Manure - only Exemption: Anaerobic digesters processing only manure and
agricultural feedstocks do not require a DEP license.
Tags: anaerobic digestion, biogas, Ofgem, Renewables Obligation, feedstocks,
agricultural feedstocks, food waste, emiliano lewis
Aims to source 100 % of
its agricultural feedstocks from sustainable agriculture and to improve the lives of 1 billion people.
Sugar cane is the most economically attractive
agricultural feedstock for liquid biofuel, while maize and other cereal and oilseed crops from the Northern Hemisphere are less competitive under market conditions (Figure 16).
Not exact matches
The study examines options for lessening the effects of expanding
agricultural production prompted by fuels, such as using currently marginal or degraded land for fuels
feedstock production.
HTL may also be used to make fuel from other types of wet organic
feedstock, such as
agricultural waste.
«The
agricultural market might seem smaller, but it has a very large carbon footprint, and turning acid whey into a
feedstock that animals can eat is an important example of the closed cycles that we need in a sustainable society,» Angenent says.
Agricultural waste and other fuel
feedstocks are packed with oxygen that needs to be replaced with hydrogen.
Accounting for emissions from indirect land - use change pushes up abatement costs for
agricultural biofuels to between # 215 and # 5,540 ($ 330 - 8,500) per tonne of CO2e depending on the
feedstock used, says the report.
The American Lung Association does not support biomass combustion for electricity production, a category that includes wood, wood products,
agricultural residues or forest wastes, and potentially highly toxic
feedstocks, such as construction and demolition waste.
Advanced biofuels can be derived from lignocellulosic
feedstocks, such as
agricultural waste (e.g., corn stover, wheat straw, rice hulls),
agricultural processing byproducts (e.g., corn fiber or sugar cane bagasse), forestry and wood processing waste, the paper portion of municipal solid waste, or dedicated energy crops such as switchgrass.
The most common
feedstocks will likely be
agricultural wastes, such as rice straw, or natural grasses such as switchgrass, a variety of prairie grass that is often planted on soil bank land to replenish the soil's fertility.
Currently, only a small share of such residues is available for energy generation but, as bioenergy production increases,
agricultural residues may become more important biofuel
feedstocks.
Overall the researchers note that «converting tropical rainforests requires ~ 30 - 300 years for carbon payback for all
feedstock crops, even when accounting for these major changes in energy and
agricultural technology.»
Other studies of nearly decarbonizing the power sector by mid-century show that more efficient, advanced biopower technologies using low - carbon
feedstocks, such as
agricultural residues and energy crops, could provide a modest contribution of up to 15 percent of U.S. electricity generation (NREL 2012, UCS 2013).
All three Drawdown scenarios show
agricultural production sufficient to meet food demand and provide a surplus that can be used in bio-based industry, for example as
feedstock for bioplastic production.
They are fueled by gas from digestion of biomass
feedstocks such as manure,
agricultural waste, food waste, and other wastes.
If
agricultural croplands are drawn into the production of biofuel
feedstocks, commodity prices are expected to rise, triggering land conversions overseas, releasing carbon emissions, and offsetting the carbon reductions expected from bioenergy.
To date, renewable hydrocarbon - based fuel substitutes have required the complex, multi-step conversion of algal or other
agricultural biomass
feedstocks into fuel pre-cursors, and subsequent chemical upgrading.
The waste
feedstocks for the process will most likely come from a mixture of sources ranging from food scraps and other household material such as grass and tree cuttings, to
agricultural and industrial waste.
Cellulosic ethanol companies convert
agricultural or forestry residues into ethanol, while portable generators use similar
feedstock, such as wood chips, to make electricity.
Issues facing the U.S. biofuels industry include potential
agricultural «
feedstock» supplies, and the associated market and environmental effects of a major shift in U.S.
agricultural production; the energy supply needed to grow
feedstocks and process them into fuel; and barriers to expanded infrastructure needed to deliver more and more biofuels to the market....
This approach can be extended to a complete industrial ecosystem, e.g. recycling «waste» outputs from industrial and
agricultural processes as
feedstock or energy inputs for other industries and users - cascading and integrating to increase overall materials and energy efficiency, and, where possible topping up with renewables to drive the system.