Towards multifunctional landscapes coupling low carbon feed and bioenergy production with restorative agriculture: Economic deployment potential of grass‐based biorefineries

Abstract

Grass-based biomass from grasslands can be used as feedstock in green biorefineries (GBs) that produce a range of biobased products. In addition, adjustments made as part of crop rotation to increase areas under temporary grasslands can yield benefits such as carbon sequestration, increased soil productivity, reduced eutrophication and reduced need for pesticides. In this paper, a flexible modeling framework is developed to analyze the deployment options for GBs that use grass-clover to produce protein feed and feedstock for bioenergy. The focus is placed on optimal deployment, considering system configuration and operation, as well as land use changes designed to increase grass-clover cultivation on cropland. A case study involving 17 counties in Sweden showed that the deployment of GB systems could support biomethane and protein feed production corresponding to 5-60 and 13-154%, respectively, of biomethane and soybean feed imports to Sweden in 2020.

Combining continuous data on soil properties and land use to explore soil carbon changes and soil structure indicators

“…An interesting new possibility to support increasing ley cultivation is the use of grass-clover biomass as feedstock for green biorefineries. A green biorefinery converts biomass into a range of products and energy 36,37 , effectively maximizing the potential of the biogenic feedstock by producing protein concentrates (substituting for soy imports), biofuels, and other biobased products 38,39 .…”

Environmental consequences of pig production scenarios using biomass from rotational grass-clover leys as feed

“…The concept of including GCL in conventional systems can be worthwhile in Europe because grasses can grow well in its relatively cold and humid climate conditions (Manevski et al, 2018) but having GCL in the rotation reduces land availability for crop production and can generate excess GCB. There are alternative uses for excess GCB, such as energy generation and protein production in biorefineries (Yilmaz Balaman et al, 2022), or for silage juice (Adler et al, 2018), but the environmental impacts of such side-systems were beyond the scope of this study and should be investigated in future studies.…”

Vallkonferens 2023

“…Modellen kan användas på olika nivåer, från gård upp till stora anläggningar. Chalmers har gjort en fallstudie (Balaman et al, 2022) som visar att det finns en stark potential för gröna bioraffinaderier i Sverige. Det uppskattas att proteinfoder-och biometanproduktionen från utbyggnaden av dessa kan uppgå till 154 % av importen av sojamjöl respektive 13 % av naturgasimporten till Sverige.…”