Biomass Fuel

Winter is the time to catch up on reading.  Today I picked up my October issue of Crop Soils, Agronomy News.  The magazine contains a great article on biomass.  As an alternative to fossil fuel, biomass is being touted in some circles.  Many people think of using biomass to make ethanol, but that is only one of many ways to get the energy out of biomass.  Maybe the most efficient in terms of total BTU's is burning the stuff directly.  University of Wisconsin at Madison is getting set up to do so by 2013. 

There are lots of biomass fuels out there.  It seems that some of them are going to waste now.  How about we chip all the Timber slash and burn it.  What about corn cobs.  I have seen some pretty neat looking inventions to separate corn cobs from stover and use the cobs.  Why?  Lots of BTU's per pound in the cobs as opposed to cobs and stover combined.  Also, keeping the stover in the field provides erosion protection. 

Surprisingly, there is some long term research available to simulate what happens to the soil when all the above ground portion of the plant its removed.  ARS plots near St. Paul MN have had corn removed as silage for 19 years.  The removal does show a degradation of soil organic matter as compared to removing grain only. 

What about using CRP land to grow biomass.  Wildlife people are against it, but sooner or later, those contracts are going to run out.  If farmers could sell the biomass maybe every other year, they might be more inclined to renwe the contract and continue to provide permanent cover on highly erodible ground.

What about fertility?  Soil Test, Soil Test, Soil Test.  Fertilize, Fertilize, Fertilize.

To me this is an exciting topic in agriculture right now.  I will probably blog more on the topic.