Renewable energy in the United States: is there enough land?
A review of studies of biomass potential in the United States finds a wide variation in the estimates. A number of specific policy-relevant questions about the potential of biofuels in the United States are answered. A recently published global analysis of the potential conflict between land needed for bioenergy and land needed for food is extended to the situation in the United States. A renewable energy supply scenario, capable of meeting the 2001 US energy demand, indicates that there is enough land to support a renewable energy system but that the utilization of biomass would be limited by its land requirement.
Converse
Alvin O
AO
Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA. alvin.o.converse@dartmouth.edu
D000383:Agriculture / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends*; D018533:Biomass; D003246:Conservation of Energy Resources / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends*; D014197:Trees; D014481:United States