http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/17/farmers-chase-boom-in-biofuels
[links and images in on-line article]
Biofuels, plastics and drugs: is this the future of our farms?
Climate change and poor returns on wheat and dairy drive rural
revolution in ‘future-proof’ agriculture
John Vidal
Sunday 17 April 2016 00.04 BST
Farmer Rob Pickering last week planted nine hectares of flood-prone land
in Lincolnshire with an African plant called miscanthus, or elephant
grass. By selling the fast-growing crop as biofuel for Drax power
station, he should earn as much as he would from selling wheat on the
world market.
Pickering is part of a rural revolution that, thanks to climate change,
low commodity prices and new consumer tastes, is seeing Britain’s fields
planted with crops that are more likely to end up as electricity or
paint additives than food.
In Essex, David Eagle is growing acres of sea buckthorn, a salt-tolerant
plant that grows wild in Siberiacorrect and northern Europe. Its orange
berries can be used in food and drink products, but are bought mainly by
cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. Eagle knows his coastal
defences may not withstand many more storms and increases in sea-levels,
so wanted a future-proof crop. “Our sea walls are in good condition but
the future may not be so certain in an era of climate change,” he says.
In East Anglia, borage, hemp and flax are being grown for their oils,
daffodils for drugs use, and lavender for cosmetics. The hop fields of
Kent are expanding as the global boom in micro-breweries sees British
hop exports to the US soaring, and wildflower seed farms are springing
up on former grazing land in Lincolnshire as farmers take environmental
action in return for EU subsidies.
The stories you need to read, in one handy email
Read more
Dorset farmers are paid premium prices by drugs firms to grow poppies
and cannabis for medicines, but the market for pharmaceuticals is small,
tightly controlled and limited, says David Turley of the National
Non-Food Crop Centre (NNFCC) in York.
“Non-food crops have seen boom and bust years as farmers try planting
new crops in bad times, only for the price to drop when supply outstrips
demand,” he says. “Three years ago, everyone was growing evening
primrose. Then the Chinese got in and that ended.”
Warmer winters have allowed exotic fruits and vegetables to be grown
commercially in Britain, says the National Union of Farmers, but
industrialists expect the next boom to be in plants whose sugars can be
used to make plastics and packaging .
“There is great interest in the bio-economy,” said Turley. “We are now
taking ethanol [from wheat] to make plastics. It’s an emerging market
that I think will become huge as large brands become concerned about
sustainability. I would expect many more plants to be grown for plastics.”
Planting for niche industrial uses is becoming more common, but so far
only 100 or so hectares are planted commercially with crops such as
high-erucic acid rapeseed, Buglossoides arvensis and camelina (false
flax). These are now grown for use in petroleum additives, polymers and
skincare products.
Staffordshire firm Statfold Seed Oils estimates the total world market
for hemp oil is only about 200 tonnes, and it supplies nearly 150 tonnes
of that. “Many farmers have latched on to the high prices, but we are
dealing with pretty small volumes,” said a spokesman.
According to Boston Seeds in Lincolnshire, there is significant and
growing demand for wild seeds, both from farmers obliged to plant field
margins with bird-friendly plants to receive their EU grants, and from
home gardeners.
Many older dairy and arable farmers were turning to energy crops because
they required less physical work and offered security when cereal or
milk prices fell, said George Robinson of agricultural energy firm
Terravesta. It has contracted 350 British farmers to grow 5,000 hectares
of miscanthus as a biomass source for power stations. “The British
landscape that was once mixed farming is no longer,” he said. “Dairy
farmers are going. Grassland is being converted. We’re adding 1,000
hectares of miscanthus a year.”
About 350,000 hectares in Britain are suitable to grow it and Robinson
is confident that he can persuade thousands more farmers to plant the
grass. “This is just the start,” he says.
The amount of land planted with energy biomass crops, such as
miscanthus, willow and poplar, grew by nearly 50% in 2014-15 and is now
more than 120,000 hectares, or 3%, of arable land. If Britain is to meet
its target of 15% of energy from renewable resources by 2020, much more
will be needed.
Crops producing biofuels for petrol and diesel additives are also
popular: thousands of hectares of wheat are expected to be planted this
year to supply the Vivergo Fuels bioethanol factory in Hull. It uses a
million tonnes of wheat to provide 420 million litres of renewable fuel
a year – about half the UK’s target.
Other farmers and estates have turned their acres from pasture to more
traditional cash crops, like Christmas trees.
“The trade is changing,” says Harry Brightwell, secretary of the British
Christmas Tree Growers’ Association, who estimates there are now
5-7,000ha grown. “There’s all kind of people growing them now. Some are
farmers diversifying into trees, but there are estates with over 1m
trees in Scotland. It’s an industrial crop now. But we still can’t get
enough good trees.”
_______________________________________________
Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list
Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org
http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel