The Western Colorado Carbon Neutral Bioenergy Consortium (WCCNBC)
Social, Economic, and Environmental Prosperity
Despite many changes that have occurred over the years in western Colorado, agriculture continues to be a fundamental way of life in the region. While the recent influx of oil and gas development has altered the region’s economic base, it is unlikely that these operations will maintain their presence indefinitely. Given the risks commonly associated with boom-cycle economic development, there is a critical need for private energy companies, non-profits, policy makers, educational institutions and local stakeholders to work together to promote the long-term economic, social, and environmental prosperity of the region. Invigorating the region’s traditional agrarian sector to adopt innovative technologies and processes, such as bioenergy production and carbon sequestration, may be a key component in this long-term strategy.
The Need
Energy is a critical component to modern life. It powers our businesses, heats and cools our homes, and provides services that enhance our quality of life. However, the current energy paradigm is unsustainable and will require drastic alterations with the introduction of carbon regulations. The move to lower carbon intensity energy production and consumption will require considerable innovations and investments with energy production likely transitioning from large, centralized facilities to small, dispersed facilities.
The Opportunity
While conventional biofuels production can have unintended, long-term, negative consequences, the production of biofuels can be done sustainably if derived from feedstocks with significantly lower life-cycle greenhouse-gas emissions than fossil fuels and on land that does not compete with food production. Perennial plants, grown on degraded or marginal lands, may be one such way to produce bioenergy in substantial quantities throughout the Interior West. Deriving bioenergy in such a way could minimize competition with food crops, lower the potentially negative long-term carbon debt associated with land clearing, and if managed properly, increase wildlife habitat, improve water quality, and facilitate additional carbon sequestration in soils.
Western Colorado consists of nearly 4.25 million acres of pasture or idled cropland. Nearly 30% of this acreage is irrigated. While high alkaline soils, desert vegetations, heavy soils, variable precipitation, seasonal water availability, and cold injury are challenges for conventional crops, the opportunity exists to explore how this land resource might lend itself to sustainable-input biomass production for a bioenergy economy.
Western Colorado consists of nearly 4.25 million acres of pasture or idled cropland. Nearly 30% of this acreage is irrigated. While high alkaline soils, desert vegetations, heavy soils, variable precipitation, seasonal water availability, and cold injury are challenges for conventional crops, the opportunity exists to explore how this land resource might lend itself to sustainable-input biomass production for a bioenergy economy.
The Proposal
The proliferation of solar technologies in the area has been significant, however no studies have comprehensively addressed the opportunities that exist for bioenergy development in the region. The Western Colorado Carbon Neutral Bioenergy Consortium (WCCNBC), a partnership between Colorado State University (CSU), Colorado Mountain College (CMC), The City of Rifle, and Flux Farm Foundation, was recently formed to determine the ability of the region to produce and process biomass for biofuels and carbon sequestration. This interdisciplinary, applied science, research consortium seeks to collect both quantitative and qualitative data on the costs and benefits of land transition, agronomic analysis of high-biomass producing perennial crops, field analysis of carbon sequestration potential, laboratory and pilot-scale analysis of the conversion of biomass to biofuels such as ethanol, butanol, and synthesis gas, and an economic analysis of the feasibility of Western Colorado growers to produce and market carbon neutral biofuels.
Deliverables
At the conclusion of the project, constituents will understand what a bioenergy and carbon sequestration economy could look like in Western Colorado. Suitable biomass feedstocks will be identified and field trials conducted to validate growth characteristics. Bioenergy processing technologies will be identified that match with the feedstocks that can be grown and conversion trials will be conducted to understand the resulting fuel characteristics and economies. Economic, environmental, and sociological studies will determine the opportunities and limitations of implementing new cropping strategies in the region. Life-cycle carbon and energy calculations will be conducted to determine process feasibility in a carbon-constrained world. Educational programs will be developed to better inform landowners of the potential of bioenergy, and college curriculum will be developed to equip workers to enter a regional bioenergy economy.
