A Review of Industrial Crop Yield Performances on Unfavorable Soil Types

Industrial crop cultivation on marginal agricultural land limits indirect land-use change effects that pose a threat to food security. This review compiles results from 91 published crop-specific field trial datasets spanning 12 relevant industrial crops and discusses their suitability for cultivation on unfavorable soil types (USTs). It was shown that the perennial species Miscanthus (Miscanthus Andersson) and reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) performed well on USTs with both high clay and/or high sand contents. Information on stoniness (particles sizes > 2 mm), where mentioned, was limited. It was found to have only a small impact on biological yield potential, though it was not possible to assess the impact on mechanization as would be used at a commercial scale. For soils with extreme clay or sand contents, half of the crops showed moderate suitability. The large yield variations within and between crops revealed large knowledge gaps in the combined effects of crop type and agronomy on USTs. Therefore, more field trials are needed on diverse USTs in different climates with better equipment and more consistent measurements to improve the accuracy of potential yield predictions spatially and temporally. Additionally, larger trials are needed to optimize cultivation and harvesting.

Reducing the European Union's plant protein deficit: Options and impacts

The EU has a historical deficit of plant protein and is heavily reliant on imports to sustain domestic livestock production. Using an economic model of global agricultural markets, this article investigates three policy drivers that could have an influence on the increased production of protein-rich crops in the EU, namely coupled payments for protein-rich crops, investment in research and development leading to higher yields, and phasing out of imported high indirect land-use change risk biofuel feedstocks. Results indicate that a one per cent annual increase in yields over the medium-term has a much larger effect on EU domestic protein production than additional coupled payments of EUR 75 per ha. Moreover, phasing out palm-based biodiesel only has a small impact on protein self-sufficiency. A significant unknown is how costly it will be to increase the yields on protein crops grown in the EU.

Diplomasi Ekonomi Indonesia dalam Merespon RED II

Lahan Kelapa Sawit yang sangat luas menjadikan Indonesia sebagai pengeskpor kelapa sawit terbesar di dunia. Pada tahun 2017 kelapa sawit menyumbang devisa kepada Negara sebesar USD 23 Miliar atau setara sekitar Rp 300 Triliun, ekspor pada tahun 2017 naik 26% dari tahun sebelumnya. Pada tahun 2020 nilai ekspor kelapa sawit mencapai USD 22,97 Miliar atau setara dengan 320,5 Triliun. Pasar ekspor kelapa sawit Indonesia telah menjangkau pada Negara-Negara besar antara lain China, Uni Eropa dan India. Namun, pada tahun 2017 Uni Eropa merilis kebijakan Delegated Act on Low and High ILUC-Risk Biofuel dalam Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) menggolongkan minyak sawit sebagai indirect land use change-risk biofuel (ILUC). Adanya kebijakan tersebut mendorong Indonesia untuk melakukan strategi diplomasi ekonomi dalam merespon kebijakan tersebut. Adapun diplomasi ekonomi yang dilakukan oleh Indonesia antara lain menghadiri pertemuan nasional maupun internasional seperti menghadiri pertemuan dengan Negara penghasil kelapa sawit, dan Joint Mission di Eropa. Mengupayakan lewat WTO, mengupayakan minyak sawit Indonesia bersertifikat berkelanjutan, mengadakan perjanjian dagang dengan Swiss dan kerjasama produksi kelapa sawit dengan Belanda.

Cost Benefit and Risk Analysis of Low iLUC Bioenergy Production in Europe Using Monte Carlo Simulation

Extensive surfaces of land are currently under-utilized, marginal and/or contaminated (MUC) in many EU and neighbouring countries. In the past few years, scientific research has demonstrated that bioenergy crops can potentially render this land profitable, generating income for the local populations and, at the same time, reaching the goals of the new Renewable Energy Directive (REDII) without interfering with food production. The main purpose of this paper is to measure net economic returns by computing benefits and costs of low indirect Land Use Change (iLUC) biofuel production on MUC land from the perspective of both the private investors and social welfare. A standard cost-benefit technique was applied to analyse and compare net returns of different advanced bioenergy value-chains in monetary terms. Productivity, economic feasibility and green-house gas (GHG) emissions impact were assessed and considered for the economic analysis. The considered pathways were cellulosic or second generation (2G) ethanol from Giant reed (Arundo donax) in Italy, electricity from miscanthus, biochemicals from spontaneous grass and cultivated Lucerne (Alpha-alfae) with sorghum for biomethane in Germany, and 2G ethanol from Willow (Salix viminalis) in Ukraine. For the risk assessment, Monte Carlo simulation was applied. The results indicated that in Italy and Ukraine, although the production of 2G ethanol would allow positive net yearly margins, the investments will not be profitable compared to the baseline scenarios. In Germany, the work showed good profitability for combined heat and power (CHP) and biochemicals. On the other hand, investments in biomethane showed negative results compared with the baseline scenarios. Finally, the Monte Carlo simulation enabled us to identify the range of possible economic results that could be attained once volatility is factored in. While for Italy the likelihood of yielding positive results remains lower than 20 percent, case studies in Ukraine and Germany showed higher certainty levels, ranging from 49 to 91 percent.

Multi-Criteria Analysis of Lignocellulose Substrate Pre-Treatment

Due to growing topicality of indirect land use change, greater shift towards second generation biofuels should be observed. In order to help smaller biogas and bioethanol producers, multi-criteria analysis of lignocellulose pre-treatment is conducted to elucidate the most preferable approach for lignocellulose pre-treatment. There are four main pre-treatment groups – biological, chemical, physical and physochemical pre-treatment. In this article three pre-treatment types were described by highlighting their specific approaches; using multi-criteria analysis a conclusion was reached that the most preferable pre-treatment option for lignocellulose biomass like corn stover or sugarcane is microbiological pre-treatment, as it showed the closest proximity to ideal solution.

Gap Analysis on Sustainable Supply Chain Model Derived from EU RED II and Ispo 2015

Palm oil today is consumed not only for health, cooking, and other daily product but also converted into biodiesel. The EU has included the use of biodiesel as part of their clean energy for transportation and one of its sources is palm oil. However, with the release of the EU RED II, the food and feedstock used for biodiesel are selected more stringent today. The EU requires the food and feedstock sourced for biodiesel to be categorized as low indirect land-use change (ILUC) risk and those categorized as high ILUC-risk shall be gradually phased out to 0% by 2030. This provision applies to Indonesia’s palm oil making the two countries come to file a dispute to the World Trade Organization (WTO). This paper aims to analyze the lacking of Indonesia’s palm oil sustainable cultivation measures that make Indonesia’s palm oil usage in the EU threatened to be phased out to 0% by 2030. With an extensive literature review and analysis of the two law products, this paper is analyzing the gap between the EU regulation and the ISPO certification system. It is found that there are 16 main points of difference highly concentrated on carbon emission calculation mismatch. In the end, this paper is proposing a new SCOR to be implemented in Indonesia palm oil cultivation while adjusting to its condition to ensure the low ILUC-risk and pursue the trade with the EU as the second biggest market for palm oil in the world.

Recent Developments in Low iLUC Policies and Certification in the EU Biobased Economy

The development of a sustainable biobased economy (BBE) in Europe is associated with several challenges. Amongst others, lessons learned from the development of the biofuel sector and the complex debate around land use change associated with a growing demand for biomass have to be considered when developing BBE policies. In that regard, strategies to identify and verify feedstocks with low potential risks for direct and indirect land use change (iLUC) impacts are of specific importance. Complementing existing efforts to assess iLUC with modelling activities, the European Commission (EC) has proposed a risk-based approach, aiming to differentiate high and low iLUC risk biomass. Amongst others, different additionality measures can be used to produce certified biomass with low iLUC risk. However, a comprehensive overview and analysis of these additionality measures and the challenges related to their integration in an integer verification approach is still missing. Therefore, we analyse European Union (EU) policies dealing with iLUC, iLUC risk assessment studies, certification approaches, and iLUC modelling studies to identify and develop additionality practices potentially applicable in certification and to show how the potential application of the proposed measures could be realised and verified in practice. We identified five potential practices for low iLUC risk biomass production, which are likely to be used by market actors. For each practice, we identified methods for the determination of low iLUC risk feedstock and products. Finally, our review includes recommendations for follow-up activities towards the actual implementation of additionality measures in biomass certification schemes.