Corn, soybeans and corn stover are all valuable feedstocks for conversion of biomass into consumer goods. Utilizing these agricultural products and residues creates a potential for both environmental benefits and deleterious impacts. The national use of these products could have a disproportionate negative impact in the Midwestern states on the soil and water resources, while having positive impacts on air quality and global climate change over a wider geographic scale. Many studies completed to date that have quantified the environmental impacts of bio-based products have focused on the air quality and greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits (Wang, 1999; Sheehan et al., 2002 Heller et al., 2003). There are clear
benefits to using bio-based materials, especially in terms of greenhouse gas generation. Plant growth
consumes atmospheric carbon dioxide is transformed to plant matter. Eventually, the carbon is released
back to the environment at the end-of-life stage of a bio-based product or fuel. However, that release
results in a near zero net GHG emission. In comparison, combustion of fossil fuels cause carbon
sequestered in the subsurface for millennia to be added to our atmospheric carbon dioxide load.
