On industrial crops

Some crops have always been grown for non-food purposes, for example flax and hemp for fibre. Recently, the range of these industrial crops has extended to include palm oil, sugarcane and wheat for bioethanol, oilseed rape for biodiesel and erucic acid and short rotation coppice and Miscanthus for biomass. Biofuel and biomass crops are expected to expand greatly as sources of renewable energy.

 All of these crops require nutrients and fertilizer use is essential for economic production. For energy crops, the ratio of useful energy produced to energy needed for production is important. One of the largest energy inputs to crop production is that needed for the manufacture of fertilizer nitrogen.

Energy cost and balance.

Yara has played a strong role in improving the energy cost of fertilizer nitrogen production that has fallen by around 45 percent over the past four decades. Studies carried out by Yara researchers have shown positive energy balances in production of wheat and sugar beet, feedstocks for bioethanol production. Fertilizers play a key role in harvesting energy and capturing CO₂. They stimulate plant growth, and the solar energy stored in the plants may be 5-10 times higher than the energy needed to make the fertilizer products. Growing plants capture CO₂ in their biomass, and if this biomass is used as an energy source to replace fossil fuels, fertilizers can help reduce global climate gas emissions.

The role of mineral fertilizer.

Accurate matching of nutrient supply to crop need is just as necessary for industrial as it is for food crops. The investments Yara has made in product development and advisory services will help farmers growing industrial crops understand agronomy needs, and ensure a strong future supply of renewable energy and associated reduction in CO₂ emissions.

Kuesters J and Lammel J (1999) Investigations of the energy efficiency of the production of winter wheat and sugar beet in Europe. European Journal of Agronomy, 11, 35 – 43.