Spatial Analysis of Biomass Supply: Economic and Environmental Impacts.

The EPIC simulation model is used with SSURGO soils, field location information, and a transportation cost model to analyze potential biomass supply for a West Central MN bioenergy plant. The simulation shows the relationship between biomass price, locations of where biomass production is profitable, and impacts on economic optimum cropping practices. Results show expansion of production away from the bioenergy plant as biomass price increases. Also, increasing biomass price tends to increase harvest intensity and change the optimum crop rotation near the bioenergy plant. These changes have important implications for the environmental impacts of biomass harvest, since changes in harvest intensity and crop rotation can have substantial effects of soil erosion, soil carbon, and nutrient and pesticide runoff and leaching.