![[BioMatNet Database - Crop Chains]](../images/Crops.gif) |
Crops
Crops for Industry and Energy in Europe |
Amaranthaceae
Apiaceae
Asteraceae
Boraginaceae
Brassicaceae
Cannabaceae
Chenopodiaceae
Dipsacaceae
Euphorbiaceae
Limnanthaceae
Lythraceae
Linaceae
Malvaceae
Onagraceae
Papaveraceae
Poaceae
Salicaceae
Other potential crops
A revival of interest in renewable resources began in the mid-seventies with the first oil crisis in the Middle East. Industries and Western governments realised that fossil resources were limited and could no longer be considered a cheap and reliable raw material. Further, consumer attitudes changed when it was realised that many very convenient industrial products and processes could seriously damage the environment. Finally, agriculture in Europe was faced with persistent technological progress, yet with a stable population and food consumption, and an agricultural policy actively encouraging the overproduction of foodstuffs. Across Europe, investigations began into the non-food uses of crops, both for energy and industrial uses, as a way of offering some solutions to these problems. The possible benefits and socio-economic justification of this approach can be grouped into three categories, namely: agriculture, environment, and economic.
Regarding agriculture, possible benefits could include reduced food surpluses, additional market outlets for agricultural products, new value-added products, and employment in farming and related industries. As the transformation of biological raw material does not necessarily require large processing units, a non-food industry, if developed close to the source of the raw material, could strengthen the economy of rural areas.
From an environmental point of view, non-food crops could enhance biodiversity by broadening the number of crop species grown in a certain area. Fossil resources could be saved for future generations, which has been an important objective of 'sustainable development' promoted by policy makers and industry in many international conferences in recent years. Bio-based products, having lower net carbon dioxide emissions than products derived from fossil resources, could help reduce global warming. Also, by using and adapting nature's own cell factories, industrial processing steps could be made simpler, milder, and more environmentally benign.
From an economic point of view, non-food crops could contribute to important developments in European research, with biotechnology being a prime example of a strong European generic technology which can easily be applied to give this sector a market lead. The full exploitation of European biological resources would reduce the dependency on products from developing countries and could improve the balance of payments.
In line with these potential advantages and the related policy reforms the European Union have launched several research programmes (AIR and FAIR) over the past ten years. These have dealt specifically with developing products and processes from both new and traditional crops along with the integrated chain from the farm to the final end-product. It was felt that a book which actually showed what these crops looked like and which gave a short description of their agronomy and potential enduses would be a useful document for a wide range of interested groups such as students, scientists, farmers, industrialists, and policy makers. With this in mind, the Commission approached the authors to prepare this publication which, for the first time, illustrates and catalogues many of the wide range of crops potentially available for industrial exploitation in Europe. The book complements two other related actions funded by the FAIR programme namely the NonFood research dissemination action NF-2000 which electronically disseminates information relating to EU projects and national activities, and the IENICA network which is dedicated to the promotion and analysis of Member State activities in industrial crops. These different initiatives will hopefully be instrumental in raising the profile of this exciting and promising domain which, in the long run, could lead to a competitive market-led industrial sector based solely upon renewable biological materials.
Ciaran Mangan
FAIR Programme Secretary
The 'energy crises' of the 1970s prompted development of fuels and industrial feedstocks, including those derived from plants. The sense of urgency has diminished, but price increases and resource depletion of fossil fuels are still underlying possibilities and alternative sources are an insurance for the future.
In the 1980s, 'agricultural surpluses', and the need for alternative uses of land and farm resources (to maintain farm incomes and rural employment) sustained the impetus initiated by the oil crises. These criteria remain central to the rationale for crops for energy and industry.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, the 'environment' assumed centre stage. While the modern environmental movement originated in the 1960s, its widespread social and political impact is more recent. The 1992 Rio conference both indicated and motivated concern and action. Environmental and related matters are prompting both regulatory constraints and market opportunities. Energy and industrial crops variously address issues of global warming, air, water and soil pollution, and biodiversity, as well as a growing preference for 'natural' and 'green' products and concerns for health and safety.
The 1990s have also seen the emergence of 'biotechnology' as a force with potential to influence many areas of life and endeavour. Biotechnology offers the possibilities, not only for improving crop performance, but also of introducing new characteristics into current crop species via techniques of genetic transformation. Novel chemical or biological processing technologies further widen the scope.
The above factors are the main driving forces to the development of industrial and energy crops. A crop's potential depends on its performance in terms of these criteria, and the rationale for providing subsidies for industrial and energy crops derives from their ability to address these concerns. An important element in the future of crops for industry and energy is, therefore, the development and application of techniques (such as cost-benefit analysis and life-cycle assessment) to evaluate their total social, economic and environmental impacts.
Markets
Energy crops can be classified into those providing: solid fuels for direct combustion, thermal processing (to yield solid, liquid and gaseous fuels) and electricity generation; and liquid fuels, notably bioethanol and biodiesel. Solid fuel crops include energy coppice, Miscanthus and whole-crop cereals. Bioethanol is derived from the fermentation of sugar (eg sugar beet, sweet Sorghum), starch (eg cereals, potatoes) or, potentially, cellulosic crops. Biodiesel refers commonly to transesterified vegetable oil, derived from Oilseed rape or Sunflower In the EU context, industrial crop products can be classified as follows:
High-value, low-volume products derived from a wide range of plant species and used in pharmaceuticals and healthcare products, crop protection and food preservation, and flavours and fragrances.
Industrial oils derived from oilseed crops and used in the manufacture of lubricants, surfactants, printing inks, paints and coatings and polymers.
Starch and sugar, derived from, for example, cereals, potatoes or sugar beet, and used in the fermentation industry and in the manufacture of paper and board, detergents, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and healthcare products, and polymers.
Fibres, derived from traditional or novel fibre crops (eg Cotton, Hemp, Flax, Kenaf, Miscanthus, Nettle ) and used in textiles, cordage and sacking, as alternatives to wood in the manufacture of pulp, paper and panel products, and as alternatives to synthetic fibres in fibre composites.
Resources
As is evident above, the greatest immediate potential lies in the use of major established crops, notably cereals, oilseeds, and sugar beet. Approximately 1.8% of sugar and 18% of sugar beet molasses produced in the EU are already used in nonfood applications, while more than 3 Mt of maize, wheat and potato (from >0.5% EU utilisable agricultural land) provide starch for the paper and board, chemical, pharmaceutical and other industries. Many significant potential markets for industrial crops (eg to manufacture detergents, lubricants, inks, paints, and plastics) would be supplied by existing or genetically-modified oilseed or cereal crops. Novel and minor crops, however, have an important role to play. First, a number of actual and potential markets are based on such crops, notably high-value, low-volume products, fibres and solid fuels. Second, such crops provide a safeguard against reliance on a few species. Third, they provide potential sources of genetic material to enable particular characteristics to be introduced into the main species. Fourth, they offer scope for many new products.
For these reasons, although pages are devoted, for example, to Oilseed rape, Sunflower and Cotton, the prime focus of this book is on these novel and minor crops. The plant kingdom offers a rich diversity of both species and products, beyond the few crops on which we currently rely. Some of that diversity has been recognised and developed. This book reflects both that diversity and its development.
To recognise that diversity, and because most species have a range of potential uses, crops are presented according to a botanical classification. In recognition of their development, the species selected are all established crops (although, in most cases, on a small scale) or plants which have received research and development attention in the EU in recent years (including via CEC-funded programmes).
The brochure, designed by Holdsworth Associates (Isle of Wight, UK), was published by the European Commission DG XII E-2, Agro-Industrial Research Unit, from whom copies may be obtained. Cataloguing data is as follows. ISBN 92-827-9415-6, CG-NA-17-468-EN-C.
Picture selection and preparation have been undertaken by the University Photographic Service. The great majority of the pictures reproduced in this book have been photographed at Sonning or elsewhere on University property. We are grateful to the following for permission to use pictures (as annotated on the individual Items covering the various crops): Dr P Harris, Kay Hart, Dr S. Jury, Dr M. Pascual-Villalobos, Departamente de Agricultura, Ganaderia y Montes del Gobierno de Aragon, WSRG, Forestry Department, University of Aberdeen, ADAS Arthur Rickwood Photo Library, Holt Studios International, Joost Mogendorff, ATO-DLO, Wageningen, and Dr J.R.A. Baert, Rijksstation voor Plantenveredeling, Merelbeke-Lemberge.
© Copyright 2006 Policy Statements
Updated
by CPL Press:
03/07/2007
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