@article{ahmed_wijewardane_lu_jones_kudenov_williams_villordon_kamruzzaman_2024, title={Advancing sweetpotato quality assessment with hyperspectral imaging and explainable artificial intelligence}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2024.108855}, DOI={10.1016/j.compag.2024.108855}, abstractNote={The quality evaluation of sweetpotatoes is of utmost importance during postharvest handling as it significantly impacts consumer satisfaction, nutritional value, and market competitiveness. This study presents an innovative approach that integrates explainable artificial intelligence (AI) with hyperspectral imaging to enhance the assessment of three important quality attributes in sweetpotatoes, i.e., dry matter content, soluble solid content, and firmness. Sweetpotato samples of three different varieties, including "Bayou Belle", "Murasaki", and "Orleans", were imaged using a portable visible near-infrared hyperspectral imaging (VNIR-HSI) camera, with a 400–1000 nm spectral range. The extracted spectral data were used to select key wavelengths, develop multivariate regression models, and utilize SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) values to ascertain model effectiveness and interpretability. The regression models (dry matter: R2p = 0.92, RMSEP = 1.50 % and RPD = 5.58; soluble solid content: R2p = 0.66, RMSEP = 0.85obrix, and RPD = 1.72; firmness: R2p = 0.85; RMSEP = 1.66 N and RPD = 2.63) developed with key wavelengths were used to generate prediction maps to visualize the spatial distribution of response attributes, facilitating an improved evaluation of sweetpotato quality. The study demonstrated that the combination of HSI, variable selection, and explainable AI has the potential to enhance the quality assessment of sweetpotatoes, ensuring supplies of higher quality products to consumers.}, journal={Computers and Electronics in Agriculture}, author={Ahmed, Toukir and Wijewardane, Nuwan K. and Lu, Yuzhen and Jones, Daniela S. and Kudenov, Michael and Williams, Cranos and Villordon, Arthur and Kamruzzaman, Mohammed}, year={2024}, month={May} }
 @article{hossain_jones_godfrey_saloni_sharara_hartley_2024, title={Characterizing value-added pellets obtained from blends of miscanthus, corn stover, and switchgrass}, url={https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2024.120494}, DOI={10.1016/j.renene.2024.120494}, abstractNote={The current pellet industry primarily relies on woody biomass. Inclusion of a diverse feedstock, such as herbaceous biomass, is necessary to meet the rising demand for pellets in heat and power generation, and for biofuel production. This study was motivated by the need to densify biomass, improving its naturally low energy density, to reach the required pellet standards for biofuel conversion. We developed value-added miscanthus pellets blended with different ratios of corn stover and switchgrass and analyzed their chemical, physical, and mechanical properties. Pure miscanthus pellet durability index (PDI) was less than 85%, well below the ISO 17225-6 standard for herbaceous pellets. While increasing switchgrass and corn stover ratios increases durability beyond 94%, it also increases ash content from 1.6% to 4.6%, a quality unfavorable for biofuel conversion. The moisture content of the blended pellets varied from 7.12% to 12.45%, and positively correlated with the durability of the pellets. Pure miscanthus pellets had the highest bulk density, 633 kg/m3, while pellets containing 75% miscanthus and 25% corn stover had the lowest density, 564 kg/m3. The findings of this study also identified a decrease in the pellet bulk density with the increase in ash content and pellet diameter.}, journal={Renewable Energy}, author={Hossain, Tasmin and Jones, Daniela S. and Godfrey, Edward and Saloni, Daniel, III and Sharara, Mahmoud and Hartley, Damon S.}, year={2024}, month={Jun} }
 @article{huezo_jones_edwards_sharara_2024, title={Manure nutrient cycling in US animal agriculture basins-North Carolina case study}, volume={2}, ISSN={["1537-2537"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20545}, DOI={10.1002/jeq2.20545}, abstractNote={Abstract}, journal={JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY}, author={Huezo, Luis and Jones, Daniela and Edwards, Eric and Sharara, Mahmoud}, year={2024}, month={Feb} }
 @article{hossain_jones_godfrey iii_saloni_sharara_hartley_2024, title={Nth-plant scenario for blended pellets of Miscanthus, Switchgrass, and Corn Stover using multi-modal transportation: Biorefineries and depots in the contiguous US}, volume={183}, ISSN={["1873-2909"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2024.107162}, DOI={10.1016/j.biombioe.2024.107162}, abstractNote={The sustainability of the biofuel industry depends on the development of a mature conversion technology on a national level that can take advantage of the economies of scale: the nth-plant. This study addresses the logistic challenge of mobilizing national cellulosic feedstock supplies for a sustainable bioenergy industry. A Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model was developed and updated to deliver on-spec biomass that considers both a desired quantity and quality at the biorefinery. Our supply chain analysis includes multi-modal transport (truck and rail), varying depot and biorefinery sizes, and feedstock blends of corn stover (harvested by either a two- or three-pass method), switchgrass, and miscanthus. The following US states: Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Texas were identified as key locations for producing accessible miscanthus. Based on our most optimistic scenario, using trucks as the only transportation mode in 2040 with a cost target of $79/dt, corn stover, switchgrass, and miscanthus could help meet 48% of the EPA target, 173 million dry tons that translate into 7.8 billion GGE. The addition of rail transportation for biomass delivery to biorefineries could help meet 79% of the EPA target, 283 million dry tons that translate into 12.7 billion GGE.}, journal={BIOMASS & BIOENERGY}, author={Hossain, Tasmin and Jones, Daniela S. and Godfrey III, Edward and Saloni, Daniel and Sharara, Mahmoud and Hartley, Damon S.}, year={2024}, month={Apr} }
 @article{jones_gillette_cooper_salinas_hill_black_lew_canelas_2022, title={Cultivating PhD Aspirations during College}, volume={21}, ISSN={["1931-7913"]}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1187/cbe.20-06-0111}, DOI={10.1187/cbe.20-06-0111}, abstractNote={ This article compares the experiences and outcomes of 2069 unique students who belong to groups either historically well represented (WR) or underrepresented (UR) in science and describes the Biosciences Collaborative for Research Engagement (BioCoRE) undergraduate program using longitudinal data. BioCoRE aims to increase the number of people from historically UR groups in science PhD pipelines. }, number={2}, journal={CBE-LIFE SCIENCES EDUCATION}, publisher={American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB)}, author={Jones, Daniela S. and Gillette, Devyn D. and Cooper, Paige E. and Salinas, Raquel Y. and Hill, Jennifer L. and Black, Sherilynn J. and Lew, Daniel J. and Canelas, Dorian A.}, editor={Price, RebeccaEditor}, year={2022}, month={Jun} }
 @misc{jones_2022, title={Data-Driven Decisions for Food and Energy}, volume={8}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.52750/564142}, DOI={10.52750/564142}, abstractNote={You might not realize sweet potatoes come in all sorts of cool shapes and sizes. So why when you go to the grocery store, do they look all alike? Did you know how much power there is in corn? Computer programming, food and farmers actually have a lot in common. Daniela Sofia Jones, Ph.D., shares how agriculture data analytics is our best path to more efficient, sustainable, and resilient farms, the farms of the future.}, publisher={North Carolina State University}, author={Jones, Daniela}, year={2022}, month={Aug} }
 @article{grieger_zarate_barnhill-dilling_hunt_jones_kuzma_2022, title={Fostering Responsible Innovation through Stakeholder Engagement: Case Study of North Carolina Sweetpotato Stakeholders}, volume={14}, ISSN={2071-1050}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14042274}, DOI={10.3390/su14042274}, abstractNote={Stakeholder and community engagement are critical for the successful development of new technologies that aim to be integrated into sustainable agriculture systems. This study reports on an approach used to engage stakeholders within the sweetpotato community in North Carolina to understand their preferences, needs, and concerns as they relate to a new sensing and diagnostic platform. This work also demonstrates an example of real-time technology assessment that also fosters responsible innovation through inclusivity and responsiveness. Through the conduction of 29 interviews with sweetpotato stakeholders in North Carolina, we found that participants found the most value in detecting external sweetpotato characteristics, as well as the ability to use or connect to a smartphone that can be used in field. They also found value in including environmental parameters and having a Spanish language module. Most participants indicated that they were comfortable with sharing data as long as it benefited the greater North Carolina sweetpotato industry, and were concerned with sharing these data with “outside” competitors. We also observed differences and variations between stakeholder groups. Overall, this work demonstrates a relatively simple, low-cost approach to eliciting stakeholder needs within a local agricultural context to improve sustainability, an approach that could be leveraged and transferred to other local agrifood systems.}, number={4}, journal={Sustainability}, publisher={MDPI AG}, author={Grieger, Khara and Zarate, Sebastian and Barnhill-Dilling, Sarah Kathleen and Hunt, Shelly and Jones, Daniela and Kuzma, Jennifer}, year={2022}, month={Feb}, pages={2274} }
 @article{hossain_jones_hartley_thompson_langholtz_davis_2022, title={Nth-plant scenario for forest resources and short rotation woody crops: Biorefineries and depots in the contiguous US}, volume={325}, ISSN={["1872-9118"]}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.119881}, DOI={10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.119881}, abstractNote={Estimating the US potential of woody material is of vital importance to ensure cost-effective supply logistics and develop a sustainable bioenergy and bioproducts industry. We analyzed a mature conversion technology for woody resources for the contiguous US that takes advantage of economies of scale: the nth-plant. We developed a database to quantify the total accessible woody biomass within a distributed network of preprocessing depots and biorefineries considering both quality specifications for conversion and a target cost to compete with fossil fuels. We considered two categories of woody biomass: 1) forest residues from trees, tops and limbs produced from conventional thinning and timber harvesting operations as well as non-timber tree removal; and 2) short rotation woody crops such as poplar, willow, pine, and eucalyptus. A mixed integer linear programming model was developed to analyze scenarios with woody feedstock blends at variable biomass ash contents and cost targets at the biorefinery. When considering a target cost of $85.51/dry ton (2016$) at the biorefinery, the maximum accessible biomass from forest residues in 2040 remained constant at 106 million dry tons regardless of ash targets. Including short rotation woody crops as part of the blend increased the total accessible biomass to 153 and 195 million dry tons at ash targets of 1% and 1.75%, respectively. We concluded from our analysis that woody resources could address about 55% of EPA’s (Environmental Protection Agency) target of 16 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuel.}, journal={APPLIED ENERGY}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={Hossain, Tasmin and Jones, Dniela S. and Hartley, Damon S. and Thompson, David N. and Langholtz, Matthew and Davis, Maggie}, year={2022}, month={Nov} }
 @article{langholtz_davis_eaton_hilliard_brandt_webb_hellwinckel_samu_hartley_jones_2021, title={Nth-plant supply: corn stover supplies and costs in a fleet of biorefineries}, volume={11}, ISSN={["1932-1031"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1002/bbb.2305}, DOI={10.1002/bbb.2305}, abstractNote={Abstract}, journal={BIOFUELS BIOPRODUCTS & BIOREFINING-BIOFPR}, publisher={Wiley}, author={Langholtz, Matthew and Davis, Maggie and Eaton, Laurence and Hilliard, Michael and Brandt, Craig and Webb, Erin and Hellwinckel, Chad and Samu, Nicole and Hartley, Damon and Jones, Daniela}, year={2021}, month={Nov} }
 @article{forsberg_dale_jones_hossain_morais_wendt_2021, title={Replacing liquid fossil fuels and hydrocarbon chemical feedstocks with liquid biofuels from large-scale nuclear biorefineries}, volume={298}, ISSN={["1872-9118"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117225}, DOI={10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117225}, abstractNote={Liquid fossil fuels (1) enable transportation and (2) provide energy for mobile work platforms and (3) supply dispatchable energy to highly variable demand (seasonal heating and peak electricity). We describe a system to replace liquid fossil fuels with drop-in biofuels including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Because growing biomass removes carbon dioxide from the air, there is no net addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere from burning biofuels. In addition, with proper management, biofuel systems can sequester large quantities of carbon as soil organic matter, improving soil fertility and providing other environmental services. In the United States liquid biofuels can potentially replace all liquid fossil fuels. The required system has two key features. First, the heat and hydrogen for conversion of biomass into high-quality liquid fuels is provided by external low-carbon energy sources--nuclear energy or fossil fuels with carbon capture and sequestration. Using external energy inputs can almost double the energy content of the liquid fuel per unit of biomass feedstock by fully converting the carbon in biomass into a hydrocarbon fuel. Second, competing effectively with fossil fuels requires very large biorefineries—the equivalent of a 250,000 barrel per day oil refinery. This requires commercializing methods for converting local biomass into high-density storable feedstocks that can be economically shipped to large-scale biorefineries.}, journal={APPLIED ENERGY}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={Forsberg, C. W. and Dale, B. E. and Jones, D. S. and Hossain, T. and Morais, A. R. C. and Wendt, L. M.}, year={2021}, month={Sep} }
 @article{hossain_jones_hartley_griffel_lin_burli_thompson_langholtz_davis_brandt_2021, title={The nth-plant scenario for blended feedstock conversion and preprocessing nationwide: Biorefineries and depots}, volume={294}, ISSN={["1872-9118"]}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.116946}, DOI={10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.116946}, abstractNote={The sustainability of the biofuel industry depends on the development of a mature conversion technology on a national level that can take advantage of the economies of scale: the nth-plant. Defining the future location and supply logistics of conversion plants is imperative to ultimately transform the nation's renewable biomass resources into cost-competitive, high-performance feedstock for production of biofuels and bioproducts. Since the US has put restrictions on production levels of conventional biofuels from edible resources, the nation needs to plan for the widespread accessibility and development of the cellulosic biofuel scenario. Conventional feedstock supply systems will be unable to handle cellulosic biomass nationwide, making it essential to expand the industry with an advanced feedstock supply system incorporating a distributed network of preprocessing depots and conversion plants, or biorefineries. Current studies are mostly limited to designing supply systems for specific regions of the country. We developed a national database with potential locations for depots and biorefineries to meet the nation's target demand of cellulosic biofuel. Blended feedstock with switchgrass and corn stover (harvested by either a two- or three-pass method) are considered in a Mixed Integer Linear Programming model to deliver on-spec biomass that considers both, a desired quantity and quality at the biorefinery. The model solves for a network of varying size depots that supply to biorefineries of 725,000 dry tons/year. A total delivered feedstock cost that is less than $79.07/dry tons (2016$) is evaluated for years 2022, 2030, and 2040. In 2022, 124 depots and 59 biorefineries could be supplied with 42.8 million dt of corn stover and switchgrass. In 2030 and 2040, the total accessible biomass could increase to 215% and 393% respectively when compared to 2022. However, an $8/dry tons reduction in targeted delivery cost could reduce total accessible biomass by 67%. Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Texas were identified as potential states with a strong biofuel economy given that they had six or more biorefineries located in all scenarios. In some scenarios, Colorado, Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi and South Carolina would greatly benefit from a depot network as these could only deliver to a biorefinery in a nearby state. To elaborate the impact of a nationwide consideration, the findings were compared with existing literature for different US regions. We also present results for biorefinery capacities that are double, triple and quadruple in size.}, journal={APPLIED ENERGY}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={Hossain, Tasmin and Jones, Daniela and Hartley, Damon and Griffel, L. Michael and Lin, Yingqian and Burli, Pralhad and Thompson, David N. and Langholtz, Matthew and Davis, Maggie and Brandt, Craig}, year={2021}, month={Jul} }
 @article{jones_searcy_eaton_2018, title={Assessment of Perennial Grass Inventories Predicted in the Billion-Ton Studies}, volume={61}, ISSN={2151-0040}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.13031/trans.12505}, DOI={10.13031/trans.12505}, abstractNote={Abstract.}, number={2}, journal={Transactions of the ASABE}, publisher={American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)}, author={Jones, Daniela  Sofia and Searcy, Stephen   W. and Eaton, Laurence   M.}, year={2018}, pages={331–340} }
 @article{gonzales_searcy_2017, title={GIS-based allocation of herbaceous biomass in biorefineries and depots}, volume={97}, ISSN={0961-9534}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2016.12.009}, DOI={10.1016/j.biombioe.2016.12.009}, abstractNote={While sufficient biomass has been identified to meet the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2)1 targets by previous studies, availability does not equal access. Our objective was to quantify the potential accessible and stranded herbaceous biomass from different scenarios of predicted available biomass in both Texas and the US. The location and size of potential biorefineries and depots was determined using the geographic location of suitable lands for biomass, the transportation infrastructure and published economic constraints for minimum biomass supplied to a facility within a specified neighborhood. Our GIS-based heuristic addresses the capacitated facility location problem by distributing potential biomass along a county's suitable lands. Road and rail proximity optionally was included in the algorithm. The total stranded biomass in Texas was 28% of the total available biomass. Including the constraint of the transportation network accessibility (rail and appropriate roads) when determining facility location increased the total stranded biomass to 33%. Using county centroids as supply points and potential facilities led to an increase of 7% in total biomass captured by all facilities in Texas when compared to our raster-based heuristic. The nationwide accessible biomass is 90% of the available biomass, 78% of which is captured by biorefineries. In total, 77 biorefineries and 171 depots were identified in the US, which projects to 184 million Mg year−1 delivered to biorefineries and depots, or 65.3 billion liters of advanced biofuels, more than the targeted 60 billion liters of advanced cellulosic biofuel in the RFS2.}, journal={Biomass and Bioenergy}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={Gonzales, Daniela S. and Searcy, Stephen W.}, year={2017}, month={Feb}, pages={1–10} }
 @article{acharya_gonzales_eksioglu_arora_2014, title={An Excel-Based Decision Support System for Supply Chain Design and Management of Biofuels}, volume={5}, ISSN={1947-9328 1947-9336}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/ijoris.2014100102}, DOI={10.4018/ijoris.2014100102}, abstractNote={This article presents a Decision Support System (DSS) to aid managers with supply chain (SC) design and logistics management of biomass-for-biofuel production. These tools play a very important role in efficiently managing biomass-for-biofuel SCs and have the potential to reduce the cost of biofuels. The proposed model coordinates the long-term decisions of designing a SC with the medium term decisions of logistics management. This system has the ability to (a) identify locations and capacities for biorefineries, given the availability of biomass and costs; (b) estimate the minimum cost of delivering biofuels, which include transportation, investment, and processing costs; and (c) perform sensitivity analyses with respect to a number of parameters. Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is used to create the interface of the DSS, and Excel's CPLEX Add-In is used to solve the mathematical models.}, number={4}, journal={International Journal of Operations Research and Information Systems}, publisher={IGI Global}, author={Acharya, Ambarish M. and Gonzales, Daniela S. and Eksioglu, Sandra D. and Arora, Sumesh}, year={2014}, month={Oct}, pages={26–43} }
 @inproceedings{acharya_gonzales_eksioglu_2013, title={A decision support system (DSS) for biomass-to-biofuel supply chain}, booktitle={Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Computing in Informatics and Mathematics}, author={Acharya, A. and Gonzales, D. and Eksioglu, S.}, year={2013} }
 @article{gonzales_searcy_ekşioğlu_2013, title={Cost analysis for high-volume and long-haul transportation of densified biomass feedstock}, volume={49}, ISSN={0965-8564}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2013.01.005}, DOI={10.1016/j.tra.2013.01.005}, abstractNote={Using densified biomass to produce biofuels has the potential to reduce the cost of delivering biomass to biorefineries. Densified biomass has physical properties similar to grain, and therefore, the transportation system in support of delivering densified biomass to a biorenery is expected to emulate the current grain transportation system. By analyzing transportation costs for products like grain and woodchips, this paper identifies the main factors that impact the delivery cost of densified biomass and quantifies those factors’ impact on transportation costs. This paper provides a transportation-cost analysis which will aid the design and management of biofuel supply chains. This evaluation is very important because the expensive logistics and transportation costs are one of the major barriers slowing development in this industry. Regression analysis indicates that transportation costs for densified biomass will be impacted by transportation distance, volume shipped, transportation mode used, and shipment destination, just to name a few. Since biomass production is concentrated in the Midwestern United States, a biorefinery’s shipments will probably come from that region. For shipments from the Midwest to the Southeast US, barge transportation, if available, is the least expensive transportation mode. If barge is not available, then unit trains are the least expensive mode for distances longer than 161 km (100 miles). For shipments from the Midwest to the West US, unit trains are the least expensive transportation mode for distances over 338 km (210 miles). For shorter distances, truck is the least expensive transportation mode for densified biomass.}, journal={Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={Gonzales, Daniela and Searcy, Erin M. and Ekşioğlu, Sandra D.}, year={2013}, month={Mar}, pages={48–61} }