2.1Global Production of biomass/ biobased resources

Will global biomass supply be sufficient for food, feed, and bioenergy demands of a growing population?

Yes, but access is unequal

Examples of crops used for food, feed, and biomass

• Sugar cane (food and bioenergy)

• maize (food, feed, bioenergy)

• soy (food, feed, bioenergy)

• oil palm (food, bioenergy)

• miscanthus (bioenergy fibre materials)

Which crops used for food, feed and biomass are C4?

• sugar cane

• maize

• miscanthus

Which crops used for food, feed and biomass are C3?

• soy

• oil palm

C3 vs C4

C4 are slightly more efficient at sequestering CO2

How is the majority of biomass harvested used?

animal feed and food

How many km² are used for livestock—grazing and crops for animal feed?

38 million km²

How many km² are used for crops?

10 km²

Chicken, eggs and milk a better return on:

feed “investment”

Feed conversion ratio (FCR)

Amount of feed (kg dry mass) needed by an animal to produce a unit (1 kg) of meat, milk, eggs.

In North America, the largest FCR is related to what animal product?

Beef

In terms of residue:

Grains, at best, equal to stem/leaf/root mass, what do we do with the leftover biomass?

Biorefinery

In terms of residue:

Grains, at best, equal to stem/leaf/root mass, what do we do with the leftover biomass? BIOREFINERY

Take these residues→convert the sugars in the plant’s cell walls, ferment product→ distillate→ fuel

In terms of residue:

Grains, at best, equal to stem/leaf/root mass, what do we do with the leftover biomass? BIOREFINERY

What is the yield of ethanol for 1kg of maize straw?

0.29L of ethanol

In terms of residue:

Grains, at best, equal to stem/leaf/root mass, what do we do with the leftover biomass? BIOREFINERY

What is the yield of ethanol for 1 ton of maize straw?

290L of ethanol

In terms of residue:

Grains, at best, equal to stem/leaf/root mass, what do we do with the leftover biomass? BIOREFINERY

What is the yield of ethanol for sugarcane and corn starch?

0.50L and 0.46L

Understand differences in yields across plant types: crops

Conventional vs organic crops

Depends on the farm method practices (use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides)

Understand differences in yields across plant types: crops

What are some examples of selected crops used as food/feed?

oat- grain

barley- grain

Maize - grain

Rapeseed - seed

Sugar beets - turnip

Understand differences in yields across plant types: crops

How are the average yields of selected crops used as food/feed measured?

in t dm/ha per year, where dm = dry matter

Understand differences in yields across plant types: crops

How does the biomass yield of perennial bioenergy crops like miscanthus compare with traditional food crops like corn?

Perennial bioenergy crops like miscanthus can produce up to 2× more biomass per hectare than traditional food crops like corn.

They only need to be planted once every 15-20 years.

Corn or wheat must be planted every year.

Yields for the production of oil and sugar

Bioenergy crop types:

• sugar cane - bioethanol

• miscanthus - biogas, combustion

• Switch grass - lignocellulose ethanol

• oil palm - biodiesel

• soy - biodiesel

• Jactropha - biodiesel

Where is sugar cane mostly planted?

Brazil, India, China

Fibres are:

a key resources and low yield

Dry Matter

what does dm mean?

Examples of fibres (t dm/ha per year)

• cotton = 0.79 t dm/ha per year

• jute = 0.47 t dm/ha per year

• flax = 0.66 t dm/ha per year

• sisal
  kenaf

• abaca

• hemp

• coconut fibres

Most forests have significant carbon

This is measured as:

Total biomass dry matter stock per hectare and net primary production of different forest types

Top 5 countries for forest area, 2020 ( million ha)

• Russian Federation 815 20%

• Brazil 497 12%

• Canada 347 9%

• USA 310 8%

• China 220 5%

• Rest of the world 1870 46%

Gt of dry matter used on a global scale:

11.4 Gt

Global biomass supply—

% of Harvested agricultural biomass =

40%

how many barrels of oil are produced/day?

100 million

How does global biomass use compare with global oil consumption?

Biomass: 11.4 Gt of dry matter used globally

Oil: Approx. 100 million barrels produced per day.

Marine biomass production

How much biomass does the marine environment approx.?

Approx. 0.2 Gt

Growth over time

How has marine biomass production changed over the past 60 years?

It has increased approx. 10-fold over 60 years.

Fisheries vs. aquaculture

Why has aquaculture become increasingly important compared with marine capture fisheries?

Capture fisheries: Have plateaued (stopped increasing significantly and has remained relatively stable.) because of overfishing and the natural limits of wild fish stocks.

Aquaculture: Has grown as a way to produce aquatic organisms through farming.

Wild catch has limits; farming can expand.

Uses and limitations of aquatic biomass

What are the main uses and growth limitations of marine and inland biomass?

Aquatic plants and algae: food, animal feed, fertilizers, and potential bioenergy and bioplastics.

Marine capture fisheries: limited growth due to overfishing and natural stock limits.

Inland capture fisheries: limited potential for further growth.

Why do we say that we are declining “sustainability” in fish stocks?

1/3 of the fish are in danger because of overfishing

Aquaculture production

How significant is farmed aquaculture production

(in millions tonnes)?

More than 60 million tonnes (60 Mt).

Fish-processing by-products

What percentage of fishmeal and fish oil is produced from fish-processing by-products?

Approximately 25–35% comes from fish-processing by-products that might otherwise be discarded or used directly as feed, in silage, or as fertilizer.

Bioeconomy opportunity

How can the bioeconomy make better use of fish-processing by-products?

By turning underutilized fish waste and by-products into valuable products, such as fishmeal, fish oil, animal feed, fertilizers, and other bioproducts, rather than discarding them.