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Biomass Resources: Agriculture

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Biorefineries

Part of the book series: Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology ((ABE,volume 166))

Abstract

Bioenergy is the single largest source of renewable energy in the European Union (EU-28); of this, 14% was produced from agricultural feedstocks in 2012. This chapter provides an overview of the current use (for bioenergy) and future potential of agricultural feedstocks for (amongst others) biorefinery purposes in the European Union. The main application of these feedstocks is currently the production of biofuels for road transport. Biodiesel makes up 80% of the European biofuel production, mainly from rapeseed oil, and the remaining part is bioethanol from wheat and sugar beet. Dedicated woody and grassy crops (mainly miscanthus and switchgrass) are currently only used in very small quantities for heat and electricity generation. There is great potential for primary agricultural residues (mainly straw) but currently only part of this is for heat and electricity generation. Agricultural land currently in use for energy crop cultivation in the EU-28 is 4.4 Mio ha, although the land area technically available in 2030 is estimated to be 16–43 Mio ha, or 15–40% of the current arable land in the EU-28. There is, however, great uncertainty on the location and quality of that land. It is expected that woody and grassy crops together with primary agricultural residues should become more important as agricultural feedstocks.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    As scientific literature mainly focuses specifically on the potential for energy crops, we also use this terminology throughout this chapter, although energy crops can also be used as feedstock for material/biorefinery purposes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, P.O. Box 80115, 3508, TC, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Ingeborg N. Kluts, Marnix L. J. Brinkman, Sierk A. de Jong & H. Martin Junginger

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  1. Ingeborg N. Kluts
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  2. Marnix L. J. Brinkman
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  3. Sierk A. de Jong
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  4. H. Martin Junginger
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Correspondence to Marnix L. J. Brinkman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. DECHEMA e.V., Frankfurt/Main, Germany

    Kurt Wagemann

  2. Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, University of Applied Sciences Aachen, Jülich, Germany

    Nils Tippkötter

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Kluts, I.N., Brinkman, M.L.J., de Jong, S.A., Junginger, H.M. (2017). Biomass Resources: Agriculture. In: Wagemann, K., Tippkötter, N. (eds) Biorefineries. Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, vol 166. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/10_2016_66

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