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Produced through pyrolysis, biochars are used as a soil amendment. Differences in feedstock and processing result in differentiated products which impact their values in different soil conditions. Despite the enormous potential, biochars have not been widely used. This paper overviews the benefits and potential demand for biochar and features of supply chain, and identifies opportunities for viable introduction of biochars. The value of biochars should be evaluated as a part of the pyrolysis system that coproduces biochars and biofuels. Biochars can improve agricultural productivity and soil functioning and contribute to climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration. Furthermore, it can provide extra benefit by contributing to fire prevention. The cost of biochar system depends on the costs of feedstock acquisition, transportation, and processing. Biochar is most likely to be adopted in locations with marginal land and high‐value crop, and near low‐cost feedstock sources. The adoption of biochar can be enhanced by compensation for carbon sequestration, further investment in research, and learning of producers to enhance efficiency of the supply chain. Biochar is a charcoal that has been used to improve soil quality. It is obtained through heating organic materials such as crop and forest residues without oxygen. Diverse types of biochar can be coproduced with biofuels. The paper reviews the benefits and potential demand of biochar, and features of the supply chain that would be used to produce and market it. Biochar can improve agricultural productivity and mitigate climate change. Current adoption is low but will be improved with compensation for carbon sequestration, placing processing facilities closer to the biomass sources, and investment in research to reduce cost of production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemp has emerged as a novel crop and ingredient for sustainable products. If innovative hemp‐based products are to succeed in the market, the surge of interest in production must be accompanied by information generation across the supply chain. At present, there is little knowledge on consumer behavior toward hemp and hemp‐based products, and even less on how this behavior has changed since hemp's reintroduction to the production landscape of the United States in 2014. This study compares representative survey data of Vermont residents in 2019 and 2020 on their support for hemp production, and awareness and use of hemp‐based products. Although the influence of demographic variables did not significantly change over time, our findings reveal structural change, with more respondents aware of and using hemp‐based products in 2020 compared to 2019. These findings point to hemp's growing presence and acceptance in the marketplace, where consumers are more informed about or have greater access to hemp products. Despite the state's focus on cannabidiol production, Vermonters appear to be aware of and are purchasing a variety of hemp goods, such as clothing and paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The airline industry has a strong interest in developing sustainable aviation fuels, in order to reduce their exposure to increasing oil prices and cost liability for greenhouse gas emissions. The feasibility and cost of producing sustainable biomass-based jet fuels at a sufficient scale to materially address these issues is an enormous challenge. This paper builds directly on the biophysical study by H.T. Murphy, D.A. O'Connell, R.J. Raison, A.C. Warden, T.H. Booth, A. Herr, A.L. Braid, D.F. Crawford, J.A. Hayward, T. Javonovic, J.G. McIvor, M.H. O'Connor, M.L. Poole, D. Prestwidge, N. Raisbeck-Brown & L. Rye, In review, which examined a 25 year scale-up strategy to produce 5% of projected jet fuel demand in Australia in 2020 (470 mL) in the Fitzroy region of Queensland, Australia. The strategy was based on the use of a mixed ligno-cellulosic biomass feedstock and assumed, for the sake of exploring and quantifying the scenario, a simplified two-step conversion process - conversion of biomass to crude bio-oil within the region, and upgrade to jet fuel at a central Brisbane facility. This paper provides details on the costs of production in this scenario, focusing on two different strategies for biomass utilization, and two types of novel small-medium scale conversion technologies. The cost analyses have taken into account technology learning curves, different economies of scale and key cost sensitivities. The cost of biomass-based jet fuels is estimated to be between 0.70 and 1.90 $ L−1 when the efficiency of conversion of biomass to biocrude and subsequently to aviation fuel is varied by ±10% of published values, with an average value of 1.10 $ L−1. This is within the range of the projected 2035 conventional jet fuel price of 1.50 $ L−1. Therefore, biomass-based jet fuel has the potential to contribute to supply of Australia's jet fuel needs in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study models and quantifies spatially referenced probability distributions of corn residue cost and assesses their influence on comparative advantages of different areas of the Corn Belt to attract biofuel plants. Results suggest that irrigated areas of the Corn Belt, despite their relatively low planting density, may result more attractive than some of their rainfed counterparts in the eastern Corn Belt due to low risk in feedstock cost resulting from stability of yields. Therefore, agricultural districts in the Great Plains of the US may not need to pay high subsidies to compete with those in the eastern Corn Belt to attract biofuel firms. Policy restrictions on irrigation due to concerns over groundwater depletion may, however, diminish the relative comparative advantage of the irrigated Corn Belt for biofuel production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assesses the potential of California agriculture to supply biofuel feedstock in the form of switchgrass. We construct a fully calibrated, multiregion, multi-input and multioutput model of agricultural supply for California's Central Valley based on the principles of positive mathematical programming. We exploit agronomic information obtained from a biophysical model to estimate regional production functions for switchgrass. The model predicts the extent and location of potential feedstock production in the Central Valley. Our results suggest that switchgrass adoption rates differ widely among agricultural regions, and that switchgrass is not likely to displace specialty crops by much statewide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]