Metropolitan Influence and Land Use Competition in Potential Biomass Crop Production: A Spatial Demographic Analysis

Biomass is one alternative energy source that is currently being investigated to combat the growing U.S. dependence on foreign oil. In this study, we explore where traditional farming practices and metropolitan influence will compete for land use against farmland located in optimal biomass crop production zones. To date, no consideration of the impact of urbanization and human development has been taken into account. Here we make a take a seminal approach to examining this relationship given previous analyses. We use overlapping LISA statistics to identify significant clusters of counties facing competition for land use. To measure competition for land use in counties located within biomass zones circa 2000, we use population growth and housing data from Census Bureau estimates, farmland data from the Census of Agriculture, and remotely sensed land use/cover data from the United States Geological Survey. The implications of these factors and how they will potentially affect biomass crop production are discussed.