Rapport Nieuwe Grondstoffen voor Biobrandstoffen Alternatieve 1e Generatie Energiegewassen GAVE-09-01

Summary 

This report contains a brief overview of various alternative crops that could form raw materials for 1st-generation biofuels, and includes a short analysis of the opportunities for sustainable biofuel production. A list of possible alternative 1st-generation biofuel crops is included that, remarkably, shows that few existing crops have been considered as bioethanol crops, but that these crops often appear to have certain prospects. At the same time, a large number of crops (over 50) were found that could possibly be considered biodiesel crops. However, only three of these can be certified to play an important role in the future.

It is important to realise that, in theory, any crop can be used to produce biofuel. The question is whether the total impact is worth it, compared to the impacts of using the traditional fossil-based alternative (petrol and diesel). There are a lot of aspects to be taken into consideration, and there are already a number of evaluation systems being used. It is also important to realise that the way in which the crop is cultivated and processed, and the way in which the cultivation system is set up, determine the eventual sustainability of the product – the biofuel. This applies to ecological sustainability, and (probably even more) to the social sustainability. Some crops can produce sustainable biofuel more easily than others. The following high-prospect bioethanol and biodiesel crops are described in the report: sugar palm, cassava, sugar sorghum, nipa palm, jatropha, castor and coconut palm.