Biofuels are the only source of renewable environmentally friendly fuel currently suitable for road transport without any negative traits associated with traditional biodiesel or other green energy alternatives. The combustion of petrol and diesel produces many different types of local air  pollutants, but the use of biofuels may result in the reductions in emissions of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide up  to 70%. Impacts on land use require careful planning to maximise the gains and minimise the losses. The role of biofuels in organic farming will solve three significant problems: 1) waste will become valuable resources; 2) low quality forage products can be utilized for biofuels and thus get value-added; and 3) the trafficable damage on soil fertilities will be reduced by the minimized recirculation rate of bulky watery waste products

Akinyemi, Okoro Monday

Høgh-Jensen, Jensen

English

Organic Eprints

16th IFOAM Organic World Congress, Modena, Italy, June 16-20, 2008 Archived at http://orgprints.org/view/projects/conference.html   Developing Energy Plants for Biofuels Production may Comply to Organic Principles Akinyemi, O. M.1 & Høgh-Jensen, H.1  Key words: Biofuels, Organic Farming, Land Use Abstract Biofuels  are  the  only  source  of  renewable  environmentally  friendly  fuel  currently suitable  for  road  transport  without  any  negative  traits  associated  with  traditional biodiesel  or  other  green  energy  alternatives.  The  combustion  of  petrol  and  diesel produces many different types of local air pollutants, but the use of biofuels may result in the reductions in emissions of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide up to 70%.  Impacts on land use require careful planning to maximise the gains and minimise the losses. The role of biofuels in organic farming will solve three significant problems: 1) waste will become valuable resources; 2) low quality forage products can be utilized for biofuels and thus get value-added; and 3) the trafficable damage on soil fertilities will be reduced by the minimized recirculation rate of bulky watery waste products.  Introduction The use of energy has been increasing steadily since the industrial revolution and it has not shown any sign of slowing down within the next decades. With the current oil production decline in many countries, biofuel use for motor vehicles could help bring oil market into balance and reduce it prices. However, Governments and university researchers  have  designed  several  research  proposals  to  evaluate  and  improve biofuels producing plants as a bioenergy crop over the past years. Despite this effort, there are still a lot of criticisms regarding developing energy producing plants from a lot of scholars. Developing biofuels plant could help provide food for man, fodder for livestock feed and fuels for motor vehicles. Biofuels will benefit both developed and developing countries if researchers focus on the development of analytical assays that will give information to farmers, advisors and biofuel producers about the value of the product (that would enable researchers and farmers decide on the optimal use of the product) either as cattle feed, as biofuel feed, or as soil fertility enhancer. Research geared towards the evaluation of various typified scenarios as to the consequence on soil fertility and environment of the changes in land use will contribute to soil fertility and  reduce  the  rate  of  environmental  pollution.  Recently,  the  EU  has  proposed  a directive on protecting soils and their fertilities as compaction is identified as a major treat to soil fertility. The  European  Commission  has  proposed  that  at  least  10%  of  petrol  and  diesel volume EU will use by 2020 should come from biomass rather than fossil sources (European Federation for Transport and Environment, 2007). South African current policy is that by 2013, 4.5% of motor fuel sold in the country should contain either 8% ethanol blend or 2% biodiesel blend.                                                    1 Department of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Højbakkegård Allé 9, Taastrup 2630, Denmark 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress, Modena, Italy, June 16-20, 2008 Archived at http://orgprints.org/view/projects/conference.html   There have been several debates regarding biofuels use for motor vehicles. The main arguments put forward in most of the debates are that fossil fuels stocks are finite and are  not  renewable  but  biological  sources  of  energy  are  renewable,  biodegradable, produce fewer emissions and do not contribute to the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (Cook and Beyea, 2000). To promote evidence-based decision-making and good practice approaches in biofuel production, it is paramount to conduct comprehensive analyses for major projects and to share data and experiences through appropriate means for efficient improvement.  Materials and methods This paper is based upon relevant literature within organic farming and biofuels, a review of the applicability of biofuels within the organic principles. Energy crop for biofuels The utilization of energy crops produced as a source of renewable fuels is a concept with great relevance to current ecological and economic issues at both national and international levels. Energy crops and various wastes have the potential to reduce and stabilise the price of oil, which could be very beneficial to poor countries. About 17 countries in the world have currently committed themselves to growing various energy crops on a large scale. Energy production from perennial cropping systems, some cereals  and  leguminous  crops  which  are  compatible  with  conventional  farming practices, will help reduce degradation of agricultural soils, lower national dependence on  foreign  oil  supplies,  and  reduce  emissions  of  greenhouse  gases  and  toxic pollutants to the atmosphere. Developing significant national capacity to utilize the above mentioned for biofuels production will benefit agricultural economy by providing an important new source of income for farmers Previous research on bioethanol production from lignocellulosic waste materials have included crop residues (Kim and Dale, 2004; Zayed and Meyer, 1996), municipal solid waste (Mtui and Nakamura, 2005; Green et al., 1988), forest products industry wastes (Champagne, 2006), leaf and yard waste (Lissens et al., 2004) and dairy and cattle manures (Chen et al., 2004). The use of corn, wheat, peas, soybeans, sugar cane, grasses and other plant materials have shown significant improvements in the recent years.  To achieve the 2020 objectives set out by EU and USA, research and development on renewable  energy  sources  that  are  vital  to  achieve  widespread  use  of  liquid  and gaseous biofuels within the next decade is highly needed. Growth in Biofuels Growth in biofuels production may have unexpected economic benefits for farmers and researchers. Biofuels produced in the world in 2006 was about 44 billion litres. The amount of fuel ethanol was up to 22% and biodiesel account for 80%. Biofuels production is still very low and was accounted for less than 1% of the total global liquid fuel supplied. To continuously improve biofuels production, farming practices need to be re-examined if agriculture is to provide enough biofuels as well as food for a rapidly growing global population that is hungry for both. Further advancement in biofuels production will help countries that depends on the development of domestic biofuels industries  be  able  to  purchase  fuels  from  their  own  farmers  rather  than  spending 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress, Modena, Italy, June 16-20, 2008 Archived at http://orgprints.org/view/projects/conference.html   scarce foreign exchange on imported oil. Beside, purchasing fuels from the farmers will increase the farmers’ income therefore contributing to the economies development and creating new jobs for the citizens. World energy production matrix indicates that biofuels production is very low as it accounts for just 1.7% in 2006 records. Considering the environmental effects of both fossil fuels and biofuels, there is urgent need to conduct more research on the further advancement of the most promising ethanol producing plants. To date, conventional fuels  have  a  higher  percent  of  fuels  used  in  the  world  (Fig.  1).  However,  the  2. generation  technology  will  practically  change  all  waste  sources  into  valuable resources  with  significant  consequences  for  value-addition,  environmental  losses, transport  costs  associated  with  waste  treatment,  soil  fertilities  and  land  uses. Furthermore, environmental friendly crops like grasses from extensive areas or even grass-clover mixtures from intensive areas will hold great potentials.  Figure 1. World energy matrix 2006 (modified after European Union, 2006).      Ethanol Consumption  The world consumption of ethanol is expected to grow with 2% - 3% yearly. In 2005, the market value has been estimated to exceed US$16 billion.  The total world production of biodiesel in 2004 was more than 2 billion litres, of which more than 90% was produced in the EU25 countries and in particular in Germany (EU 2006). The production of liquid biofuels in the former EU 25 in 2006 was about 2 million tons of oil equivalents (MTOE), which is less than 1% of the total fuel market. There have been marked increases in production and use in the recent years and the market share is at risk of failing the EU policy target for 2010 of 18 MTOE used in the transport sector. Reaching the vision set means considerably increasing of domestic biofuel  production,  this  will  not  only  require  substantial  investment  in  biomass production, harvesting, distribution and processing but will need an agreed biofuel and biofuel-blend standards within the union.  The  expected  growth  of  the  biofuels  market  and  the  development  of  new transformation pathways require time to investigate new integrated refining schemes. The mechanism to improve biofuels requires further development of energy plants and investment of huge capital as bioethanol is growing quite slowly (Figure 2).  World Energy Matrix21%2%8%6%2% 36%23%2%Natural GasBiofuelsTraditional BiomassNuclearHydroelectricPetroleumCoalOthers16th IFOAM Organic World Congress, Modena, Italy, June 16-20, 2008 Archived at http://orgprints.org/view/projects/conference.html   Figure 2. Biofuel production (0000 MTOE) in the EU since 1993 (International Energy Outlook, 2006).    Conclusions The role of biofuels in organic farming will solve three significant problems: 1) waste will  become  valuable  resources, 2)  low  quality  forage  products  can  be  utilized  for biofuels and thus get value added, and 3) the trafficable damage on soil fertilities will be reduced by the minimized recirculation rate of bulky watery waste products. Thus, the  development  of  biofuels  in  organic  farming  may  comply  both  to  the  organic principles and the EU directive on soil protection. References  Champagne,  P.  (2006).  Feasibility  of  producing  bioethanol  from  waste  residues:  A  Canadian perspective.  Resource  Conservation  and  Recycling  Vol.  50,  issue  3.  Published  online  by Elsevier.  Chen, S, Liao W, Liu C, Wen Z, Kincaid R.L, Harrison J.H. (2004). Value-added chemicals animal manures. Northwest Bioproducts Research Institute Technical  Report. US Department of Energy. Contract DE-AC06-76RLO 1830. P135. Cook J. and Beyea J. (2000). Bioenergy in the United States: progress and possibilities. Biomass  Bioenergy Vol. 18. Pp. 441-455.  European Federation for Transport and Environment AISBL, (2007). EU proposes 'blunt' transport biofuel  target  as  Schwarzenegger  shows  the  way  forward.  Rue  de  la  Pépinière  -  1000 Brussels – Belgium.  European Union (2006). Biofuels in the European Union – A vision for 2030 and beyond.  Council. Final report of the Biofuels Research Advisory Council. Published by the EU, Brussels. ISBN 92-79-01748-9.  Green, M., Kimchie, S., Malester, A.I., Rugg, B. and  Shelef, G. (1988). Utilization of municipal solid wastes (MSW) for alcohol production, Biol Wastes 26, 285–295.    International  Energy  Outlook  (2006)  World  Energy  Outlook.  Available  online: http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/2006.asp. Kim, S. and Dale, B.E.,(2004). Global Potential Bioethanol Production from Wasted Crops and Crop  Residues,  Biomass  Bioenergy.  In  (Champagne,  2006),  Feasibility  of  producing bioethanol  from  waste  residues:  A  Canadian  perspective.  Resource  Conservation  and Recycling Vol. 50, issue 3.  Lissens, G., Klinke, H., Verstraete, W., Ahring, B. and Thomsen, A.B.  (2004). Wet oxidation pre-treatment of woody yard waste: parameter optimization and enzymatic digestibility of ethanol production, J Chem Technol Biotechnol 79. Pp. 889–895. Mtui, G. and Nakamura, Y. (2005). Bioconversion of lignocellulosic waste from selected dumping sites in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Biodegradation 16. Springer Publication. Pp. 493–499.  Zayed,  G.  and  Meyer,  O.,  (1996).  The  single-batch  bioconversion  of  wheat  straw  to  ethanol employing  the  fungus  Trichoderma  viride  and  the  yeast  Pachysolen  tannophylus,  Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 45. Pp. 551–555. 

Developing Energy Plants for Biofuels Production may Comply to Organic Principles

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