This January 2008 workshop explored ways to measure and evaluate the lifecycle carbon emissions of the growing biofuels industry. Papers and presentations focused on climate change methodologies, various biofuels production technologies, integrating market forces into lifecycle analysis, feedstocks and crop production carbon impacts, and the impact of land use changes on carbon emissions.
Farm Foundation organized this workshop with USDA's Office of Energy Policy and New Uses and USDA's Global Change Progam Office. An executive summary of the workshop is available, as is a conference proceedings.
The topic of the April 8, 2008, Farm Foundation Forum was the lifecycle carbon footprint of biofuels. Listen to a recording of that Forum.
Below are presentations and papers from the January 2008 workshop.
Objectives of the Workshop
Climate Change Methodologies & Impacts
Jan Lewandrowski, USDA Office of the Chief Economist
Production Lifecycle Analysis
Market Forces & Lifecycle Analysis
David Zilberman, University of California, Berkeley
Presentation
Paper
GHG Emissions for Crop Production
Steve Ogle, Colorado State University
Presentation
Paper
GHG Emissions of Various Biofuels Production Technologies
Michael Wang, Argonne National Laboratory
Presentation
Paper
Feedstocks – ERS Analysis
Scott Malcolm, USDA Economic Research Service
Presentation
Working lunch/short presentations
USDA/NIST BEES Lifecycle Analysis of Environmental, Public Health & Cost Impacts
Barbara Lippiatt, USDA National Institute for Standards and Technology
Computing & Reporting on Carbon Footprint of Biobased Products
Ramani Narayan, Michigan State University
Update on EPA Biofuel Lifecycle Work
Vince Cambreco, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Carbon Cycling in Agricultural Systems
John M. Baker, USDA Agricultural Research Service
Technical Modeling at ARS
Andrew McAloon, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center
Issues of Land Use
Tropical Deforestation & Biofuels
Jan Lewandrowski, USDA Office of the Chief Economist
Presentation
Factoring Land Use Change into the GHG Effects of Biofuels
Tim Searchinger, German Marshall Fund of the United States
Paper
Lifecycle Carbon Footprint, Biofuels & Leakage: Empirical Investigations
Bruce McCarl, Texas A&M
Presentation
Paper
Greenhouse Gas Impacts of Ethanol from Iowa Corn
Bruce Babcock, Iowa State University
Presentation
Paper
Wrap-up
Roger Conway, USDA Office of Energy Policy & New Uses