Spatial analysis to site satellite storage locations for herbaceous biomass in the piedmont of the Southeast.

Herbaceous biomass, harvested and handled as hay, has potential for bioenergy production. In the Upper Southeast, fields that cannot be competitively managed to produce another crop can produce an acceptable yield of switchgrass. Using a delayed harvest (crop is allowed to dry standing in the field), switchgrass can be harvested from production fields over a 6-month period. This gives a significant advantage over a crop residue, like corn stover, which is collected over a 5-week harvest season in the Midwest. The Southeast has the potential to be a major bioenergy production region. A land cover database, classified with 2006 aerial photography, was used to identify potential switchgrass fields within 48-km radii of Gretna and Keysville, two small towns in South Central Virginia. The total potential switchgrass production was then calculated for each area. A possible set of satellite storage locations (SSLs) for the temporary storage of round bales was generated using a raster-based approach. Transportation analysis was used to determine the travel distance from the SSLs to a hypothetical bioenergy plant. Within a 48-km radius of Gretna, it was determined that about 6.4% of the total land area could be attracted into production using a conservative assumption for change in existing land use. Using a more optimistic assumption, as much as 10.5% of the total land area could be attracted into production. For the 48-km radius around Keysville, the percentage ranged from 5.6% to 9.5%. Assuming an average yield of 11.2 Mg/ha, the area around Gretna could supply a bioenergy plant consuming from 61 up to 98 Mg/h (continuous operation, 47 wk/y). For Keysville, the size of plant that could be supplied ranged from 48 to 80 Mg/h. The mass-distance parameters for the Gretna and Keysville production areas were almost equal, 42.7 and 41.9 km, respectively, indicating that both study areas had a similar feedstock production distribution.