Switchgrass to Ethanol: A Field to Fuel Approach

Mohua Haque and Francis Epplin ()

No 61294, 2010 Annual Meeting, July 25-27, 2010, Denver, Colorado from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Abstract: The U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 mandates the production of 16 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuels by 2022. Desirable feedstock properties, biomass to biofuel conversion rate, and investment required in plant and equipment differs depending on which of several competing technologies is used. The objective is to determine the breakeven ethanol price for a cellulosic biorefinery. A comprehensive mathematical programming model that encompasses the chain from land acquisition to ethanol production was constructed and solved. For a capital requirement of $400 million for a 100 million gallons per year plant and a conversion rate of 100 gallons of ethanol per dry ton, the breakeven ethanol price is $1.91 per gallon: $0.20 for land rental and switchgrass production; $0.14 for feedstock harvest; $0.18 for feedstock storage and transportation; $0.75 for biorefinery operation and maintenance; and $0.64 for biorefinery investment. Biomass to ethanol conversion rate and the cost of biorefinery construction, operation, and maintenance are critical issues.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Crop Production/Industries; Production Economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24
Date: 2010
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aaea10:61294

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.61294

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