Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Alternative, renewable energy: a long-running role for the Leopold Center

Back to Leopold Letter Fall 2009

By JERI NEAL, Ecology Initiative Leader

Concerns about the impact of climate change, a turbulent economy and dwindling supplies of fossil fuels all have played a role in making alternative and renewable energy a hot issue in the United States and abroad. Iowa State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) recently dedicated new facilities and an adjoining 1,000 acres as part of a BioCentury Research Farm to meet an expected growth in research and development of biomass for energy.

Members of research team in a field This research team is working on the biomass cropping systems research at the ISU Uthe Farm in Boone County. The project invovles faculty and staff from four academic departments at Iowa State.

At the Leopold Center, however, research on energy use in agriculture has been a priority since day one. We have invested significant resources in this area since our inception in 1987. Some of our earliest work was in alternative cropping systems that could be converted for use as energy.

Our vision is one of improved linkages between agriculture (humans), energy, economy and the environment. We have looked at specific questions about the impacts of our nutrient management, crop and animal management systems. Most recently we’ve turned attention toward biobased systems and the question of what these investments mean for our natural resources and our communities. To do this, we are supporting work in life cycle analysis, energy use in multi-year cropping systems, and performance of perennial/annual mixes for a carbon-competitive future. Our current work in energy covers a broad range of topics. All are related to function and performance, both economic and environmental, of our current and alternative food and agriculture production and supply systems. In-progress research ranges from the implications of corn stover harvest to carbon performance of low-external-input multi-year rotations to finding tools to assess energy and greenhouse gas comparisons of food and livestock systems.

In addition to such research projects, the Leopold Center also is supporting the formation of a Farm Energy Working Group. This group consists of farmers, key organizations, and other individuals interested in meeting on-farm energy needs with renewable on-farm resources while considering the broader systemic implications of such endeavors. Along with this group, the Leopold Center also is working with Rich Dana at the National Center for Appropriate Technology office in Des Moines to identify energy efficiency and renwable energy opportunities for Iowa's small farmers.

Below are a few of our recent projects related to alternative and renewable energy:

Low-external-input rotations: Matt Liebman, ISU Agronomy: This multi-year project has compared the fossil fuel inputs required for a conventional two-year corn and soybean rotation and a low-external-input four-year multi-crop rotation. Findings indicate that relative to the four-year system, the two-year rotation requires over twice the fossil fuel input while overall profitability is nearly equivalent. [E2007-09]

Functionality and sustainability in Iowa biofuels industry: Rick Cruse, ISU Agronomy: The goal of this one-year project is to coordinate the needs of the developing cellulosic biofuel industry with the ability Iowa farmers to supply biomass. [P2009-06]

Woody biomass: John Tyndall, ISU Natural Resource Ecology and Management: A two-year competitive grant researching the wood-based feedstock supply in Iowa, including the availability, scalability, and infrastructure requirements necessary to supply fiber for bioenergy and other biobased products. [E2009-26] Canola as oilseed crop: Mary Widenhoeft and Stefans Gailans, ISU Agronomy: A three-year grant assessing the economic and ecological impacts of growing canola, including how it might work in a crop rotation and as a winter cover crop. [E2009-21]

Soil activity in biofuel systems: Thomas Sauer, USDA-ARS National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment: A three-year grant, part of a larger CALS project with funding from Conoco-Phillips. This work examines organic matter, root, and soil-water interactions as part of a larger effort to understand the develop sustainable biofuel feedstock systems. [E2009-18]

Alternative biomass cropping systems: Lisa Schulte-Moore, ISU Natural Resource Ecology and Management: This three-year project consists of 75 test plots in Boone County designed to produce biomass from five different systems: continuous corn; conventional corn/soybean with triticale and switchgrass; sweet sorghum/triticale; and a combination of triticale and aspen or cotton wood. The project includes more than 1,000 trees. [E2008-24]

Feeding ethanol by-products in forage-based beef systems: Dan Loy, Iowa Beef Center: This three-year project investigated low-cost and convenient delivery methods and supplementation programs using distillers’ feeds in forage-based beef production. [E2006-12] (Read about this project in current issue)

Energy use and nutrient cycling in pig production systems: Mark Honeyman, ISU Research Farms, and Pete Lammers, former student, Animal Science and Sustainable Agriculture: This two-year project quantified the energy use and flows in both conventional and alternative Iowa pig production systems. [E2003-07]

Corn stover harvest and erosion: This project used the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model to estimate the effects of harvesting corn residue on soil erosion. The study found that high rates of stover removal are possible on gentle slopes with no-till management or extended crop rotations that include perennial crops. On steep slopes, more intensive tillage systems (moldboard plow or even minimum tillage) are not sustainable in corn-bean rotations regardless of biomass removal rates. [E2003-07]

Bioconversion of biofuel waste products: Rob Anex, ISU Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering: This special project tracked plant nutrients from feedstock to pyrolysis to biochar to field, characterizing the carbon, energy and nutrient balance of the technology.

Back to Leopold Letter Fall 2009