A Review on Potential Biofuel Yields from Cover Crops

Abstract

Millions of hectares of cover crops are planted in the U.S. and European Union to manage soil erosion, soil fertility, water quality, weeds, and climate change. Although only a small percentage of cover crops are harvested, the growing cover crop planting area provides a new biomass source to the biofuel industry to produce bioenergy. Oilseed crops such as rapeseed, sunflower, and soybean are commodities and have been used to produce biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Other cover crops such as cereal rye, clover, and alfalfa, have been tested on small or pilot scales to produce cellulosic ethanol, biogas, syngas, bio-oil, and SAF. Given the various biofuel products and pathways, this review aimed to provide a comprehensive comparison of biofuel yield from different cover crops and an overview of the technologies that have been employed to improve biofuel yield. It was envisioned that gene-editing tools might be revolutionary to the biofuel industry, the work on cover crop supply chain will be critical for system scaleup, and high-tolerant technologies likely will be needed to handle the high compositional heterogeneity and variability of cover crop biomass for biofuel.

Impacts of Harvest Date and Concurrent Alkali Pretreatment and Ensiling on Anaerobic Digestion of Pennycress Biomass

“…According to the USDA survey report released in 2021, to prepare for the planting of summer cash crops, most winter cover crops are terminated with herbicide or tillage, but also can be grazed or harvested as hay, silage, or for other applications [1,12,[15][16][17][18]. Cover crop biomass can contribute to energy production by producing biogas, syngas, bio-oil, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) [19]. Several cover 2 of 13 crops, such as cereal rye, carinata, camelina, rapeseed, and pennycress, have been tested for bioenergy production potential [19][20][21].…”

“…Cover crop biomass can contribute to energy production by producing biogas, syngas, bio-oil, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) [19]. Several cover 2 of 13 crops, such as cereal rye, carinata, camelina, rapeseed, and pennycress, have been tested for bioenergy production potential [19][20][21].…”