ABSTRACT
The quantity of biomass that actually will be used for energy is intimately connected to the economics of growing and collecting the biomass materials and converting them to usable energy to the demand for other uses for the biomass and for the land, water, and energy used to grow it. Wood from commercial forestland is the largest potential source of bioenergy. About 20 percent of the material left in the field after grain, rice, and sugarcane harvests could be a source of bioenergy. The principal limit on energy uses of grains and sugar crops is the potential for farm commodity price increases as energy crop use rises and the amount of inflation in food prices that is acceptable for energy production. Beyond 1985, the land available for intensive production of energy crops could either increase or decrease, depending on future demand for food, and the food price rises needed to induce farmers to bring new land into production.
