Des Moines Register
08-28-06
Doak: Byproduct of biofuels production? Big changes
By RICHARD DOAK
REGISTER COLUMNIST
Ethanol didn't seem like such a big deal in the beginning. It was just a simple way
to create a new market for corn and raise the price by a few cents per bushel.
Now it's becoming anything but simple. The unanticipated effects of producing
vastly more ethanol and other biofuels could be profound.
With the arrival of the so-called bioeconomy, Iowans might see the biggest
shakeup in agriculture since the invention of the tractor and hybrid corn. At the
least, there will be shifts in agricultural production, in tillage practices and
technology, for better or worse.
Iowa State University economist David Swenson pointed out some of the
possibilities in a recent paper that suggested the predictions of economic gain
from ethanol might have been overstated, and the potential side effects
overlooked.
Impacts on livestock
For instance, the hog and poultry industries in Iowa depend on corn as feed.
What happens to those industries if the price of corn soars due to increased
demand for ethanol?
As for the cattle industry, it could benefit, because a byproduct of ethanol
production is distillers grain, which is a good cattle feed. If a boost in ethanol
production brings a glut of distillers grain, Iowa could see big growth in cattle
feeding.
But, asks Swenson, "If cattle are attracted, will hogs be shunted out? Will there
be a reconfiguration in animal-feeding operations in the state?
"Can the land take all that much manure? Will ethanol plants organize
horizontally to include cattle feeding and reduce the viabilities of small and
medium cattle-feeder operations? Will hog production move, change, shift or
reconfigure?"
There is the possibility of problems from environmentally sensitive land being put
back into production to meet demand for ethanol. Then, too, Iowa has an
extensive network of grain elevators, handlers and shippers set up to transport
grain to the Mississippi River and onward for export. What happens to the
livelihoods of people working in that network if all the grain stays in Iowa to be
made into ethanol?
The answers to those questions will reveal themselves soon if production of
ethanol keeps expanding at the present rate. Longer term, the changes will be
even bigger.
Higher crop yields
The U.S. departments of agriculture and energy earlier this year completed a
study designed to determine whether the United States has enough agricultural
and timber resources to produce more than 1 billion dry tons of biomass each
year. The study assumes that it will become feasible to convert cellulose into
ethanol, so that corn will be supplemented by grasses, wood and other plant
material as the feedstock for ethanol.
The answer was yes. The study concluded that, without reducing food supplies,
America can produce more than a billion tons of biomass and replace 30 percent
of petroleum with biofuels by 2030.
Reaching the goal would require a number of changes in farming. They include:
• A 50 percent increase in yields of corn, wheat and other grains.
• Harvesting technology capable of recovering 75 percent of crop residues such
as corn stover and wheat straw.
• Use of no-till farming on all cropland.
• Conversion of 55 million acres of conservation reserve land and pasture to the
production of perennial plants such as switchgrass or poplar trees. That's an area
greater than the entire state of Iowa.
• Using all manure for energy production, except that needed as fertilizer.
Similar measures were seen as necessary in forestry, such as recapturing all
construction waste so it can be processed into biofuel.
Diet change possible
Perennials such as switchgrass could become a boon to Iowa farming — cash
crops to add to the paycheck from corn and soybeans. Moreover, switchgrass
can be grown on rough terrain that is unsuitable for row crops.
Perennials also can act as water filters. If switchgrass is strategically planted to
capture the runoff from row crops, Iowa's water quality could be vastly improved.
On the other hand, removing crop residues to be used in biofuel production
would have to be carefully calibrated to avoid robbing the soil of organic material.
Such changes might even affect the American diet. If the byproducts of ethanol
production are channeled into replacing petrochemicals, instead of into cattle
feed, Americans might have to cut their consumption of meat, all the more so if
pasture is converted to switchgrass for energy production.
Converting all available manure into energy could spur structural changes in
livestock production. The economies of scale for making fuel from manure would
work best with large confinement operations. Advocates who promote biofuels as
a means of saving the family farm might see just the opposite happen. Biofuels
production might be best suited for big agribusiness.
Federal farm policies and subsidies would have to change, too, to promote
growing energy crops rather than row crops.
Key need: Research
What's striking about the list of changes needed to achieve 30 percent biofuel
production is the number of scientific and engineering innovations that will be
needed at every step along the way.
• Chemical engineers will have to find an economical way to break down
cellulose into its component sugars and develop technology to replace
petrochemicals with biochemicals.
• Industrial engineers will have to develop more efficient processes for making
ethanol or other biofuels, and to invent complete biorefineries.
• Mechanical engineers will have to develop machines capable of harvesting both
grain and crop residue in one pass.
• Someone will have to figure out the logistics of transporting and storing huge,
bulky amounts of biomass after it's been harvested.
• Crop scientists will have to improve yields of grains. They'll have to find the best
varieties of switchgrass and other perennials and discover the best methods of
cultivation. One wrinkle that Iowa State University researchers are testing: the
use of double cropping, planting perennials and row crops together. Other
researchers are experimenting with crops new to the Midwest, such as kenaf, a
fibrous crop native to the East Indies.
• Soil scientists will have to come up with standards for the removal of crop
residues without depleting the soil.
• That's just for starters. The technological advances needed before we reach a
full-fledged bioeconomy are daunting.
Which brings us to a point the Register has been harping on in recent editorials:
Research is the key if Iowa wants to be at the center of the biorevolution.
No one knows exactly where the biofuture is going, but the state that invests the
most in bio-related research will be in position to go along for the ride, no matter
what direction it goes.