IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v8y2014i1p278-303d44194.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Crop Management Effects on the Energy and Carbon Balances of Maize Stover-Based Ethanol Production

Author

Listed:
  • Prem Woli

    (AgWeatherNet Program, Washington State University, 24106 North Bunn Road, Prosser, WA 99350, USA)

  • Joel Paz

    (Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, Mississippi State University, 130 Creelman Street, Starkville, MS 39762, USA)

Abstract

This study was conducted to identify the crop management options—the combinations of various cultivars, irrigation amounts, planting dates, and soils—that would maximize the energy sustainability and eco-friendliness of maize ( Zea mays L.) stover-based ethanol production systems in the Mississippi Delta. Stover yields simulated with CERES-Maize were used to compute net energy value (NEV) and carbon credit balance (CCB), the indicators of sustainability and eco-friendliness of ethanol production, respectively, for various scenarios. As the results showed, deeper soils with higher water holding capacities had larger NEV and CCB values. Both NEV and CCB had sigmoid relationships with irrigation amount and planting date and could be maximized by planting the crop during the optimum planting window. Stover yield had positive effects on NEV and CCB, whereas travel distance had negative. The influence of stover yield was larger than that of travel distance, indicating that increasing feedstock yields should be emphasized over reducing travel distance. The NEV and CCB values indicated that stover-based ethanol production in the Mississippi Delta is sustainable and environmentally friendly. The study demonstrated that the energy sustainability and eco-friendliness of maize stover-based ethanol production could be increased with alternative crop management options.

Suggested Citation

  • Prem Woli & Joel Paz, 2014. "Crop Management Effects on the Energy and Carbon Balances of Maize Stover-Based Ethanol Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-26, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:8:y:2014:i:1:p:278-303:d:44194
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/8/1/278/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/8/1/278/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Luo, Lin & van der Voet, Ester & Huppes, Gjalt, 2009. "An energy analysis of ethanol from cellulosic feedstock-Corn stover," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(8), pages 2003-2011, October.
    2. O'Neal, Monte R. & Frankenberger, Jane R. & Ess, Daniel R., 2002. "Use of CERES-Maize to study effect of spatial precipitation variability on yield," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 205-225, August.
    3. Wiesenthal, Tobias & Leduc, Guillaume & Christidis, Panayotis & Schade, Burkhard & Pelkmans, Luc & Govaerts, Leen & Georgopoulos, Panagiotis, 2009. "Biofuel support policies in Europe: Lessons learnt for the long way ahead," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 789-800, May.
    4. Tan, Kok Tat & Lee, Keat Teong & Mohamed, Abdul Rahman, 2008. "Role of energy policy in renewable energy accomplishment: The case of second-generation bioethanol," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 3360-3365, September.
    5. Persson, Tomas & Garcia y Garcia, Axel & Paz, Joel & Jones, Jim & Hoogenboom, Gerrit, 2009. "Maize ethanol feedstock production and net energy value as affected by climate variability and crop management practices," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 100(1-3), pages 11-21, April.
    6. Lavigne, Amanda & Powers, Susan E., 2007. "Evaluating fuel ethanol feedstocks from energy policy perspectives: A comparative energy assessment of corn and corn stover," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 5918-5930, November.
    7. Timsina, J. & Humphreys, E., 2006. "Performance of CERES-Rice and CERES-Wheat models in rice-wheat systems: A review," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 90(1-3), pages 5-31, October.
    8. Tina Fawcett & Yael Parag, 2010. "An introduction to personal carbon trading," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(4), pages 329-338, July.
    9. Adam J. Liska & Haishun S. Yang & Virgil R. Bremer & Terry J. Klopfenstein & Daniel T. Walters & Galen E. Erickson & Kenneth G. Cassman, 2009. "Improvements in Life Cycle Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Corn‐Ethanol," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 13(1), pages 58-74, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kadiyala, M.D.M. & Jones, J.W. & Mylavarapu, R.S. & Li, Y.C. & Reddy, M.D., 2015. "Identifying irrigation and nitrogen best management practices for aerobic rice–maize cropping system for semi-arid tropics using CERES-rice and maize models," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 23-32.
    2. Zanxin Wang & Fangyuan Zheng & Shiya Xue, 2019. "The Economic Feasibility of the Valorization of Water Hyacinth for Bioethanol Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-21, February.
    3. Wen, Pei-Ling & Lin, Jin-Xu & Lin, Shih-Mo & Feng, Chun-Chiang & Ko, Fu-Kuang, 2015. "Optimal production of cellulosic ethanol from Taiwan's agricultural waste," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 294-304.
    4. Borrion, Aiduan Li & McManus, Marcelle C. & Hammond, Geoffrey P., 2012. "Environmental life cycle assessment of lignocellulosic conversion to ethanol: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 4638-4650.
    5. González-García, Sara & Moreira, M. Teresa & Feijoo, Gumersindo, 2010. "Comparative environmental performance of lignocellulosic ethanol from different feedstocks," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(7), pages 2077-2085, September.
    6. González-García, Sara & Gasol, Carles M. & Gabarrell, Xavier & Rieradevall, Joan & Moreira, Ma Teresa & Feijoo, Gumersindo, 2010. "Environmental profile of ethanol from poplar biomass as transport fuel in Southern Europe," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 1014-1023.
    7. Blanco, Luisa & Isenhouer, Michelle, 2010. "Powering America: The impact of ethanol production in the Corn Belt states," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 1228-1234, November.
    8. Gupta, Rishabh & Mishra, Ashok, 2019. "Climate change induced impact and uncertainty of rice yield of agro-ecological zones of India," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 1-11.
    9. Curci, Ylenia & Mongeau Ospina, Christian A., 2016. "Investigating biofuels through network analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 60-72.
    10. Baudry, Gino & Delrue, Florian & Legrand, Jack & Pruvost, Jérémy & Vallée, Thomas, 2017. "The challenge of measuring biofuel sustainability: A stakeholder-driven approach applied to the French case," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 933-947.
    11. Wang, Ping & Liu, Chaoqi & Chang, Juan & Yin, Qingqiang & Huang, Weiwei & Liu, Yang & Dang, Xiaowei & Gao, Tianzeng & Lu, Fushan, 2019. "Effect of physicochemical pretreatments plus enzymatic hydrolysis on the composition and morphologic structure of corn straw," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 502-508.
    12. Soam, Shveta & Kapoor, Manali & Kumar, Ravindra & Borjesson, Pal & Gupta, Ravi P. & Tuli, Deepak K., 2016. "Global warming potential and energy analysis of second generation ethanol production from rice straw in India," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 353-364.
    13. Soratana, Kullapa & Harden, Cheyenne L. & Zaimes, George G. & Rasutis, Daina & Antaya, Claire L. & Khanna, Vikas & Landis, Amy E., 2014. "The role of sustainability and life cycle thinking in U.S. biofuels policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 316-326.
    14. Kalim Shah & George Philippidis & Hari Dulal & Gernot Brodnig, 2014. "Developing biofuels industry in small economies: Policy experiences and lessons from the caribbean basin initiative," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 229-253, February.
    15. Goh, Chun Sheng & Lee, Keat Teong, 2010. "A visionary and conceptual macroalgae-based third-generation bioethanol (TGB) biorefinery in Sabah, Malaysia as an underlay for renewable and sustainable development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 842-848, February.
    16. Anshuman Gunawat & Devesh Sharma & Aditya Sharma & Swatantra Kumar Dubey, 2022. "Assessment of climate change impact and potential adaptation measures on wheat yield using the DSSAT model in the semi-arid environment," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 111(2), pages 2077-2096, March.
    17. Charlotte Stead & Zia Wadud & Chris Nash & Hu Li, 2019. "Introduction of Biodiesel to Rail Transport: Lessons from the Road Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, February.
    18. María Blanco & Marcel Adenäuer & Shailesh Shrestha & Arno Becker, 2012. "Methodology to assess EU Biofuel Policies: The CAPRI Approach," JRC Research Reports JRC80037, Joint Research Centre.
    19. Iyabo Adeola Olanrele & Adedoyin I. Lawal & Ezekiel Oseni & Ahmed Oluwatobi Adekunle & Bukola, B. Lawal-Adedoyin & Crystal O. Elleke & Racheal Ojeka-John & Henry Nweke-Love, 2020. "Accessing the Impacts of Contemporary Development in Biofuel on Agriculture, Energy and Domestic Economy: Evidence from Nigeria," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(5), pages 469-478.
    20. Aliyu, Abubakar Sadiq & Dada, Joseph O. & Adam, Ibrahim Khalil, 2015. "Current status and future prospects of renewable energy in Nigeria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 336-346.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:8:y:2014:i:1:p:278-303:d:44194. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.