title: High-value renewable energy from prairie grasses.
abstract: Projected economic benefits of renewable energy derived from a native prairie grass, switchgrass, include nonmarket values that can reduce net fuel costs to near zero. At a farm gate price of $44.00/dry Mg, an agricultural sector model predicts higher profits for switchgrass than conventional crops on 16.9 million hectares (ha). Benefits would include an annual increase of $6 billion in net farm returns, a $1.86 billion reduction in government subsidies, and displacement of 44-159 Tg/year (1 Tg = 1012 g) of greenhouse gas emissions. Incorporating these values into the pricing structure for switchgrass bioenergy could accelerate commercialization and provide net benefits to the U.S. economy.
authors.affiliation: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee 37831, USA. mclaughlinsb@ornl.gov
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: de la Torre Ugarte
authors.forename: C T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Garten
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Lynd
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sanderson
authors.forename: V R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Tolbert
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Wolf
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources / Q000191:economics; D003132:Commerce; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D017752:Greenhouse Effect; D006109:Poaceae; D014481:United States