[en] Sustainable non-food cropping systems for arable land are being studied intensively both in Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe to find alternatives, in which the need for economic subvention would be lower than the export subsidies for grain or other food products. The area of arable land available for non-food cultivation is about 1 million hectares in Finland and 20 - 30 million hectares in the European Communities. In addition to conventional crops and afforestatation, it is possible to grow energy plants (willow, poplar, miscanthus, etc.) and agrofibre plants in these areas. Cultivation of energy willows or other corresponding plants of less than 5 m in height is usually not considered afforestation, as a willow field can easily be retaken into agricultural use with certain reservations (e.g., covered drains can be clogged) This article gives a survey of the alternatives for the utilization of non-food cropping systems

[en] An alternative to the use of fossil fuels, which produce greenhouse gas, is the use of biomass, since it is long term carbon neutral. Many topics are developed in this paper such as the conditions under which global biomass energy systems are economically viable, the characteristics and sustain ability of global biomass production systems. (TEC). 14 figs., 3 tabs., 13 refs

[en] Production costs for commercial-sized Populus plantations were developed from a series of research programs sponsored by the US Department of Energy's Short Rotation Woody Crops Program. Populus hybrid planted on good quality agricultural sites at a density of 2,100 cuttings ha^-1 was projected to yield an average of 16 ovendry metric tons of biomass per hectare per year (Mg (OD) ha^-1yr^-1). A discounted cash flow analysis of multiple rotations showed production costs of $17 (US) Mg^-1 (OD). Site preparation and planting were 30% of this cost, with annual management and maintenance contributing another 28%. Land rent and property taxes were major expenses, representing 42% of the total

[en] A study was carried out to: determine the factors affecting the cost of energy conversion feedstocks in short rotation intensive culture plantations of trees; determine the factors influencing biomass yield; identify interrelationships between the previous two objectives; present estimates of potential biomass yields and associated economics; and to identify gaps in the knowledge of the economics and yields of biomass production and their interrelationships. Reported costs for most aspects had a wide range. Currently, yields of 10-15 dry Mg/hectare/y are readily achievable. Using the cost and yield data, and assuming a biomass price of $40/dry Mg, a series of cash flow analyses were performed. For the low cost inputs, all scenarios were marginally profitable. For the high cost inputs, none of the scenarios were profitable. A current scenario, using figures for contract farming, was not profitable, however this system would break even with a yield of 23.3 dry Mg/hectare/y, within the range of some production clones. A future scenario using farm labour with increased productivity, product values, and machinery efficiencies yielded a profit-making situation. The addition of incentives increased profitability. There is great potential for the production of woody biomass in Canada as a feedstock for energy and other products. Continued and more intensive breeding and selection to develop high yielding stress tolerant clones, cost efficient harvesting systems, continued research into optimization of planting density, rotation length and cultural techniques, and characterization of promising clones with respect to nutrient-use efficiency, site requirements and pest/disease resistance are important areas for further work. 81 refs., 3 figs., 13 tabs

[en] An alternative use to animal fodder for biomass from excess grassland or grassland subject to certain impositions for species and nature conservation, or from compensation zones is that of thermal utilisation. Haymaking (''dry production line'') is less expensive than ensilage (''damp production line'') for this crop. However, the damp production line has the clear advantage of yielding a superior fuel quality due to the transfer of plant nutrients from the substrate to the pressed-out juice during conditioning. (orig.)

[en] The energetic contribution of biomass in EC and world figures represents a 14% of the whole demand. For developing countries this figure goes up to 35% and can be a source of employment for manpower decreasing in other sectors. At European level the CEC are promoting research areas through JOULE and LEBEN programs. Current European policy with big subsidies for intensive agricultural production has penalized forest and biomass production. Reforestation and biomass energetics crops are going to be a new strategy with 20 million Ha of agricultural soil transformed and between 10 and 20 million ha of marginal soil transformed. Biomass will be promoted keeping in mind environmental benefits like compost production for soil conditioning. A review of the different biomass sources and treatment techniques (bioconversion, thermal conversion and biodigestion), as well as environmental aspects are given

[en] An update is presented of a study carried out to: determine the factors affecting the cost of energy conversion feedstocks in short rotation intensive culture plantations of trees; determine the factors influencing biomass yield; identify interrelationships between the previous two objectives; present estimates of potential biomass yields and associated economics; and to identify gaps in the knowledge of the economics and yields of biomass production and their interrelationships. Developments in economics and yields in short rotation intensive silviculture for the production of biomass energy since 1991 are documented. The most substantial changes have been: the introduction of new clones in Sweden with a 20% increase in yield; illustrating the potential genetic gains achievable through selection and breeding; and halving of harvesting costs with new machinery. Harvesting costs with chipping incorporated have fallen to $51.21/dry tonne. The twin row ESM and Frobbester harvesters have lower estimated costs of $36.62 and $ 33.69 respectively. Agricultural based machines have further reduced costs to $19.42 and $26.12/dry tonne. Using these new data, three new scenarios were developed for cost of production analysis, using contract labour, farm labour or farm labour plus a subsidy. A contracted operation is now viable with an annual equivalent net value (AENV) of $35/ha. With the use of farm labour for most operations and omitting land rent, profitability increased to $127/ha. With a subsidy of $75/ha, the AENV increases to $205/ha. 25 refs., 1 fig., 3 tabs

[en] Technological, social, economic and environmental aspects of power generation from biomass (through gasification process) are discussed with special reference to India. Resource base for biomass is mainly formed of agricultural residues, agro-industrial residues and energy plantations. It is shown that in India power generation potential of biomass will be of the order of 61 x 10⁹ kilowatt-hours/yr i.e. more than 10,000 MW of installed capacity of thermal power plants by the year 2000. Aerobic digestion, combustion and gasification technologies are used for biomass conversion. Out of these, gasification is of special relevance to a country like India, because it has a wide range of applications and can be used on decentralised small scale level as well as on centralised large scale level. Cost of power from biomass for irrigation pumpsets, village electrification and captive power units for industries is given. Finally social benefits and positive environmental impacts of power from biomass are discussed. (M.G.B.)

[en] The utilisation of biomass through thermo-chemical conversion route for production of producer gas, is now an established technology in India. A wide range of standard designs of gasifiers are now commercially available in various capacities in India. Capacity range depends upon the mode of utilisation of the gasifiers i.e. 3 kW to 500 kW for electrical applications, 5 hp to 20 hp for mechanical applications and 0.015 million kCal/hr to 1.25 million kCal/hr for thermal applications. This paper presents an overview of the total cost involved in gasification process

[en] In-depth analysis of biomass as an energy source is presented. The analysis shows that biomass is one of the most promising energy sources which confer immediate gains and has an extensive long term potential. Biomass gasification technology even with the low level of technology as of now has a special relevance to a developing country like India. (M.G.B.) figs