The concept of an energy crop is pretty simple. Give some energy to get some bioenergy, then repeat, reaping the vast array of economical and environmental benefits along the way. But as Nils Rettenmaier at the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research located in Germany points out, &ldquo;You get nothing for free.&rdquo; Rettenmaier, along with several other experts versed in European energy crop development, put that notion to the test for a consortium funded by an EU 27 Commission. The purpose: to assess the future of crops in Europe used for food, feed, fiber and fuel, all of which are part of a larger picture.
The European Union&rsquo;s Renewable Energy Directive calls for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions by at least 20 percent from 1990 levels; energy efficiency improvements by 20 percent; an increased share of renewable energy to the tune of 20 percent; and an increase of biofuels usage by 10 percent&mdash;all by 2020. The work of the consortium ranged from life-cycle assessments for various potential energy crops in the Ukraine, to available land that could be utilized for energy crop production in Italy. And, although Rettenmaier says, &ldquo;There is always a disadvantage connected to the advantages (for energy crops),&rdquo; the idea of growing energy instead of drilling for it is one that bears repeating, and one that Europe, as the consortium shows, has already started embracing. The Markets 
To get a sense of the rising trajectory for biomass dedicated to energy, start in 2005. Energy crops for biofuels increased from roughly 3 million tons oil equivalence (Mtoe) in 2005 to almost 5.6 Mtoe in 2006. For 2010, the numbers equaled 16.1 Mtoe, according to Andrea Monti with the University of Bologna in Italy. Monti, who says the amount of renewable energy from biomass is expected to increase &ldquo;very, very steeply&rdquo; in the next few years as a credit to a change in philosophy that highlights the multiple products available from biomass, also points out that Central and Eastern European countries will show significant expansion. The expected growth, he says, can be attributed to more than just biomass for biofuels. In 2007, all the biomass that contributed to the EU&rsquo;s primary energy usage was 89 Mtoe, but to meet the 20 percent renewable goal for 2020 set forth by the EU directive, that number will need to grow substantially, ending somewhere between 230 to 250 Mtoe of bioenergy. &ldquo;The pace of commercializing new technologies will likely increase,&rdquo; he adds.
Along with technology, he also points to other forms of bioenergy that will expand. &ldquo;The market for bioelectricity and &lsquo;bioheat&rsquo; is still maturing,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We need to define the best process to produce bioelectricity and heat, [whether it is] gasification, pyrolysis or combustion.&rdquo; Currently, the EU produces 74.5 Mtoe of solid biomass, and in 2020 that number should reach roughly 230 Mtoe; biogas in 2010 equals 9.1 Mtoe, and for 2020 it will reach approximately 48 Mtoe; biobased products such as solvents and lubricants made from biomass will grow by 5 to 30 percent and 30 percent, respectively.
Technology developments and evolving biosectors will not, however, be the only factors shaping the markets. During his research, Monti also pinpointed which regions should or already do work best for particular crops, along with another researcher who participated in the consortium, Ewa Krasuska from the Institute for Fuels and Renewable Energy in Poland. Krasuska has worked on modeling land availability for energy crops in Europe. Monti&rsquo;s work showed that for the U.K., Germany, Spain and Portugal, miscanthus will be the energy crop of choice. For willow, the U.K., Sweden and Germany will be suitable areas, and for reed canary grass, Finland and Sweden will remain the frontrunners. He also noted Italy and Spain will be best-suited for poplar.
Walter Zegada-Lizarazu, from the Agroenviornmental Science and Technology department from the University of Bologna, says the most suitable crops, in terms of agronomic management, climatic adaptability and potential biomass production for northern Europe, are fast-growing trees like poplar and willow, along with perennial grasses like miscanthus. &ldquo;Under Mediterranean climates of southern Europe, eucalyptus, sweet sorghum and giant reed are promising energy crops,&rdquo; he says.
For available land&mdash;land not already used for food or feed production&mdash;Krasuska&rsquo;s work shows there will be 20.5 million hectares available by 2020, and 26.3 million available by 2030. These numbers happen, Krasuska says, by taking into account population prospects and crop improvements. Perennial nonfood crops can be used for diverse climatic and agronomic conditions, he adds, and the current fallow land area is quite heterogeneous.
&ldquo;Miscanthus is the best crop for bioenergy because it produces a lot of biomass and it&rsquo;s very treatable by farm machines,&rdquo; Monti says. &ldquo;But we have to solve the cost of its propagation.&rdquo;
The consortium&rsquo;s efforts weren&rsquo;t all about assessing land availability or which crops would flourish in which regions, however. &ldquo;If you want to introduce new crops to the agricultural system,&rdquo; Rettenmaier says, &ldquo;you want to know beforehand what their environmental impacts would be in order to select the most environmentally friendly and economically viable.&rdquo; This is where Rettenmaier comes in. The Future Impact
After spending five years working on life-cycle assessments for various things, Rettenmaier joined the project to perform them on selected energy crops that could conceivably be used in Europe. The crops he tested were selected by the University of Catania in Southern Italy based on climatic stratification in Europe. &ldquo;Europe was divided into climatic zones,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;For each zone an oil crop, a sugar crop, a woody lignocellulosic crop and an herbaceous lignocellulosic crop were selected.&rdquo; The idea, he says, was to represent a huge range of different climates that exist in Europe, &ldquo;and to combine those climates with the most suitable crops that could be grown in those zones.&rdquo;
Not surprisingly, Rettenmaier says there was a lot of difficulty conducting the LCAs. The problem, he says, is that it really depends on the system boundaries on the exact specifications that are used for calculations. In other words, &ldquo;If I&rsquo;m doing an LCA, I&rsquo;m putting a few assumptions in my calculations, and my neighbor might put a few assumptions in his calculations, so the results are hardly comparable.&rdquo; In all, he tested 15 different crops, and as others in the consortium had also inferred, miscanthus seemed to be a front-runner. But, he points out, don&rsquo;t draw any conclusions from that. It is not sufficient to think of a new crop solely based on its GHG levels and biomass yield capabilities. &ldquo;It is also important to think of the most efficient ways of using the biomass,&rdquo; Rettenmaier says. Although his work pointed to miscanthus as a high-yielding, highly capable GHG reducer, his work does not say &ldquo;this is a winner,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But, it indicates quite well that herbaceous lignocellulosic crops such as switchgrass or miscanthus are most beneficial in terms of energy savings and greenhouse gas savings.&rdquo;
Overall, Rettenmaier&rsquo;s work showed that every energy crop included in the study provided a GHG benefit, but that it doesn&rsquo;t help to grow a high-yielding energy crop and then use it in a low-efficiency conversion pathway. In that case, he points out, &ldquo;it doesn&rsquo;t help the environment.&rdquo; The Key to Growth
The one factor that will make all of the work by the consortium worthwhile and fruitful is a consensus, both politically and socially, says Monti. While his colleagues understand the benefits of biomass, Monti says there are still some people who think of a biomass power plant like a nuclear power plant, and are afraid of the consequences. Rettenmaier also makes a similar argument, and one that might seem alarming considering the source. &ldquo;You cannot solve this problem on a scientific basis,&rdquo; he says, regarding pushing for bioenergy via energy crop development. &ldquo;You cannot find an objective decision because you always have advantages and disadvantages.&rdquo; Think of it this way, he says: if a person is concerned about biobased products, all of the products (biofuels, biogas, biopower, bioproducts) are very safe and good for GHG reductions, so that person should basically just &ldquo;go for it.&rdquo; But, if a person is concerned about acidification, a process that happens when crop residues are removed from soil, for example&mdash;and one of the drawbacks for several of the energy crops tested in Rettenmaier&rsquo;s work showed added acidification&mdash;then a person might make a different choice.
And for Monti, strengthening the communication channels between stakeholders is important, specifically between the farming and forestry sectors, and the fuel and energy sectors. He also hopes his work and that of the rest of the consortium pay off, showing the potential of energy crop development in Europe and the ramifications from an expanded and supported industry.&nbsp; As Rettenmaier says, &ldquo;The policy makers have to choose whether they go for it or not.&rdquo; From the look of things, the work of a bunch of European energy crop researchers shows that 27 EU countries have already taken a step, and have put in the initial energy. The rest is pretty simple, as far as energy crops go, and the expected returns the EU directive is calling for will produce unprecedented amounts of bioenergy. And after their work to analyze the future, there&rsquo;s a pretty clear picture where to find miscanthus, willow, or reed canary grass&mdash;even if none of it comes for free.&nbsp; Author: Luke Geiver Associate Editor, Biorefining Magazine (701) 738-4942 <a href="mailto:lgeiver@bbiinternational.com">lgeiver@bbiinternational.com</a>

The Continent has a bioenergy goal—this is how to reach it

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