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Last update: June 26, 2008

Large scale bioenergy facilities are much like other large industrial operations – no one wants a power plant or a yeast factory in their back yard. As such, an important criterion in siting and operating a facility is minimizing land use conflicts.  This might be accomplished by avoiding already developed areas, with exceptions such as industrial parks designated for such uses.  These maps provide a statewide view of population density (as a surrogate for development), along with information about location of existing biofuels facilities.

Land use is also an issue in bioenergy production because of the “opportunity cost” – land used for growing energy crops may not be used for producing food or fiber.  This impact may be reduced by using materials not ordinarily considered useful such as corn stover or forestry slash, though that may lead to other environmental concerns such as erosion, particularly when marginal lands (e.g., steep slope, shallow soil depths) are brought into production. Continuous removal of biomass beyond what is needed to replenish organic matter in soils can result in soil depletion.  This may be alleviated through the use of fertilizers, but that can raise the risk of water quality degradation.  Several maps in other sections depict aspects land availability for bioenergy crops; it is important to also land use tradeoffs when evaluating availability.

 

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