Cultivation on degraded land

Case study 1: Miscanthus for bioethanol production

This case study assesses the potential of producing 2G bioethanol using Miscanthus cultivated on underutilised lands in the UK. To make use of existing resources and avoid large capital investment related to building a new plant, this report analyses the retrofit of an existing 1G bioethanol plant to allow production of 2G bioethanol using Miscanthus as feedstock. Two cases were analysed depending on target area for feedstock cultivation, i.e., cultivation on underutilised lands within 50 km and 100 km radius to an existing biorefinery.

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Here figures show the cost breakdown and the supply of part of the miscanthus to feed the 2g plant. There is not sufficient underutilised land to supply miscanthus in the 100 km radius. Possible solutions would be to use alternative feedstocks, increase the productivity, and the collection radius (although this would increase costs and emissions).

Case study 2: Castor seed for HVO production

This case study evaluates the profitability of HVO production using castor seed cultivated on abandoned or degraded farmland. According to the existing HVO value chain, cultivation of castor seed and extraction of castor oil are carried out in Kenya while conversion of castor oil to hydrotreated vegetable oil is carried out in Italy. The cultivation of castor seed (Ricinus communis) for HVO production is carried out on 3000 hectares farmland located in Kenya, where about 6000 farmers were involve in land preparation as well as planting and harvesting of castor seed.

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Replicability of the two value chains well performed to analyse the cases in other regions of the European Union.

 

References/links in BIKE website: