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Happs R, Hanes RJ, Bartling AW, Field JL, Harman-Ware AE, Clark RJ, Pendergast TH, Devos KM, Webb EG, Missaoui A, Xu Y, Makaju S, Shrestha V, Mazarei M, Stewart CN, Millwood RJ, Davison BH. Economic and Sustainability Impacts of Yield and Composition Variation in Bioenergy Crops: Switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.). ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING 2024; 12:1897-1910. [PMID: 38333206 PMCID: PMC10848292 DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c05770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
Economically viable production of biobased products and fuels requires high-yielding, high-quality, sustainable process-advantaged crops, developed using bioengineering or advanced breeding approaches. Understanding which crop phenotypic traits have the largest impact on biofuel economics and sustainability outcomes is important for the targeted feedstock crop development. Here, we evaluated biomass yield and cell-wall composition traits across a large natural variant population of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) grown across three common garden sites. Samples from 331 switchgrass genotypes were collected and analyzed for carbohydrate and lignin components. Considering plant survival and biomass after multiple years of growth, we found that 84 of the genotypes analyzed may be suited for commercial production in the southeastern U.S. These genotypes show a range of growth and compositional traits across the population that are apparently independent of each other. We used these data to conduct techno-economic analyses and life cycle assessments evaluating the performance of each switchgrass genotype under a standard cellulosic ethanol process model with pretreatment, added enzymes, and fermentation. We find that switchgrass yield per area is the largest economic driver of the minimum fuel selling price (MSFP), ethanol yield per hectare, global warming potential (GWP), and cumulative energy demand (CED). At any yield, the carbohydrate content is significant but of secondary importance. Water use follows similar trends but has more variability due to an increased dependence on the biorefinery model. Analyses presented here highlight the primary importance of plant yield and the secondary importance of carbohydrate content when selecting a feedstock that is both economical and sustainable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renee
M. Happs
- Renewable
Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Rebecca J. Hanes
- Strategic
Energy Analysis Center, National Renewable
Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Andrew W. Bartling
- Catalytic
Carbon and Transformation Center, National
Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - John L. Field
- Environmental
Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Anne E. Harman-Ware
- Renewable
Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Robin J. Clark
- Environmental
Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Thomas H. Pendergast
- Institute
of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Department
of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of
Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Department
of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Katrien M. Devos
- Institute
of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Department
of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of
Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Department
of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Erin G. Webb
- Environmental
Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Ali Missaoui
- Institute
of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Department
of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of
Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Yaping Xu
- Department
of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Shiva Makaju
- Institute
of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Department
of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of
Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Vivek Shrestha
- Department
of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Mitra Mazarei
- Department
of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Charles Neal Stewart
- Department
of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Reginald J. Millwood
- Department
of Plant Sciences, University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
| | - Brian H. Davison
- Biosciences
Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
- Center
for Bioenergy Innovation, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, United States
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