Bioenergy and bioproducts from industrial...
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Bioenergy and bioproducts from industrial crops Efthymia ALEXOPOULOU 10/5/19
Transcript of Bioenergy and bioproducts from industrial...
Bioenergy and bioproducts from industrial crops
Efthymia ALEXOPOULOU 10/5/19
Biomass Feedstock
Biomass Crops
Agricultural & Forestry reissues
Wastes
The presentation will be focused on non-food crops
as feedstock for bioenergy and biobased products. Biomass Department of CRES has long-term
experience on non-food crops.
Bioeconomy: Biobased materials & bioenergy
Non-food crops
can provide
feedstock for
biobased products
and bioenergy.
Bioeconomy is
including biobased
economy and
bioenergy.
Non-food crops
Non-food crops (NFC) are considered those that do not enter the food chains and are used to produce a wide range of bio-based products including: polymers, lubricants, construction materials, pharmaceuticals, as well as bioenergy and fuels.
In the last decade there has been a great increase in the cultivation area of two major oil crops namely rapeseed and sunflower for non-food use (biodiesel production; first generation biofuels).
Currently, a wide range of non-food crops plantations can be found in most EU countries, targeting the production of biobased products and bioenergy.
Oilseeds (sunflower, rapeseed, castor, camelina, etc. )
Fiber crops (kenaf, flax, industrial hemp, etc.)
Perennial herbaceous crops (giant reed, miscanthus, cardoon, switchgrass, etc.)
Woody species (willow, poplar, eucalyptus, etc.)
Carbohydrate crops (sorghum, sugar beets, lupin, etc.)
Non-food crops
The non-food crops offering source for a large number of
value-added products and biofuels
Camelina (Camelina sativa L.)
Family: Brassicaceae Currently, is being included in
two EU projects: COSMOS &
BIO4A.
In ITAKA project (www.itaka-
project.eu) cultivated on
marginal lands in Spain for
aviation biofuels.
Its oil have high erucic acid
(many industrial uses).
Seed yields: COSMOS - 2 t/ha
(varied from 1 to 3t/ha). ITAKA
- 0.5 to 2.5 t/ha.
Oil content (%): 38 to 42%
90 % of the oil corresponding
to unsaturated fatty acids (30-
40% alpha linolenic acid, 15-
25% linoleic acid, 15% oleic
acid and 15% eicosenoic acid).
Camelina in Greece; COSMOS project (CRES)
Camelina in Poland; COSMOS project (UWM)
Castor bean (Ricinus communis L.)
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Annual or perennial and
indigenous in the Med. zone.
As annual spring crop needs
120-150 days to reach the
harvesting time.
It can be grown on marginal
lands, which are not
competitive with food
(economic viable solution for
non-productive lands). It can
tolerate pH 5.5-6.5 and saline
soils but not low temperatures.
It had been tested in
EUROBIOREF project.
Although, Europe is the main
importer of castor oil, it is still
not cultivated.
Valuable source for ricin oleic
acid. Its oil has international
market with more than 700
uses.
Comparison between Greek genotypes and new hybrids produced
by KAIIMA company (Israel)
Safflower (Carthamus dictorius L.)
Family: Asteraceae
Seed yields: 2 to 3.5
t/ha.
Oil content: 34 and
36%.
The oil contain 92-93
% unsaturated fat
(high quality edible
oil).
The protein content of
the seed meal is 24%
It can be grown as winter
and spring crop.
Growing period 110 to 150
days.
It can be grown
successfully on dry lands.
It has a strong taproot and
thus thrives in dry climates.
It has gained interest in
Spain where it is grown
that fluctuated from year to
year.
The chemical industry
interest for the high-oleic
varieties.
High-oleic varieties have
74-80% oleic acid and the
high-linoleic have 70-80%
linoleic acid.
Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.)
Family: Cannabinaceae
Annual spring crop.
Currently has been selected
by GRACE project (BBI,
Demo) as industrial crop for
marginal lands.
It had been investigated in
MULTIHEMP project
(http://multihemp.eu).
In Poland had been used for
soil reclamation.
Multipurpose crop, from its
stems (fibers, paper and
pulp, building materials,
insulation mats, etc.), from
its seeds (oil, seeds…).
The seeds contain 32.5% oil,
70% is corresponding to
polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Industrial hemp in Greece and harvesting of the crop in Romania.
Products from Industrial hemp (modified from Small and Marcus, 2002)
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Which are the main assets of perennial herbaceous crops?
Giant reed and Miscanthus: two very important perennial grasses established by rhizomes (and/or stem cuttings, plantlets)
Giant reed is appropriate for two climatic zones; the Mediterranean north and south.
In Europe yields from 7 to 61 t/ha have been reported. Its realistic dry yields varied from 20-30 t/ha.
The gross calorific value of its dry biomass is 4200 kcal/kg with ash content between 4 and 5%.
High establishment cost.
Miscanthus is appropriate for the whole Europe apart from the Nemoral climatic area (due to low temperatures in winter) and Mediterranean south area (due to its relatively higher needs for water).
It is cultivated in a total area of 4,500 ha and its yields ranged from 10 to 30 t/ha dry yields.
It’s the one with the highest research efforts.
Switchgrass and cardoon: perennial crops established by seeds
Switchgrass can be cultivated successfully in most climatic areas of Europe (due to lowland and upland varieties).
It is reported yields up to 20 t/ha for switchgrass grown in southern EU (www.switchgrass.nl) in the second and the third growing period (15-20 years lifetime).
Its research started from USA.
It is considered as a bioenergy crop with many used uses such as for solid biofuels, for oil production, etc.
It is a crop with low water requirements and is considered suitable to drought conditions of semi-arid Mediterranean environments.
The dry matter yields that can be expected could be up to 14 t/ha, while the seed yields could be 1.2 t/ha (25% oil content in the seeds).
The products of pyrolysis and torrefaction (the pyrolysis oil and biochar) can be used directly for energy production, but can also act as a feedstock for further processing and upgrading to biobased products
