European agriculture faces numerous challenges

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1 BIORESOURCE Sustainable intensification of agricultural systems in combination with biorefinery processing can produce more biomass for food, bioenergy and biomaterials Uffe Jørgensen Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University Foulum

2 European agriculture faces numerous challenges Productivity Biomass for food, feed, material and energy Stagnating yields Large import of feed especially soy bean products (97% imported) Environment High nutrient leaching (Nitrate and Water Framework Directives) High pesticide use Agriculture must contribute to EU climate goals (EU climate policy) The answer may be sustainable intensification more with less!

3 However, it seems to be hard to increase yields (sustainably) in existing crops in Europe Patricio Grassini, Kent M. Eskridge & Kenneth G. Cassman, 2013.Nature Communications 4, no. 2918

4 Grain crops utilize only part of the growing season Case: spring barley in Denmark

5 Innovative production systems investigated at AU Crop Rotation large plots (all crops Headline every year) 1) Energy maize (Amagrano) + Winter rye (direct sowing 31/10 one cut spring) 2) Energy beets (Debby) 3) Hemp (Felina harvest 12/9) + Triticale (sowing 10/10) 4) Triticale early harvest (10-15 July) + undersown grass clover (two cuts: autumn and spring) Crop Rotation large plots (one crop per year) 15) Cereal crop rotation (2013: spring barley, 2014: winter barley, 2015: winter rape, 2016: winter wheat) ermanent crops large plots ) Miscanthus (M. x giganteus) ) Miscanthus (M. sinensis Sibirian) ) Tall fescue x perennial ryegrass (Festulolium, HYKOR) ) Continuous wheat/triticale with straw removal (reference) 4) Continuous maize (reference) ermanent crops small plots ) Reed canary grass (phalaris arundinacea BAMSE) 0) Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea KORA) 1) Cocksfoot grass (Dactylis glomerata DONATA) Bare soil plots 16) Mechanical weed control + herbicides 17) Herbicides only 2) Grass clover Swedish (Bamse + Hykor + Donata + Lucerne (Alfalfa), Medicago sativa CRENO + Alsike clover, T. hybridum, FRIDA + White clover, T. repens, HEBE + Eastern galega, Galega orientalis, GALE) 3) Grass clover Danish - (DLF TRIFOLIUM mixture36 (10% white clover+10% festulolium+40% tall fescue+ 15% ryegrass+10% timoté+10% meadow fescue+5% red fescue)

6 Total yields of selected crops show potential for a doubling Foulum 2013 Jørgensen & Lærke, 2016

7 Perennial crops intercept approx. double as much solar radiation as annual crops Intercepted PAR, MJ m -2 (accumulated, annual) Foulum 2014 Foulum 2013 Jyndevad 2014 Jyndevad Manevski et al., 2016

8 Nitrate leaching much lower from grass than from maize and barley irrespective if fertilized or not

9 Nitrate leaching (kg N ha -1 ) Cumulated leaching is up to six times lower in grasses than in annual crops Nitrate leaching 1.2 m (accumulated, 1 Apr Apr 2014) * Not calculated yet *

10 It is possible to increase yield and decrease nitrate leaching Barley 130 kg N/ha Wheat 175 kg N/ha Beets 130 kg N/ha Grass clover unfertilized Festulolium 425 kg N/ha Jørgensen & Lærke, 2016

11 Implementation of a radical new crop production paradigm is conditional to development of green biorefineries Colours Flavors Medicin Other chemicals High-value components Oil Harvest Pretreatm. Storage Transport Bio-refinery C 6 C 5 Syngas Fibres Fuels Chemicals Materials Lignin Soil conditioner Fertiliser Rest Food Feed Residual Reactor Biogas Syngas

12 rops are separated, protein precipitated and animals fed to determine feeding value in current projects BioValue ( Biobase (

13 AU biomass conversion research to upgrade biomass residues into high-grade energy carriers Biomass pre-treatment: extrusion, briquetting etc. Large-scale biogas research batch to 30 m 3 continuous flow Biogas upgrading to grid quality HydroThermal Liquefaction (HTL) pilot plant continuous flow

14 Will production of biomass crops reduce food availability?

15 The bioindustry (e.g. DONG Energy & Novozymes) are concerned about the bio-resource Will there be enough biomass for establishing a significant biorefinery industry? Will it be sustainable (soil C, pesticides, GHG, nutrient leaching, biodiversity..)? What about iluc? What types of biomass can be available for which technologies? This was answered by a scenario analysis (Gylling et al., ) Prerequisite: No change in Danish food production See more in

16 Three Danish biomass scenarios Business as usual: No changes in crops or technologies Existing resources (straw, manure, rape oil etc.) Biomass optimised: Straw rich grain varieties Increased straw harvest Less grain and rape > high productive biomass crops (beets 19 t ha -1 DM) Fertilization of natural grasslands Road sides, aquatic weeds, catch crops etc. Environmentally optimised: No straw removal from land with critical low carbon content Perennial biomass crops (grass 15 t ha -1 DM) No grain crop production in nitrate sensitive areas No fertilization of natural grasslands Increased afforestation Gylling et al., 2013

17 Danish agriculture and forestry can deliver 3-4 times more biomass Gylling et al., 2013

18 Different biomass types for different conversion technologies approx. 1 mio. tonnes for feed/food Yellow = straw Gylling et al., 2013

19 Increased biomass utilisation can reduce nitrate leaching Change in nitrate leaching for Denmark (ton N y -1 ) BAU Biomass Environment Animal manure SRC New biomass crops substituting rape New biomass crops substituting grain crops Afforestation Additional catch crops Total Will fulfil the demands of the EU Water Framework Directive Jørgensen et al., 2013

20 Energy system scenarios were defined to analyse the effect on TOTAL Danish GreenHouse Gas emissions Gylling et al., 2016

21 The scenario effects on fossil fuel substitution and on Land Use Change (mio. T CO 2 eq.) Gylling et al., 2016

22 What is needed to double productivity and halve environmental impact from Danish agriculture? New crop production paradigm Annual crops -> perennial crops Improved application of cover crops Harvest green crops (maximum biomass & protein) Green biorefinery to produce food, feed, bioenergy & materials Research and development Increase productivity of grasses and legumes Breeding for biorefinery quality (extractable protein, low ANF content) Biorefinery processes protein extraction etc. Demonstration of new concepts (high production low emission crops, animal feeding, logistics & conversion) Optimized integration with bioenergy technologies (biogas, HTL, ethanol.)

23 We can sustainably increase productivity by combining the best from agronomy with the best from industry!