Renewable Energy Production from Energy Crops and Agricultural Residues

• Other Authors: Pari, Luigi (Editor)
• Format: Electronic Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Basel, Switzerland MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2021
• Subjects: Research & information: general; Technology: general issues; bioenergy; crop by-products; harvesting methods; maize cob; wheat chaff; combine harvesting; olive groves; pruning; stationary chipper; harvesting system; hog fuel; pruning supply chain; populus; biomass; yield energy value; lower heating value; ash content; sulphur; circular bioeconomy; oil crops; agricultural residues; thermophysical and chemical features; wheat; straw; weed seed; biocommodity; threshing; pruning harvesting; biomass quality; slope; work productivity; bioresource; cereals; commodity; harvest index; staple foods; triticum; Miscanthus x giganteus; environmental impact; agricultural production; digestate; eucalyptus; woody biomass; storage of fine wood chips; moisture content; calorific value; dry matter loss; Eucalyptus; tree whole stem; firewood logs; storage system; renewable energy; harvesting; suitable areas; Central Italy; Corine Land Cover; short rotation coppice; Salix; genotype × site interaction; nitrogen content; sulphur content; willow biomass; soil organic carbon; life cycle assessment; spatial analysis; greenhouse gas emissions; energy return on investment; lignocellulosic biomass; hydrothermal pretreatment; enzymatic hydrolysis; sugar yield; high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis; externalities; economic analysis; willow biomass production; new varieties; sustainable production; renewable energy sources; biofuels; agriculture residues; forecasting; modelling; Poland; work performance; harvesting loss; fuelwood; cable yarder; CO2 emission; pine plantations; time study; energy efficiency; agroenvironmental mapping; energy crop; Jatropha curcas L.; land suitability; bio-based supply chains; integrated biomass logistical center; mixed integer programming model
• Online Access: DOAB: download the publication; DOAB: description of the publication

Energies is open to submissions for a Special Issue on "Renewable Energy Production from Energy Crops and Agricultural Residues". Biomass represents an important source of renewable and sustainable energy production. Its increasing consumption is mainly related to the increase in global energy demand and fossil fuel prices, but also to a lower environmental impact compared to non-renewable fuels. These factors take RED II directives into consideration. In the past, forestry interventions were the main supply source of biomass, but in recent decades two others sources have entered the international scene. These are dedicated energy crops and agricultural residues, which are important sources of biomass for biofuel and bioenergy. Below, we consider four main value chains: • Oil crops: Oil production from non-food oilseed crops (such as camelina, Crambe, safflower, castor, cuphea, cardoon, etc.), oil extraction, and oil utilization for fuel production. • Lignocellulosic crops: Biomass production from perennial grasses (miscanthus, giant reed, switchgrass, reed canary grass, etc.), woody crops (willow, poplar, Robinia, eucalyptus, etc.), and agricultural residues (pruning, maize cob, maize stalks, wheat chaff, sugar cane straw, etc.), considering two main transformation systems: 1. Electricity/heat production 2. Second-generation ethanol production • Carbohydrate crops (cereals, sweet sorghum, sugar beets, sugar cane, etc.) for ethanol production. • Fermentable crops (maize, barley, triticale, Sudan grass, sorghum, etc.) and agricultural residues (chaff, maize stalks and cob, fruit and vegetable waste, etc.) for production of biogas and/or biomethane.