Mapping Biomass Fuels in Iowa

Thermo-chemical processes can be used to produce a variety of transportation fuels from a variety of bio-based feedstocks. The tool that will be demonstrated in this session is intended to help researchers and decision-makers compare market needs to capabilities at the county level in Iowa. Generating value from the land with low-tillage perennials and minimal shipping needs is viewed as a way to reduce the energy losses currently needed to ship fossil fuel tonnage into the state, and commodity corn to distant markets out-of-state. In this regard, focusing on markets within a 15-mile radius from the source is viewed as a conservation strategy as much as a source of supplemental transportation energy.

The model links data from several sources to show how much material is needed to replace some or all of the demands currently being met with fossil fuels in Iowa. Results can be expressed in a variety of measures such as the number of truck or rail car loads associated with a particular market share, or the amount of product or feedstock storage needed for weekly or daily shipments. Shipping distances are estimated using a general protocol that can be set to existing refineries, a hypothetical network of county level refineries, or one refinery located at the center of a user-defined region of counties. Users can set parameters to reflect different yields, product mixes, or utilization rates. To promote additional evaluations, key values are hyperlinked to the source of data used.


Contact:
Randy Boeckenstedt
Center for Transportation Research and Education
Iowa State University
2711 S. Loop Dr. Ste. 4700
Ames IA 50011-1295
rboecken@iastate.edu
515-294-8103