What are energy crops?
Energy crops are plants grown and harvested with a specific intention to use as fuel. These plants are usually divided into two categories: herbal, such as grass and woody, such as trees and shrubs. Stored energy in plants can be accessible by direct combustion, gasification and conversion into liquid fuels. Energy crops are generally selected for their energy content, ease with which it can be grown and harvested, as well as related cost of processing finite products. The non -flying parts of food plants used for the same purpose are considered to be agricultural by -products, not energy crops.
Several types of grasses show potential as a source of energy, while switchgrass generates the greatest interest; Revenues are usually higher and production costs are lower than other herbal plants. Switchgrass can achieve full yield capacity within three years and grows from a permanent root system, does not require planting for up to 15 years. Only a quarter of mnThe fertilizer necessary for most food crops and grass is remarkably resistant to pest and drought. Standard agricultural equipment can be used to harvest switchgrass, which is packed just like hay.
trees and shrubs used for energy crops are generally not grown to maturity because the lumber is not the final product. The short rotation of forest crops (SRWC) is grown with the expected harvest within four to ten years, while rapidly growing hardwood, such as poplar and willow, can grow up to ten feet per year under ideal conditions. The cultivated trees also produce up to ten times more wood for ACR than natural forests.
The two main use for energy crops is the production of electricity and as raw materials for the production of biofuels. The power plant could use crops in the steam boiler, burn them directly or together with coal, which is a practice called Cofiring. The process of gasification canBiomasabath processed into syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen or methane. Either can be used to fire steam turbines or as a source of energy for production.
Butanol, a long chain -like hydrocarbon, can be made of plants of herbal plants such as a switch, miscanthus and an elephant grass. Ethanol, alcohol fuel, is made of wheat, corn, sugar cane or any plant that can be used to produce alcoholic beverage, while bionaFTa can be made of vegetable oils made of energy crops such as soy, rape and cannabis. Lipids or oils in oil react with alcohol to the production of biodiesels. Although some biofuels can directly supply vehicles, most are used in a mixture with traditional fuels.