Agronomic and economic viability of Miscanthus x giganteus as a novel biofuel in the Maryland climate

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorFelton, Gary
dc.contributor.authorAmbalavanar, Vishney
dc.contributor.authorKang, Michael
dc.contributor.authorKulp, Felicia
dc.contributor.authorMichaels, Theodore
dc.contributor.authorMuroyama, Alexander
dc.contributor.authorRehman, Saad
dc.contributor.authorSokoya, Olufemi
dc.contributor.authorTrivedi, Aalap
dc.contributor.authorXie, Kaiyi
dc.date.accessioned2012-05-17T19:53:58Z
dc.date.available2012-05-17T19:53:58Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.descriptionGemstone Team Biofuelsen_US
dc.description.abstractOur study examined the effects of land quality and water-absorbent polymer on the growth of Miscanthus x giganteus. Our goal was to help utilize previously uncultivable land efficiently and meet U.S. energy goals. Currently, most U.S. biofuel is produced from corn, which requires arable land for growth and therefore significantly disrupts the production of food crops. We predicted that M. x giganteus would be able to thrive on marginal land, unlike corn, with the aid of a water-absorbing polymer. After growing M. x giganteus on both arable and marginal land, with and without the application of a polymer, we found that our crop grew better on the arable land. We also found that the presence of the water-absorbing polymer in the soil did not affect the growth of M. x giganteus. Finally, an economic cost-benefit analysis showed that growing M. x giganteus would not be a viable commercial enterprise, without the use of a commercial fertilizer and based on existing revenue and expense scenarios.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/12487
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtDigital Repository at the University of Maryland
dc.relation.isAvailableAtGemstone Program, University of Maryland (College Park, Md)
dc.subjectbiofuelsen_US
dc.subjectMicanthus x giganteusen_US
dc.subjectland qualityen_US
dc.subjectsoilen_US
dc.subjectcost benefit analysisen_US
dc.subjectGemstone Team BioFUELSen_US
dc.titleAgronomic and economic viability of Miscanthus x giganteus as a novel biofuel in the Maryland climateen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
BioFUELS.pdf
Size:
17.02 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.57 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
BioFUELS_DRUM.pdf
Size:
60.32 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download

Collections

Gemstone Team Research