Crops for sustainable energy and materials
Intro
Crops for sustainable energy and materials
In addition to providing nutritious food for humans and animals, crops also provide us with heat and power for buildings and transport and the raw materials to make products. Plant biomass is an important part of the renewable energy mix because it can replace fossil fuels in ways that wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and tidal energy currently cannot.
Plants take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow. Harvesting and burning plant biomass releases carbon back into the atmosphere again as ‘contemporary’ carbon (Fig 1). This is different to the ancient carbon released during the burning of fossil fuels that increases overall atmospheric CO2.
Figure 1. CO2 life-cycle for bioenergy and carbon capture and storage (CCS)
At IBERS, we are actively engaged in developing sustainable sources of non-food biomass from land and sea. We have a major research emphasis on the high yielding C4 grass, Miscanthus, from Asia. We also work on indigenous perennial ryegrass, reed canary grass, and short rotation coppice willow. All these perennials can combine high yield potentials with minimal or no fertiliser /pesticide input. The ecosystem benefits of perennials include carbon sequestration, prevention of soil erosion and nutrient leaching, and habitat biodiversity improvement through more permanent land cover and reduced pesticides. As perennial crops can be difficult to integrate into arable farming rotations, we also work on selected annuals, such as hemp, for fibre and chemicals. Recent projects have also included marine biomass resources and fresh water algae, processed for high value products and water remediation.