FOBIO

The aim of this project is to demonstrate an integrated biorefinery concept with co-production of energy, protein feed, and fertilizer products. Whole crop sugar beets (beet and top) are forming the primary feedstock supplemented with other wet green biomasses (grass, green rye, ect.) harvested continuously over the growing season to ensure maintenance of an energy production throughout the year. Main focus will be to develop a sustainable technology in which utilisation of all components of the biomass are maximized.

 
The dilemma of production of biomass for bioenergy at the expense of food and fodder is well known. With this in mind this project will demonstrate a concept to combine production of bioenergy and fodder and bring to light the synergistic effects as a way to optimize utilization of biomass. Focus will be on total use of the whole biomass/crop as well as high net productivity per unit area to achieve a satisfactory energy balance. Political and strategic research is focused on extracting energy from residues thus not affecting food production. But, focus should also address other viable systems involving crops for energy purposes in order to achieve the political goals of sustainable energy production.

     
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The contribution of biofuels to combat climate change is hotly debated. Feedstock are called for combined high biofuel yields and energy gains while at the same time significant green house gas emissions are obtained. Sugar beet, a traditional crop in Denmark and many other European countries, may meet these objectives.

The FOBIO project will make it possible to re-introduce a highly productive crop into today’s farming systems. Sugar beet is otherwise no longer attractive in the modern agriculture due to mainly economic and practical reasons – beet roots are expensive and labor intensive to handle compared to the feed value they represent. In the FOBIO project the value of sugar beets will be increased by producing both bioenergy and a high value protein product. Furthermore, a high drymatter pulp will be easier to handle as a feed product and more energy dense than the raw beet root. The use of sugar beet in this concept would only affect feed and food production minimally since more biomass will be produced per unit area, and only a portion is used for bioenergy. Through the FOBIO project agriculture can contribute to the overall objective of bioenergy production in an economical and ethical manner.

Cultivation area is seen as a limiting factor for the future plant production. Under Danish growing conditions it is difficult to achieve higher yields per hectare with any other crop than those achieved with beets and in addition the chemical composition of beets is very well suited for energy production, since a high fraction of the sugars are easily available for microbial fermentation, eliminating expensive and energy consuming pre-treatment of the biomass. Approximately 50% of the biomass can be used for energy production while maintaining production of animal feed.

The specific aim of the FOBIO project is to:
  1. Demonstrate synergistic effects of combined fodder and energy production based on high performance, easily convertible (to energy) agricultural crops; primarily sugar beet.
  2. Qualify and quantify the value of the feed products which will be produced in the biorefinery concept, including the high protein product. Furthermore, the process will be optimized based on distribution of energy between feed and bioenergy.
  3. Screening of potential methods for increasing biomass yield per hectare by experimenting with different varieties of beets and assessing different cultivation strategies.
  4. Analyze and perform an economic evaluation of harvest and storage methods.
  5. Analyze and perform an economic evaluation of biorefinery concepts.
  6. Perform sustainability assessment of the different farming strategies.

Participants:
CBMI, AgroTech, Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy DTU, Nordic Beet Research - Alstedgård, I/S Kuhr Hedegaard, Faculty of agricultural sciences Aarhus Univercity.

Coordinator:
Karl Martin Schelde from Centre for Bioenergy and environmental technology Innovation CBMI.

Role:
Risø is responsible for the sustainability assessments and for design and comparison of different biorefinery designs in Super Pro Designer, in order to find the optimal utilisation of the whole sugar beet biomass (beet and top).

Resources:
Law on Innovation

Duration:
FOBIO is funded to run from 2008 through 2010

Employees involved:
Henrik Hauggaard-Nielsen, Mette Hedegaard Thomsen

 

Page updated  by   08.10.2010


Mette Hedegaard Thomsen

Biosystems (BIO)
Dir tel+45 46774223