Assessment of herbaceous feedstock supply for locating biorefineries in the Piedmont, USA

The push for renewable energy sources has local government agencies striving to optimize their limited resources. Various energy sources are often explored depending on the region – for example, wind, solar, geothermal, and bioenergy. The Piedmont region of the USA has the potential to be a significant player in the production of biomass to supply a biorefinery. However, before local agencies and private biorefineries can invest in such an endeavor, the potential feedstock supply must be quantified. The goal of this study was to perform a land‐use assessment for the 166 counties spanning five states (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama) that make up the bulk of the Piedmont region. For each county, the potential for producing and supplying herbaceous feedstock (i.e., switchgrass) was quantified based on 2017 land use. Only 48% of the counties had the potential to supply a biorefinery larger than 0.5 round bales per min (bpm) (97 000 Mg year–1). To supply a more reasonably sized biorefinery, the Piedmont counties were organized into 34 multi‐county zones. For these zones, the potential switchgrass production to supply a biorefinery ranged from 50 000 Mg year–1 to 360 000 Mg year–1. The total feedstock production for the region was 6 470 000 Mg year–1, equal to a potential production of about 3.3% of the current US consumption of ethanol for blending with gasoline. The development of a bioenergy industry in the Piedmont will require local leadership and initiative; however, this study provides the first step in envisioning the potential of such an industry. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd