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The transportation fuel dilemma facing the United States goes far beyond its love affair with the car: the American economy was built upon fuel dependence, and entirely depends on its stability. With progressively finite fuel sources, often supplied by regimes unfriendly to our national interests, we are staring down the barrel of an inevitable fuel crisis. The search for energy security coupled with environmental concerns surrounding petroleum-based fuels (and even electric-power cars, which are primarily coal-driven) opens a wide door of opportunity for biofuels and their domestic production. Biofuels hold significant promise as a renewable energy resource while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing American economic development.

Feedstock, Feedstock, Feedstock

Biofuels production technology will evolve and emerge, but the critical component to launching a significant, sustainable biofuels industry in the United States is large-scale availability of cost-effective feedstocks. Furthermore, the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requires the development of lignocellulosic biofuels, i.e., biofuels produced from non-food resources. The most plentiful and sustainable feedstock opportunity in the Southeast is woody biomass –— a promising feedstock because:

* Paper markets are struggling

* Construction markets have tailed off

* Forest resources are abundant and expanding 

Biofuels production based on woody biomass in the southeastern United States — where farmers, foresters, and rural communities are struggling to gain traction in the 21st century economy — is a “win-win” for the region and the American economy.

Using North Carolina as an example of how new advanced biofuels will boost the economy, it is apparent that the tobacco industry is not the economic mainstay it once was, and the formerly-flourishing textile and furniture industries fled the state in the early 2000s seeking lower-wage markets overseas. But North Carolina possesses more than 17.6 million acres of forest land, much of it privately owned and managed — and these owners actively engage in the procurement, harvesting, and transportation of woody biomass. Also, the state continues to build greater standing inventory of woody biomass growing stock. At the peak of timber demand for the construction and housing markets in 2006, nearly 45 million tons of wood were harvested in North Carolina for all markets, according to U.S. Forest Service 2006 FIA data. Despite this peak demand, North Carolina further increased its standing inventory in 2006 and grew nearly 54 million tons of timber — 20 percent more than was harvested. Since 2006, demand for forest products from the major market segments has declined in North Carolina while supply has increased, creating an opportunity for biofuels development.

Elsewhere in the Southeast, similar opportunities present themselves. New forest management practices will improve not only the economics, but also the environmental impact of woody biomass used for biofuels. These forest management practices will include high-density planting, intercropping, short rotation stands and other practices that will increase the biomass volume grown on each acre. By increasing the volume per acre, less land is required to sustainably produce the timber needed for the cellulosic biofuels industry.

Why Wood?

(See Biomass to Biofuels graphic in the digital edition on page 42.)

Woody biomass offers a number of advantages as a feedstock. The logistics of logging and transportation are well-known, inventory is closely tracked, and unlike most other feedstocks, wood does not need to be stored after harvesting — instead it can be harvested at the time when it is needed. Until then, it “stores” itself, and while doing so, keeps adding to its mass. Also worth noting, large paper mills like those in Georgia have demonstrated for more than a century that forest resources can be harvested in a sustainable fashion as they would have been out of business decades ago if not for renewable practices. This sustainability can be emulated by the biofuels industry.

Wood, however, does have its drawbacks. Of all cellulosic feedstocks it is quite probably the single most difficult to convert using fermentation into bioethanol. Trees have evolved during the centuries to withstand storms and weather; but the biology that helps them survive makes them harder to process cost-effectively using biochemical processes. Different species of trees also require different enzyme cocktails to break down and ferment into fuel alcohol. The separation of trees into hardwoods and softwoods, and possibly even further by species, adds significantly to cost. Fortunately, fermentation into fuel alcohols is not the only conversion technology being pursued.

Thermochemical conversion technologies may hold the key to unlocking the potential of woody biomass. These processes treat the wood as a hydrocarbon source, regardless of whether it is hard or softwood, Pine or Sweetgum, branch or stump. Thermochemical conversion technologies gasify the wood, and then catalysts turn that stream into synthetic gasoline or diesel. In effect, the hydrocarbon molecule in wood is cracked in similar fashion to fossil fuels at an oil refinery. This approach also has the potential of turning co-products into additional value streams such as bioplastics and other renewable commodities.

New Energy Crops

Although woody biomass offers the most viable opportunity for biofuels in the Southeast, other crops are under consideration to augment biofuels production in the region (see diagram). Biofuels production facilities are built close to their feedstocks (to reduce transportation costs) because industry is feedstock-dependent, which has both advantages and challenges.

One significant advantage in the Southeast is a long growing season: whereas other regions typically only have one crop cycle, southeastern states often have two or even three crop rotations. Another key advantage in the Southeast is the ability to grow an array of potential biofuels crops, thanks to varied soils and climatology. New energy crops like tropical sugar beets, giant grasses, and camelina are being researched by a number of agencies in several states. But having the ability to grow many different feedstock varieties is a double-edged sword. More feedstocks may mean more opportunity, but it also means more conversion technologies must be developed.

Land efficiency practices will be essential to industry success in the Southeast, as the region does not have the extensive row crop land of the Midwest. But consider this: ethanol plants in the Midwest require 100,000 acres of corn on average for viable production; it is projected that biofuels plants in the Southeast would require about 50,000 acres of energy grasses for comparable production, and even fewer acres of wood. Production facilities are almost always built close to their feedstock sources to reduce the transportation costs necessary to move massive amounts of biomass. Other considerations are access to road, rail, and petroleum distribution hubs. Feedstocks account for 80 percent of the costs of biofuels production, but conversely, feedstocks account for most of the regional economic development opportunities.  

State governments are paying attention and looking for ways to support a budding biofuels sector. Apart from strategic fuel security and environmental benefits, the biofuels value chain has significant implications for states' local revenues, and technology jobs are effective employment multipliers. They know it will have a major positive impact for rural economic development, and the Southeast is plentiful in economically distressed rural communities. The biofuels value chain is a decentralized “jobs engine.” Because biofuels production facilities must be close to their feedstock foundations, and these feedstocks are grown in rural, agricultural communities, biofuels create opportunities in these local, rural economies rather than overseas.

As the biofuels sector expands in the Southeast, it will spur societal outcomes and societal change. Biofuels will help rural development; preserve farms; create opportunities for the best and brightest in small towns so they can stay close to home rather than leave for the cities; and, biofuels provide a strategic commodity for Americans to stay on the road — guilt-free.

The Biofuels Center of North Carolina is located in Oxford. The state-funded nonprofit is based on North Carolina's Biofuels Campus, a nationally unique 420-acre facility where feedstocks and technology merge in a comprehensive approach to biofuels acceleration. The center is tasked with creating a biofuels sector to meet the state's goal that by 2017, 10 percent of liquid fuels sold in the state will come from biofuels grown and produced within the state. For more information visit www.biofuelscenter.org.