Advanced BioFuels USA

by Luke Geiver (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The push to alter biogenic emissions regulations could boost corn farming and ethanol production while cementing the role of biobased solutions in the fight against climate change. Political inertia, however, remains the primary barrier to change.

An improved understanding of biogenic emissions from agricultural crops could change the economics of biobased product manufacturing and biofuel production. A major advocacy group, private industry players, and congressional members from both sides of the aisle are all pushing the U.S. EPA for updates to the classification of the de minimis character of annual emissions from corn, soybeans and other crops. The entire bioeconomy, they all believe, stands to benefit if EPA reclassifies the qualities of biogenic emissions so the quantifiable value of ag production for energy, bioproducts, feed and food includes both what goes into feedstock production and harvest, and what comes out.

Victim of Inertia  
According to the Biogenic CO2 Coalition, federal regulation currently ignores the life-cycle carbon benefits from crop-based feedstocks and instead treats carbon dioxide emissions from fermentation, agricultural processing, wastewater treatment and biomass combustion the same as fossil fuels.

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Thomas Parks, senior communications manager for CRA and a spokesperson for the Biogenic CO2 Coalition, says no other country in the world regulates its ag-based emissions as if they are the same as fossil-based emissions.

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In early June, the coalition wrote a letter to EPA, calling for the agency to allow public comment on the regulations of biogenic emissions for annual agricultural crops. Last year, five governors and six senators also wrote letters or publicly called on EPA to address the same biogenic emissions regulations. Soon, EPA is expected to change its stance on the emissions specifically from woody biomass, differentiating them from fossil-based emissions, a move that Bode says is welcome but not enough for the ag sector.

Senator Mike Braun, R-Ind., along with Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., introduced the Growing Climate Solutions Act in early June to make sure EPA doesn’t forget about the ag sector. The bill aims to break down barriers for farmers and foresters interested in participating in carbon markets so they can be rewarded for climate-smart practices.

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…  the goal is to understand how the global community, along with the biobased industry, views agriculture as a positive force in the fight against climate change—as opposed to a hurdle.

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One of the main elements of the Growing Climate Solutions Act was its focus on rewarding climate-smart practices. The bill is trying to create a USDA certification program to help solve issues for farmers and ranchers trying to participate in carbon credit markets. That program, the Greenhouse Gas Technical Assistance Provider and Third-Party Verifier Certification Program, would enable the USDA to provide transparency, legitimacy and information endorsement of third-party verifiers and technical service providers that help private landowners generate carbon credits through a variety of agriculture- and forestry-related practices. The USDA certification program would aim to ensure that these assistance providers have agriculture and forestry experience. The agency would also administer a new website that would serve as a one-stop shop of information and resources for producers and foresters who are interested in participating in carbon markets.

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The USDA has also created its own unique GHG modeling and tracking system that will help American farmers participate in a market that values its biogenic emissions. Developed in part by Colorado State University, the COMET Farm system is a whole farm and ranch carbon and greenhouse gas accounting platform. The system includes a tool that helps users describe their property management practices while also allowing for future management change scenarios. A report can be generated showing the carbon and GHG emissions profile and potential from current or future scenarios. This past November, the team behind COMET updated its system. The platform’s newest version (2.3) has an enhanced method for calculating a farm’s soil N2O level. The system also has new and improved modules that track and calculate synthetic fertilizer, organic fertilizer and the impacts of manure. The only information needed to use the COMET system is related to field or livestock management practices. The field module will ask for crop practices starting from roughly the year 2000, including cropping sequence, approximate planting and harvest dates, tillage systems, fertilizer application information, irrigation methods and residue managements.

An additional energy module is available that applies to the use of renewable energy at a facility or farm. According to the USDA, the system uses information on management practices together with spatially explicit information on climate and soil conditions from USDA databases—provided automatically in the tool—to run a series of models for each potential source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Regardless of the biogenic emission tracker or data organization system used, Bode and his team believe the focus should remain on two areas: understanding and accuracy.    READ MORE

“Harvest does not equal deforestation” (Bioenergy Insight)