Study says corn stover and crop residues are billion-dollar opportunity for ag states

In Iowa, new economic reports show that producing biomass fuel pellets from crop residues like corn stalks can provide a billion-dollar development opportunity for agricultural states. Iowa-based Regional Strategic, Ltd. examined the economic impact of collecting, processing, and delivering corn stover byproducts of ethanol – the stalks, stems, and leaves of corn plants – to use for generating electricity. The stover is compressed into biomass pellets that can be burned like coal in existing power plants, reducing CO2 emissions and increasing renewable energy supplies.

The study results reveal that with modest infrastructure investments, building even a single pellet facility can deliver large quantifiable economic benefits across the farm economy, and developing a broader industry around corn stover pellets represents billion dollar scale opportunity. The studies focus on Nebraska and Iowa, two leaders in U.S. ethanol production, with an eye toward how building out a new bioenergy industry would impact the economies in these states.