Bioenergy using crops as feedstock

BIOENERGY is energy derived from living materials such as wood, crops, or animal waste. Bioenergy crops are defined as any plant materials used to produce bioenergy.
These crops have the capacity to produce a large volume of biomass, high energy potential and can be grown in marginal soils. Bioenergy can contribute to reducing the overall consumption of fossil fuels.

It can take the form of solid material (biomass) for combustion or liquid products (biofuels) that can be used to power vehicles.

Bioenergy can be derived from crops including the giant king grass, palm oil, hemp, cassava and jatropha.
Given Guyana’s climate, soil types and topography, there is great potential for the production of bioenergy from energy crops.

A study conducted by the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI)’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Oudho Homenauth and Dr. Clairmont Clementson found that crops can be cultivated on marginal agricultural land, and in so doing they would not compete with food production.
The study, which was aided by Research Assistants, Lalita Gopaul and Vickram Persaud, was done early last year and titled, “Investigation of Bioenergy utilisation in Guyana, including environmental and economic impacts.”

The giant king grass, when cultivated in tropical areas can yield approximately 167 tons per acre annually and has an energy content of 18.4 MJ/KG. Hemp, on the other hand, has an energy content of 16.98 MJ/KG, while non-food parts of cassava have an energy content of 17.9 MJ/KG and jatropha oil has an energy value of 38.2 MJ/KG.

In Guyana, 2,980,836 hectare of land is categorised as poor agricultural lands with fertilisation potential due to the cost of transport of fertiliser to these areas. The giant king grass can be cultivated on these marginal lands unsuitable for food crops.
This would eliminate the issue of competition for agricultural lands that could be used for planting food crops. It would also cut the cost of transporting fertiliser to these lands since this species does not require fertilisation.

If cultivated on these marginal lands, 294,506,596.8 tons dry weight of giant king grass can be harvested annually, producing a year-round supply of 4,653, 204,229,440,000 British thermal unit—this has the potential to produce the same energy as 806,447,594 barrels of diesel annually.

Dr. Oudho Homenauth revealed that the fuel versus food use of agricultural land conflict is prevalent and has driven low investment in this sector, consequently the use of crops as feedstock for bioenergy is currently done on a small scale in Guyana.
Additionally, because of the lack of infrastructural support, only 300 acres of the allocated 5000 acres of land for the giant king grass cultivation, have been planted. The giant king grass produced is exported to Europe hence Guyana does not benefit directly from the bioenergy produced.

Like palm oil, the giant king grass attracts a better price for the raw biomass material and producers are more inclined to take the most economical route.
There were previous proposals to produce bioenergy from jatropha and cassava, however, these projects were not feasible since the allocated areas were inaccessible and also jatropha has fertilisation requirement.

The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre is currently conducting a pilot study to use the giant king grass and other species to produce propane and biogas. If the necessary funding and infrastructure are provided for the cultivation of fuel crops Guyana could be able to produce bioenergy crops on a much larger scale.