ENERGY CROPS IN EUROPE: WHAT CAN WE GROW AND WHERE CAN WE GROW IT TO SUPPORT A SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AND BIO-BASED INDUSTRY

摘要

This work reflects the climate requirements of energy crops that have been taken into account in orderrnto define the suitable lands for their cultivation. In the Eurobioref project focus is given on specific non-food oil cropsrnand perennial crops based on their favourable oil properties for the various green chemical products dealt in thisrnproject. New non-food oil crops were studied in field trials in Greece and Poland. The suitability of the crops for eachrnenvironmental zone is defined mainly based on the climate requirements of each crop as they are defined by the croprnecology (areas of origin), biology (tolerance in abiotic stresses, etc.) and physiology (nutrients and soil requirements,rngrowing season, radiation use efficiency, water and nutrients use efficiency, etc.). For that purpose, available climaticrndata sets, land use – land cover data sets and elevation data sets were used.