of this dissertation deals with economic analysis for marginal land identification and use. The first essay in this dissertation initiates an overview of marginal lands in the context of energy crop plantation. In it, we proposed a sustainable framework to review and classify studies that discuss marginal lands for perennial energy crops to address the issue of the varied definitions and methods used for marginal land assessment. We found that current studies lack the integration of biophysical and socioeconomic considerations on marginal land analysis. Also, current studies mainly adopt quantitative methods, but lack qualitative methods to assess marginal land. Future work should emphasize the integration of biophysical, socioeconomic, quantitative, and qualitative analyses for marginal land identification and use. The second essay in this dissertation aims to identify marginal lands for energy crop production. We expand the marginal land concept by including economic factors. To define a given area as economically marginal lands, we followed four steps: (1) determine an area geographically suitable for planting energy crops and quantify biophysically marginal land by applying filters on soil and land cover; (2) run a simulation model for both food and energy crops (switchgrass, miscanthus and shrub willow) based on soil, land cover, and climate information obtained from publicly available databases; (3) use the yield records from the model and construct production cost scenarios based on agronomic assumptions; and (4) calculate and compare break-even prices of energy crops and food crops to identify economically marginal lands. We determined that all the selected soils are economically suitable for energy crop plantation because their break-even prices are lower compared to corn. Switchgrass is the best crop choice in the study area, given its lowest break-even price. The third essay in this dissertation aims to assess landowners’ willingness to supply energy crops on marginal lands. We conducted a survey in three states in the northeastern U.S. We found that landowners who own marginal lands are more likely to supply these energy crops and require a lower willingness to accept (WTA) price. However, the overall WTA price is still higher than the price that biofuel producers are likely to offer. This finding reveals the price gap currently existing in the cellulosic biofuel supply chain. Policymakers and private businesses aiming to build up a commercial cellulosic biofuel supply chain should first minimize the gap by either supporting research or technology on these feedstocks to reduce production cost or continuing policies to subsidize the feedstock production directly. We also found that switchgrass is the crop that landowners are most familiar with and likely to adopt, while miscanthus and shrub willow are relatively novel to them. Gaining knowledge about the latter two crops can increase landowners’ likelihood to supply. These findings may be useful for extension specialists to elevate education for miscanthus and willow. Working with local companies might be an effective way. Also, our study found that land use for non-production can compete with energy crop plantation for marginal lands. This finding indicates that emphasizing the ecosystem service benefits generated from planting energy crops may be useful to bring the marginal land into energy crop production.