Soil Quality and Conservation Research

The U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Feedstock Development Program is investigating how growing energy crops on agricultural lands can decrease erosion and runoff compared to agricultural crops. Field studies at sites provided and maintained by cooperators are being done to determine if the extensive rooting systems of trees and grasses will provide

• Soil stabilization
  
• Nutrient retention
  
• Carbon sequestration
  
• Channels for water infiltration
  
• Stabilization of riverbanks
  
• Decrease bank erosion
  
• Decrease sediment deposition in rivers and streams
  
• Intercept nutrients and sediment in runoff

Water Quality Improvement Studies

Researchers have established several heavily monitored test sites to learn how energy crops can contribute to improvements in surface water and groundwater quality as a result of

• Reduced herbicide and pesticide requirements which may decrease the potential for chemical runoff into surface water and infiltration into groundwater
  
• Extensive Roots of both trees and grasses which may:
  
  • Intercept nutrients which could migrate into groundwater
    
  • Reduce nutrient runoff and surface water contamination

Research Directions

Characterizing soil physical and chemical changes over time following biomass energy crop establishment

• Quantifying soil losses from biomass energy crops compared with agricultural crops
  
• Determining nutrient transport and water quality
  
• Determining the potential of biomass energy crops as filter strips
  
• Determining the use of agricultural wastes as nutrient sources for biomass energy crops
  
• Wildlife diversity questions on larger scale plantings
  
• Determining the carbon sequestration potential of biomass energy crops

based

1. http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/papers/misc/cropenv.html - public domain resource