Biofuel Crops Great For Chesapeake Bay's Economy and Environment

The Chesapeake Bay Commission and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture have released a report claiming the appropriate use of cellulosic biofuel crops could be a big help to the area's economy while reducing environmental impact.

The report, entitled Biofuels and the Bay [pdf], boldly states, "handled correctly, biofuels have the potential to provide significant and permanent new income sources for farmers and foresters, while serving as a means to substantially reduce greenhouse gases and better manage agricultural nutrient loadings within the watershed."

Furthermore, the report explains that harvesting plants such as switchgrass, planting winter crops such as barley and rye on unused fields, and planting fast-growing trees like willow and poplar hold the potential to create more than 18,000 jobs and 500 million gallons of fuel. And this is all to be done without implementing lands already in use for food crops.

How?

"The focus of the report is to say what kind of opportunities do we have here if we're not going to take farmland out of production or use steep slope and highly erodible land -- what is left?" said Ann Pesiri Swanson, executive director of the commission. "It is hard for me to believe the potential for water quality gains."

The study, conducted by Pennsylvania State University, found that biofuel crops combined with traditional agriculture could help clean up the bay. Next-generation biofuel crops -- switchgrass, barley, rye and fast-growing willow and poplar trees -- could reduce erosion and pollution.

The commission recommends that governments in the watershed adopt a "conservative" next-generation biofuels production target of 500 million gallons per year from a mix of agricultural and forest feedstocks. Next-generation biofuels crops are not currently cost-competitive with ethanol or oil because their production is too expensive.

Is This Good?

It certainly appears to be. Agriculture in the bay watershed area has come under consistent fire over the years, mainly due to over-fertilization that has led to nutrient and sediment pollution.

The crops (barley, rye, switchgrass) being urged by the commission for farmers to plant would have a "soaking" effect, absorbing the nitrogen and phosphorous that could otherwise make its way to the water table and create algae blooms and lessening carbon dioxide.

What's more, the report is looking for otherwise unused or fallow lands that would otherwise be left alone. Approximately 45,000 acres were found in the U.S. Conservation Reserve Program--the Department of Agriculture's Land Retirement program--that could be utilized for switchgrass.

Obstacles In The Way:

The toughest part could be finding a market.

"We're dealing somewhat with a chicken and egg situation," said Bill Matuszeski, a former head of the Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake Bay Program office, who helped produce the report. 

Farmers won't grow biofuel feedstocks without a market, and processors won't come in without a steady supply, Matuszeski said. "That's where the states can come in and really help," Matuszeski said.

The report also makes suggestions as to the development of the sector, including setting regional and state production goals, developing harvest guidelines, avoiding the introduction of invasive species and creating a regional council for bioenergy development.

Sources: The New York Times, and Mother Nature Network

Image courtesy of Flickr