Biofuels are important alternatives for meeting our future energy needs. Successful bioenergy crop production requires maintaining environmental sustainability and minimum impacts on current net annual food, feed, and fiber production. The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine under-productive areas within an agricultural field in a watershed using a single date; high resolution remote sensing and (2) examine impacts of growing bioenergy crops in the under-productive areas using hydrologic modeling in order to facilitate sustainable landscape design. Normalized difference indices (NDIs) were computed based on the ratio of all possible two-band combinations using the RapidEye and the National Agricultural Imagery Program images collected in summer 2011. A multiple regression analysis was performed using 10 NDIs and five RapidEye spectral bands. The regression analysis suggested that the red and near infrared bands and NDI using red-edge and near infrared that is known as the red-edge normalized difference vegetation index (RENDVI) had the highest correlation (R² = 0.524) with the reference yield. Although predictive yield map showed striking similarity to the reference yield map, the model had modest correlation; thus, further research is needed to improve predictive capability for absolute yields. Forecasted impact using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool model of growing switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) on under-productive areas based on corn yield thresholds of 3.1, 4.7, and 6.3 Mg·ha⁻¹ showed reduction of tile NO₃-N and sediment exports by 15.9%–25.9% and 25%–39%, respectively. Corresponding reductions in water yields ranged from 0.9% to 2.5%. While further research is warranted, the study demonstrated the integration of remote sensing and hydrologic modeling to quantify the multifunctional value of projected future landscape patterns in a context of sustainable bioenergy crop production.

As population growth and climate change put additional pressure on an already strained agricultural and land management system, bioenergy and biomaterial technology is being developed with the promise of better greenhouse gas balances and amidst concerns about increased land use change and impacts on water resources and other externalities associated with agricultural processes. Yet, much of the impacts of bioenergy and biomaterial cropping depend on how this large scale deployment will occur. Proactively designing production systems that purposefully incorporate the achievement of sustainability objectives or ecosystem services along with the biomass feedstock is possible and can be achieved by exploiting specific traits of second generation perennial lignocellulosic bioenergy crops. Compared to annual row crops, perennials such as switchgrass, Miscanthus, other perennial grasses, and short rotation woody crops share a deeper root system, a general better ability to thrive on poorer soils, a lower dependence on fertilizer inputs, and at least for some, management options that can be friendly to wildlife. A deeper root system carries many potentially strategic benefits such as the ability to survive more extreme conditions of drought and flooding after establishment, as well as the potential for carbon sequestration deeper in the soil profile. Potential drawbacks, such as the possibility of a larger water consumption by perennial crops, also need to be factored in the decisions and planning. By selecting specific positions on the landscape to grow perennial bioenergy crops and enable these ecosystem services, we can design bioenergy landscapes that balance productivity and environmental performance, are socially acceptable and deliver on much more than bioenergy and bioproducts.