Energy crops: prospects in the context of sustainable agriculture

UMR SYSTEM : équipe AMPLUSThe objectives of this review are to analyse the potential of bioenergy crops development in European agriculture and to identify research objectives based on transformation technologies. Bioenergy is the chemical energy stored in organic material, which can be directly converted into useful energy sources by biological, mechanical or thermochemical processes. The substitution of food crops with energy crops and the demand for agricultural raw materials for liquid biofuel production will affect agriculture over the next decade and possibly beyond. It is expected that both second-generation biofuel production technology and energy crops used will be more efficient than first-generation. Nonetheless, there are still technical limitations for crop growth and fuel production from second-generation technology. In general, many of the crops that could supply the raw materials for second-generation biofuels are largely undomesticated and are in the first stages of development and management. The development of specific crops dedicated to energy has been proposed as a strategy to produce energy without affecting food security and the environment. The research seeks to develop enzymatic systems for the cost-efficient decomposition of cellulose into its molecular sugar components, which can then be fermented to produce ethanol. This biorefinery of crops into multiple products, including energy, chemical products and materials, will augment the overall value of the biomass. Clearly, multidisciplinary research is necessary to address sustainable biofuel production