PROGRESS IN ANNUAL AND PERENNIAL HERBACEOUS ENERGY CROPS HARVESTING AND HANDLING: PRELIMINARY RESULTS ON FIBRE SORGHUM AND MISCANTHUS EXPERIENCES WITHIN THE EU LOGISTEC PROJECT

摘要

Fibre sorghum and miscanthus are recognized as two of the most promising crops for providing dry biomass suited for thermo-chemical conversion processes. Despite their high biomass yield potential, several concerns may arise related to their economic sustainability. Operation costs for harvesting and handling, as well as biomass losses (i.e. quantity and quality decrease) along the supply chain can significantly affect final biofuel price, making biomass less attractive in relation to other renewable energy sources. Therefore, optimizing logistics of biomass energy chains is a key factor for reducing costs of biofuel production from energy crops. LogistEC project addresses this question through different demonstration cases linked to real industrial plants in different European locations: a biomass power plant conducted by Acciona company in Extremadura region (Spain) and a pellet production plant owned by Bourgogne Pellet and located in Burgundy region (France).