Perennial Forages for Biofuel Production in Central and Western North Dakota

Transcription

1 Perennil Forges for Biofuel Production in Centrl nd Western North Dkot Pul E. Nyren,Guojie Wng,nd Bob Ptton, NDSU Centrl Grsslnds Reserch Extension Center, Streeter; Gordon Brdbury, Williston Reserch Extension Center; Eric Eriksmoen, Hettinger Reserch Extension Center; Mrk Hlvorson, North Centrl Reserch Extension Center, Minot; Ezr Aberle, Crrington Reserch Extension Center Biomss hrvest t Centrl Grsslnds REC, Streeter Introduction The Federl Government hs set some very lofty gols for the reduction of use of fossil fuels. The Energy Policy Act of 25 set the following gols: Requires the Secretry of Energy to ensure tht, to the extent economiclly fesible nd techniclly prcticble, the following mounts of the totl electricity consumed by the Federl Government come from renewble energy: Not less thn 3% in fiscl yers 27-29; not less thn 5% in fiscl yers ; nd not less thn 7.5% in fiscl yer 213 nd therefter, while the Energy Policy Act of 27 set new gols for new Federl buildings s follows: Requires new buildings nd mjor renovtions of Federl buildings to reduce fossil fuel consumption reltive to 23 by: 55% by 21, 65% by 215, 8% by 22, % by 23. Whether or not these gols cn be chieved there is no doubt tht renewble energy is here

2 to sty. While in the pst months the cost of fuels hs dropped to more mngeble levels it is beginning to increse gin nd, s the economy strengthens, incresed demnd will likely cuse the price to continue to rise. The use of perennil forges for the production of biofuels is renewble resource tht is very well suited to North Dkot. The stte hs over seven million cres of highly erodible nd sline crop lnd, with some counties in the western prt of the stte hving s high s 9 percent of the crop lnd highly erodible. Perennil energy crops would chieve more long-term sustinbility on these lnds by reducing erosion, dding orgnic mtter, reducing greenhouse gses nd sequestering crbon. Severl publictions hve indicted tht North Dkot would be leding stte in the production of biomss from herbceous crops. In 26 the Centrl Grsslnds REC took the led on reserch tril to evlute perennil forges for biofuel production. The objectives of this tril re to: 1. Determine the biomss yield nd select chemicl composition of perennil herbceous crops. 2. Compre nnul nd biennil hrvest of biomss yield nd mintennce of the stnds. 3. Evlute crbon sequestrtion nd storge of the vrious perennil crops. Tble 1 shows the contributors nd supporters of the project mnged by the North Dkot Nturl Resources Trust. Tble 1. Contributors to the Biofuels project mnged by the North Dkot Nturl Resources Trust. North Dkot Nturl Resources Trust ND Deprtment of Commerce NDSU Agriculturl Experiment Sttion USDA-ARS Northern Gret Plins Reserch Lbortory USDA-Renewble Energy nd Products ND Gme nd Fish Deprtment ND Frmers Union Jmestown/Stutsmn Development Corportion Dkot West RC&D Dkot Pririe RC&D Ducks Unlimited Nturl Resources Conservtion Service Methods Six sets of plots were locted t five sites cross centrl nd western North Dkot. Ech set of plots contins ten species/vrieties of perennil grsses plnted lone nd in combintion in two hrvest tretments (nnul nd biennil). The plots re rndomized nd hve four replictions. In 29 two dditionl sets of plots were seeded t the USDA-ARS Northern Gret Plins Field Lbortory in Mndn nd t the Ducks Unlimited Rnch north of Wing. Also in 29 n dditionl study ws sponsored by Ducks Unlimited to evlute the effect of 1" vs. 3" stubble height on the yield nd longevity of the perennil forges. In ll sets of plots seeded in 29, pririe cordgrss ws substituted for the Bsin nd Alti wildrye plots, s they hd not shown much promise in plots t the other loctions. Pge 2

3 Results nd Discussion Totl Biomss Production Ech yer s dt dds some new understnding of the potentil of these perennil forges for use s biofuel crops. In 21 the totl biomss yields on plots t Minot nd Hettinger improved in production with Dkot switchgrss t Minot yielding over 4 tons/cre (Tble 2). In Hettinger ll plots except two yielded over 2 tons/cre while in 29 none reched 1.75 tons. (The wrm seson grsses, switchgrss nd big bluestem, did not estblish t Hettinger, however. Those plots mostly consist of other grsses.) We gin see the whetgrsses, tll nd intermedite, yielding best t Streeter with Alkr tll whetgrss t 2.91 tons/cre nd intermedite whetgrss t 2.82 tons/cre. While Alkr tll whetgrss yielded highest t Crrington with 4.13 tons/cre it ws not significntly better thn Sunburst switchgrss t 4.4 tons/cre. None of the yields on the drylnd site t Williston (Tble 3) or Hettinger (Tble 2) were significntly different. Switchgrss continues to yield best on the wetter sites such s the Williston irrigted site nd t Minot. In 28 nd gin in 21 the biennil hrvest tretment plots were not hrvested. In 29 these plots were hrvested nd Tble 2 shows the results. The 29 biennil hrvest yields were divided by two to indicte the verge production to dte. The finl column shows the percent difference between the nnul nd biennil hrvests. There seems to be no pttern between loctions or species on the percent of decrese due to biennil hrvest. All tretments hd lower totl yields due to biennil hrvest except Williston irrigted Bsin + Alti wildrye which showed slight.6 percent increse. The biennil plots will be smpled gin in 211 nd perhps some trends will strt to emerge then. The verge nnul hrvest yields supports the conclusion tht whetgrsses re best on drier sites with the long term verge of 1.96 tons/c for CRP mix (whetgrss + legumes) t Hettinger. Intermedite whetgrss yielded best t the Williston drylnd site t 1.12 tons/cre nd t Streeter t 2.96 tons /cre. Switchgrss nd its mixtures yielded highest for the three-yer verge t Crrington, Williston irrigted nd Minot. Weed Control On My 17, 21 the Sunburst switchgrss plots t Streeter were spryed with 2 qt/cre of glyphoste to control quck grss nd brome. The tretment worked well nd the switchgrss responded positively. The key to successful glyphoste tretment is to pply it to the plots just before the wrm seson grsses emerge from their winter dormncy nd the cool seson unwnted grsses re lredy t the 3 to 4 lef stge. If wether conditions re optiml in the spring of 211 we pln to pply this herbicide to ll sites to eliminte unwnted cool seson weeds from the wrm seson plots. A tretment of Milestone ws lso pplied to the Streeter stubble height plots nd the Ducks Unlimited plots to control Cnd thistle. This worked well but these plots nd the ones t the ARS Mndn will need repet tretment next spring. The irrigted plots t Williston, nd the drylnd plots t Minot nd Crrington ll hve good stnds of the seeded species. The plots t Streeter hve good stnds of the seeded species with the exception of the Trilblzer switchgrss nd the Sunburst/Big bluestem plots tht were not spryed with glyphoste this spring. Production In Tbles 2, 3, nd 4 the totl production of the plots is used nd includes species other thn those tht were plnted. During the hrvest we visully estimte the percent of the totl production contributed by the seeded species in the plot. Tble 5 shows this percentge nd the yield of the seeded species in ech plot in 21. If the biomss produced is to be Pge 3

4 burned for its energy then the totl yield is wht is importnt. However, if the product is to be used for ethnol then more pure product my be needed nd the mount of other species in the biofuel crop my decrese its vlue. The need for pure crop for ethnol production could pose problem for producer trying to rise cool seson forges such s whetgrsses. In switchgrss or other wrm seson grss stnds, glyphoste or other chemicls cn be used to control the cool seson weedy grsses. There is no chemicl on the mrket tht cn control cool seson weedy grsses in whetgrss stnds. Mintining pure crop will be n dded expense to the producer. Tble 5 shows tht the drylnd plots t Minot ll hd percent of the seeded species while the irrigted plots t Williston hd nerly pure stnds of the seeded species with the exception of Mgnr bsin wildrye + Mustng Alti wildrye. Generlly the Bsin nd Alti wildrye plots hd poor stnds. These re lrge bunch grsses in their ntive stte nd when seeded tend to hve lrge open res in the stnd tht fill with unwnted plnts. Becuse of this, we substituted pririe cordgrss for the wildryes in the plots seeded in 29. Hettinger hs the most plots with no visible signs of the seeded species, minly the wrm seson species - switchgrss nd big bluestem - nd the wildryes mentioned erlier. The low rinfll t Hettinger mkes it difficult to estblish switchgrss nd big bluestem since these species require more precipittion. Stubble Height Study In 29 two sets of plots were seeded to exmine the effect of hrvesting the perennil biomss crops t two stubble heights. These plots were seeded t the Centrl Grsslnds REC (Streeter) ner the existing biomss production study nd t the Ducks Unlimited Rnch North of Wing, ND. One set of plots ws hrvested t 3" bove the ground nd the other t 1". Tble 6 shows the results of the 21 hrvest of these plots in tons/cre s well s the percent difference between the high nd low stubble height. Among the 3 stubble plots t the Ducks Unlimited site, tll whetgrss yielded highest with 2.97 tons/cre followed closely by Sunburst switchgrss + Tll whetgrss which yielded 2.75 tons/cre. At Streeter the highest yield ws 1.17 tons/cre for the CRP Mix with legumes followed closely by Sunburst switchgrss + Tll whetgrss t 1.14 tons/cre. Neither site hs reched its full production potentil nd we would expect higher yields in 211. The Ducks Unlimited site ws spryed with Milestone in July 21 to control thistle but still hd some residul weed growth nd will be spryed erlier in the seson in 211. Tble 6 lso shows the percent difference between the high nd low stubble height. The hrvest yield difference t the Ducks Unlimited site rnged from 62.7% decrese for the 1" stubble on the Sunburst switchgrss + pririe cordgrss plots to just over 22% for intermedite whetgrss. At Streeter the difference rnged from 74% for tll whetgrss nd 26% for intermedite whetgrss. This difference ws due in prt to the short growth of the plots which should be tller in future yers. While the first yer hs shown significntly lower mount hrvested for the tller stubble height there is no doubt tht the tller stubble height will trp more snow nd provide better nesting hbitt for uplnd birds in the spring of 211. It is lso possible tht the tller hrvest height will be less stressful on the plnts, which my result in higher yields in the coming yers. Pge 4

5 Tble 2. Totl forge production of seeded nd non-seeded species (tons/cre) on non-irrigted nnul nd biennil hrvest systems t ech loction Bolded numbers in ech column show the top producing tretment t ech loction ech yer. Crrington + Mustng Alti Wildrye Totl Annul Totl Biennil bc bcd 3.79 cd 3.35 bcd 3.12 d b 4.86 b 4. bcd 4.57 bc bcd 3.42 de 3.23 e 3.22 e 3.11 e b 4.21 bc 3.99 bcd 3.69 cde de 3.28 de 2.96 de 2.76 e 4.4 b 3.42 bcd 3.95 bc 3.47 bcd 3.35 cde bc 3.47 c 3.18 c 3.42 c 3.8 c 5.36 b b 4.11 bc 4.2 bc Averge Long Term Annul b 3.47 cd 3.43 cd 3.18 d 2.99 d b 4.34 b 3.82 bc 3.87 bc Biennil bc 1.73 c 1.59 c 1.71 c 1.54 c 2.68 b b 2.5 bc 2.1 bc Difference Between Annul nd Biennil s (%) Minot Dkot Switchgrss + Mustng Alti Wildrye b 3.23 b 1.32 c bc 1.63 c 3.57 b 1.68 c Totl 29 biennil hrvest ws divided by two to indicte the verge production to dte. 2 Numbers in the sme column followed by the sme letter re not significntly different (p#.5) Pge 5

6 Tble 2. (Continued) Totl forge production of seeded nd non-seeded species (tons/cre) on non-irrigted nnul nd biennil hrvest systems t ech loction Bolded numbers in ech column show the top producing tretment t ech loction ech yer. Streeter + Mustng Alti Wildrye Totl Annul Totl Biennil b 2.67 b 1.65 cd 2.74 b 1.51 cd.74 de 2.1 bc 1.98 bc 3.9. e b 3.55 bc 2.99 bcd 2.86 cd 2.51 ed 1.63 ef 2.78 cd 2.77 cd f Averge Long Term Annul bc 2.65 bc 2.2 bcd cd 1.81 cd 2.22 bcd 2.1 bcd 2.79 b 1.51 d Biennil b 1.78 bc 1.5 bcd 1.43 cd 1.25 de.82 ef 1.39 cd 1.38 cd f.52.8 Difference Between Annul nd Biennil s (%) Hettinger + Mustng Alti Wildrye Totl 29 biennil hrvest ws divided by two to indicte the verge production to dte. 2 Numbers in the sme column followed by the sme letter re not significntly different (p#.5) Pge 6

7 Tble 3. Totl forge production of seeded nd non-seeded species (tons/cre) on drylnd nd irrigted nnul nd biennil hrvest systems t Williston Reserch Extension Center Bolded numbers in ech column show the top producing species t ech loction ech yer. Totl Annul Totl Biennil Averge Long Term Annul 28-1 Biennil 1 Difference Between Annul nd Biennil s (%) Williston - Drylnd Dkot Switchgrss + Mustng Alti Wildrye b b.78 c.84 bc bc.93 bc.85 bc 1. bc.93 bc Williston - Irrigted Dkot Switchgrss + Mustng Alti Wildrye 3.16 e 3.24 e 2.8 e 4.91 c 3.35 e 3.6 e b 5.87 b 4.27 d bcd 2.8 d 3.48 cd 4.75 b 3.72 bcd 3.31 cd bc def 3.41 cde 2.75 ef 4.25 bc 2.51 f 3.43 cde b 3.95 cd c 4.18 d 3.82 d 5.43 c 3.93 d 6.57 bc 6.96 b 7.9 b bc e 3.15 e 3.1 e 4.64 c 3.19 e 3.27 e b 5.34 b 4.4 d c 2.9 d 1.91 d 2.72 c 1.97 d 3.29 bc 3.48 b 3.55 b bc Totl biennil hrvest ws divided by two to indicte the verge production to dte. 2 Numbers in the sme column followed by the sme letter re not significntly different (p#.5) Pge 7

8 Tble 4. Forge production (tons/cre) on non-irrigted nnul hrvest systems of selected species t two new loctions in 21. Bolded numbers in ech column show the top producing species t ech loction. 21 Ducks Unlimited, Wing, ND Mnifest Intermedite Whetgrss Pririe Cordgrss + Mustng Alti Wildrye 1 21 USDA-ARS Northern Gret Plins Field Sttion, Mndn, ND b1 bc c c bc c c c Mnifest Intermedite Whetgrss Pririe Cordgrss + Mustng Alti Wildrye Numbers in the sme column followed by the sme letter re not significntly different (p#.5) Pge

9 Tble 5. Totl yield (tons/cre), percent of totl yield contributed by the seeded species nd yield of the seeded species t ech site in Totl by Totl by Crrington + Mustng Alti Wildrye Minot de 3.28 de 2.96 de 2.76 e 4.4 b 3.42 bcd 3.95 bc 3.47 bcd 3.35 cde Dkot Switchgrss + Mustng Alti Wildrye Streeter Hettinger + Mustng Alti Wildrye b 2.36 b c bc 1.54 bc bc Numbers in the sme column followed by the sme letter re not significntly different (p#.5) + Mustng Alti Wildrye b 1.48 b c.88 b Pge 9

10 Tble 5 (continued). Totl yield (tons/cre), percent of totl yield contributed by the seeded species nd yield of the seeded species t ech site in Totl by Totl by Williston Drylnd Williston Irrigted Dkot Switchgrss + Mustng Alti Wildrye bc bc bc.2 bc.4 b.6 bc Dkot Switchgrss + Mustng Alti Wildrye 3.23 def 3.41 cde 2.75 ef 4.25 bc 2.51 f 3.43 cde b 3.95 cd de 3.41 de 2.75 ef 4.25 bcd 2.51 ef 1.81 f 5.33 b bc 3.95 cd Ducks Unlimited, Wing, ND USDA-ARS Northern Gret Plins Field Sttion, Mndn, ND Mnifest Intermedite Whetgrss Pririe Cordgrss + Mustng Alti Wildrye 2.13 b 1.44 bc c 1.8 c 1.42 bc.85 c.94 c c b 1.28 b bc.1 c.2 c 1.74 b.6 c Mnifest Intermedite Whetgrss Pririe Cordgrss + Mustng Alti Wildrye 1 Numbers in the sme column followed by the sme letter re not significntly different (p#.5) b c.34 bc c Pge 1

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12 Tble 6. in tons/cre nd percent difference for perennil forges hrvested t two stubble heights in 21. Ducks Unlimited Site t Wing, ND Mnifest Intermedite Whetgrss Pririe Cordgrss + Pririe Cordgrss Low (3 in) Stubble Height 1 bc b bcd d d cd d d Centrl Grsslnds Reserch Extension Center, Streeter, ND High (1 in) b b b b b b b Difference in s Between Stubble Heights (%) Mnifest Intermedite Whetgrss Pririe Cordgrss + Pririe Cordgrss bc bc bc d bcd cd cd b bc Numbers in the sme column followed by the sme letter re not significntly different. Pge 12

13 Anlysis Report: Chemicl nd Het Vlue Chrcteriztion of Perennil Herbceous Biomss Mixtures Prepred by Steve Benson nd Mrgret Lumb, Microbem Technologies, Inc. Submitted to Kren Kreil, North Dkot Nturl Resources Trust; nd Sndr Broekem, Gret River Energy. Microbem Technologies, Inc., completed n nlysis of the chemicl nd het vlue of perennil herbceous biomss mixtures for use in circulting fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) system. Gret River Energy (GRE) is proposing to co-fire biomss with North Dkot lignite in the CFBC system t GRE s Spiritwood Sttion Power Plnt est of Jmestown. Biomss fuel provides renewble fuel source tht is crbon neutrl nd will decrese the crbon footprint of the power plnt by replcing up to ten percent of the lignite used in the CFB boiler. Twenty blends of biomss fuels composed of grsses from two study sites, long with six replicte blends, were submitted to MTI for chrcteriztion. The smples were from two of five study plots (Crrington nd Streeter) tht were within 5-mile rdius of GRE's Spiritwood Sttion Power Plnt. The biomss fuel smples were chrcterized using stndrd ASTM (Americn Society for Testing nd Mterils) bulk nlysis methods for proximte (moisture, sh, voltile mtter, fixed crbon), ultimte (crbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen by difference), sh composition, chlorine, nd heting vlue nlyses. Prtil chemicl frctiontion ws performed to differentite between wter-soluble nd orgniclly-ssocited potssium nd sodium. The smples were received in two sets one set of sixteen (composited into six smples) nd one set of forty-two (composited to produce fourteen smples). The first set of six composite smples ws split into duplicte smples for nlysis. The report includes rnkings of perennil herbceous biomss mixtures for bed gglomertion, sh deposition, nd silicte bsed bonding. The report notes, Experience in co-firing biomss with North Dkot lignite is very limited. Bsed on the known interctions of the components in biomss nd Flkirk lignite, potentil exists for fireside sh deposition nd potentil corrosion problems for some of the biomss mterils chrcterized in this study. In order to begin to quntify nd mnge the sh-relted problems, the following future directions re suggested: 1. Lbortory scle fluid bed combustion testing to: (). Determine the potentil for bed gglomertion nd sh deposition using selected combintions of biomss, lignite nd bed mterils; nd (b). Identify nd test combintions of biomss, lignite, bed mterils, nd bed dditives tht minimize bed gglomertion nd deposition. 2. Develop col, biomss, nd bed mteril specifictions tht cn be used to mnge gglomertion s function of chnging lignite nd biomss composition. The entire report is posted to the CGREC web site t the following ddress: Reprinted by permission of North Dkot Nturl Resources Trust. Pge 13