Session 1. Gather practical experience gained with the cultivation of traditional bioenergy crops in the Mediterranean with respect to their environmental pressure and yields. Chair: J. Fernandez Gonzalez, UPM, Madrid Co-chair: V. Pignatelli, ENEA, Italy Rapporteur: M. Christou, CRES, Greece

 Man has never “grown” for biomass production as he has done for food crops so there is scarce information on yield figures, adaptability, varieties…  We are testing agricultural crops for energy uses.  Strong restrictions to the selection of energy crops in south EU  Agroenergy involves whole system approach and evaluation of all the potential products (energy, biofuels, fertilizers, industrial products, etc.)

FACTS ENCOURAGING ENERGY CROPS DEPLOYMENT IN THE EU AND MEDITERANNEAN  Availability of lands as a result of CAP and EU support to non-food crops  Need of finding alternative energy sources  Need of developing systems to mitigate carbon emissions  Need of finding solutions to the growing demands of energy from developing countries

ENERGY CROPS VS AGRICULTURAL CROPS  Positive energy balance  Species dedicated only for energy purposes and therefore handled and valued for their energy content, not for the nutrient content  Polyculture – multicropping farming  The whole crop is used  Better environmental balance  Ash might be recycled as fertilizer  Energy crops may be grown on set-aside lands, with low inputs

REQUIREMENTS FROM ENERGY CROPS  Biomass characteristics to meet conversion requirements and positive energy balance for the whole chain  Sustainable (high) yields with low inputs  Select crop species for marginal lands  Introduce environmentally friendly crop management  Crop mechanization based on conventional agricultural machinery  The conversion plants should be located close to the farms in contrast to the traditional food agriculture

CROP TYPES Oil crops  Traditional crops need subsidies to be economic and the oil produced is for human consumption (competitive markets).  For new crops whole crop usage favors the economics of the whole biomass chain. RTD required on varieties… Ethanol crops  For traditional crops the energy balance is non- favorable.  New crops with high water use efficiency have to be considered.  RTD required (i.e harvest before sugar translocation from stems to the tubers). Lignocellulosic crops  Traditional residues have no price but when market is developed prices get higher.  New crops when well established they can tolerate long drought periods

Discussions A lot of data are available from many RTD projects but they cannot be easily translated to figures or answers for the industrial production. Two main problems are encountered:  Yield difference when shifting from experimental fields to large scale fields. That affects considerably chain economics  Long term cropping: for perennial crops the key factor of economics is the establishment costs so the lifetime of the plantation can be crucial to its economic viability. How long is possible to crop these plantations with low inputs and economic yielding potential?

 Small plots with Brassica carinata in North Spain showed great yield differences from large scale fields. It is not only high yields but also energy content and energy balance we should concentrate on  Crop genetics may improve characteristics of crops suitable to south arid conditions.  Given the limited availability of lands and the dry climatic conditions of the Med countries, combinations of suitable energy crops and all kinds of existing residues have to be used.  GIS tools would be very helpful in order to map pedo- climatic conditions and suitable crops for each environment.  Irrigation is a key factor for long term secure yields and resilience of the plantations (mainly applied to perennial crops). Conclusions

 There are lots of options for electricity/heat production and much less for liquid biofuels  For certain uses i.e oil production, traditional crops should be used as a first option, - they are best adapted to local environments - farmers are well aware of their growing techniques.  Adapting new crops is challenging - because crop-specific growing techniques may not be compatible to local pedo-climatic conditions - genetic improvement, species/varieties selection may solve this.

Topics need to be addressed  Plant breeding  Higher efficiency in growing and converting biomass to energy  Improvement of logistics  Improvement of economics (quantifying externalities)  Environmental considerations