All feedstocks, biorenewables included, have to be sourced from somewhere.
Hey everyone!
In the last post, I talked a lot about the general consumption of renewable resources and the impacts that has had. Now, I want to focus on the fact that these resources are coming from somewhere - they have to be developed in some way and what that process entails.
For the most part, the most widely known and used biorenewable resource is some form of wood. That entails that the resource is actually taken from some type of woody biomass - for which there are three mains systems: natural forests, plantation forests, and short rotation coppicing (Lesson 8). There are marked differences between natural forests and plantation forests - primarily because of the intention behind them. Natural forests are, as the name would suggest, naturally occurring - it makes up about 90% of the forests in the United States and closely follows the ecological processes and is related to the biodiversity of the area it is in. Meanwhile, plantation forests are planted specifically to assist in the production of wood and make up the remaining 10% of forestry in the United States. There are quite a few benefits to having plantation forests since it has been noted it can actually produce crops faster than natural forests, which is what makes it more alluring as a source of wood. Additionally, as mentioned in the previous post, the ever developing world means that the demand for resources is only growing. A faster form of creating the raw materials for those resources is extremely important in order to meet the ever growing demand. Both plantation forests and natural forests are vital in their sourcing for wood since it can typically be used in widely used products such as lumber or paper. Short rotation woody crops (SRC) are more akin to the plantation forests where these are specific species that have been bred and developed due to the higher rates of growth, but what differentiates them from plantation forests are that these crops can typically be used in a variety of fuels (like ethanol and diesel) or for the production of heat and electricity. The woody biomass is vital to understanding how biorenewable resources are derived from various points and that several of these sourcing points are actually designed to meet demand for resources.
A NAFO article highlights this process of using the plentiful renewable resources available to us and how it truly provides many benefits. As explained in the article, “it is abundant, renewable,and usable from bark to treetop for everything..” indicating that the abundance of the product is so vital in production for a variety of products. Not only that, while maintaining that there is such high availability of the product, it is not simply that only a part of it is used - all aspects of the wood are used and none of it are just “scraps”. Additionally, this demand allows for better innovation and use of wood, a growth in “productive forests” as mentioned before by increasing the overall tree populations.
Another form of sourcing biorenewable resources is through agricultural produce. Agricultural production systems are helpful in cultivating “dedicated crops” which are similar to the idea of SRC’s where they are crops that are deliberately grown for bioproducts or bioenergy uses (Lesson 10). Specifically in looking at the example of corn, it is a widely used dedicated crop mainly due to its makeup, with about 62% of it being made up of starch - which is a substance that is more easily converted into biofuels and bioproducts. As a result, it is a widely cultivated crop and the World of Corn reports that about 30% of corn grain that is produced in the US is used for biofuel production and 1.7% goes into starch bioproducts. The graphic below is an informative visual on just how much one bushel of corn can provide and provides some insight on the various uses of corn.
While the bulk of this post has been focused on the sourcing of these materials and how useful they are, there are some negative impacts that must be kept in mind. Namely the risks that can come from the deliberate forms of agriculture that have been mentioned - typically ecosystems change over time and relish due to the diversity of the different species in the ecosystem. However, when a specific species is planted over and over again and is the only one, it leads to some issues (Lesson 11). Namely, these practices could lead to soil health issues due to the repeated harvesting of the crops; it leads to high amounts of runoff getting into water which leads to depletion of oxygen and also harms ecosystems due to the fertilizers present in the runoff. Additionally, if crops are only planted at specific times of the year - it means that fields are typically barren for the other times, which means that the soil is susceptible to wind and water erosion. There are ways to combat these issues, and states such as Minnesota have employed certain tactics. One primary option being through crop rotation where different crops will be planted in succession so as to reduce erosion and improve overall soil quality and biodiversity.
I learned a lot from this unit primarily about the sourcing of these biorenewable resources that we are moving towards using. I found it incredibly informative as I learned how intentional these practices are and how productive they are in using all of the aspects to the resource. Being aware of the side effects of these practices is also important, but it is good to know that there are ways to avoid these harmful effects from going too far. I hope this post has been as informative to others as it has been to me!
References:
Lesson 8: Woody Biomass Production
NAFO Article:
https://nafoalliance.org/issues/a-renewable-resource/
Lesson 10: Herbaceous Biomass Production
World of Corn:
https://ncga.com/world-of-corn-iframe/#/
Lesson 11: Conventional Agriculture: Impacts & Alternatives
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