Solving the Biomass Feedstock Supply Problem.

“The chicken and the egg”.  “If you plant it they will come”.  “Till baby, till”.  “Ready in three to five years”.  These are all clichés that have been ascribed to the current state of the lignocellulosic conversion world.  It has become recognized that solving the feedstock problem is critical to meeting the current bioenergy targets for the nation.

For any biofuel, biochemical or biopower project to be feasible, it must consider the biomass feedstock supply problem.  Project financiers will analyze the risk of the entire project before committing funds:  Feedstock Supply—Conversion Technology—Offtake Markets.  As the cellulosic industry has matured in the last couple years, an increasing emphasis has been placed on the availability, supply guarantee and economics of the biomass feedstock supply.

This presentation will focus on the development of productive, sustainable and economic biomass feedstock supply solutions using purpose-grown energy crops.  We will focus on the lessons learned from the largest and longest running switchgrass production program in the country.  This will include the agronomic practices, equipment requirements, production economics, logistics and management strategies for developing and implementing a commercial scale biorefinery project.  The presentation will consider all of the components necessary to develop a bankable bioenergy project using lignocellulosic feedstocks.