Dr. Woodbury, a senior research associate at Cornell's Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, is an expert in GIS (Global Information Systems) and has research interests in how land use and potential fuel stock crop land can be synchronized. Dr. Woodbury spoke to us about what the land use map of the north east looked like from the the stand point of potential biofuel production.
The general gist of the talk centered around how the north east, when viewed through the filter of land use and density, has a fair amount of land that is viable from a biofuel standpoint. While most of the land, in fact a huge majority, is tied up in forests that should remain forests and not ceded over to biofuel production. When you remove the federal lands, land that is already used for food crops, and pasture, hay or grasslands, the total amount of land available for biofuel stocks is limited but viable.
The talk then moved on to how to make the best use of the land, from a crop standpoint. Specifically, why should switchgrass be part of the conversation. Specifically, Dr. Woodbury cited the following reasons: it is native to the US, it's drought tolerance, it's low nutrient requirements, it's high biomass production, it's extensive root development, and how it is adaptive to northern climates despite being a warm season grass.
Since switchgrass is a C4 plant, it is especially well adapted to conserve water during periods of drought and particularly warm climates. This is a competitive advantage that enables switchgrass to be established in most northern climates, where land is available. It is also worth noting that switchgrass is able to be harvested with equipment that is already owned by the normal northern climate farmer, thus minimizing the inputs necessary by a farmer to bring a harvest to market.
Lastly, Dr. Woodbury discussed how switchgrass compares to the shrub willow, another common cellulosic ethanol feedstock. Specifically, he focused on how grasses, much like pelletized hops for your average beer homebrewer, can be dried and pelletized for direct combustion in a furnace, either on the individual homeowner scale or at the industrial scale. He also included the logistical advantage of possibly mobilizing the pelletizing equipment for use at the farm location.
Later in the afternoon we heard from Dr. Larry Smart, a Cornell researcher located at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York, which is also home to Hobart College, my alma mater. Dr. Smart spoke specifically about how shrub willow operates as a plant and how it fits into the biofuel spectrum. Shrub willow is unique in that it can be propagated via cuttings, a practice common to a lot of woody ornamental species. His research included an interesting project that incorporated a local high school (Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Central School District) with an agriculture (4H and Future Farmers of America) program that would plant willow cutting and utilize the biomass to fuel their maple sugaring operation, not unlike the program at US.
After lunch we had the opportunity to travel to Big Flats, New York, near Corning, to visit the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Plant Materials Center. Here Dr. Paul Salon and Mr. Martin van der Grinten led us on a tour of the facility, where crops are grown, seeds and biomass are harvested, and plots are managed to provide information for scientists around the worlds.
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| The smallest combine sold is ideal for managing test plots for researchers |
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| Martin demonstrating how seed screens are used to separate viable seeds from other unusable plant material |
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| Paul discusses the different seed types and how their difference pose challenges in the seed cleaning process |
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| Paul describes the phylogenic difference between Big Blue Stem and Gamma Grass |
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| Chemung County Soil and Water Conservation District Logo |
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| Research test plot of Buckwheat (white flowers) and Kanlow Switchgrass (green grass) |
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