Bruce Dale, Bryan Bals, Seungdo Kim, and Pragnya Eranki. Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), 3900 Collins Rd, Lansing, MI 48910
There is an intense ongoing debate regarding the potential scale of biofuel production without adverse effects on food supply. In reality, most US agricultural land is currently dedicated to animal feed production. We explore the possibility of three land-efficient technologies for producing animal feed – leaf protein concentrates, pretreated forages, and double crops – to increase the total amount of plant biomass available for biofuels without decreasing food (feed) supplies. Using only 30% of total US cropland, pasture, and range, 400 billion liters of ethanol can be produced annually without decreasing domestic food production or agricultural exports. This approach also reduces US greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 670 Tg CO2-equivalent per year, or nearly 10% of total US annual emissions, while increasing soil fertility and promoting biodiversity. Thus biofuels can replace a very large fraction of US petroleum consumption while providing significant environmental benefits and without promoting indirect land use change.
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