NNFCC News Review: Feedstock Issue 144, March 2024

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Foreword

In this month’s foreword we take a look at biomass crops and their commercial viability. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) has an ongoing program to study and develop second and third generation feedstocks. Comprehensive study of some of these feedstocks, including switchgrass, miscanthus, willow, and pine, shows that cultivation on marginal lands can maximise the profitability as miscanthus can yield up to almost 3x more yield in comparison to corn. They believe that by cultivating these ‘purpose-grown’ energy feedstocks on marginal lands can turn zones with elusive profitability into successful enterprises.

BETO point out an example of how miscanthus can be used to replace ingredients used in the production of pet food. Renew Biomass, based in the US, has developed a pet food ingredient known as MFiber, which also contains powdered cellulose. Research conducted by Kansas State University found that fibers from miscanthus performed on par with powdered cellulose from a functional nutrition perspective, in palatability, and during processing. Additionally, MFiber contains xylooligosaccharides (XOS), a prebiotic that can support pet digestive health, a function that powered cellulose doesn’t provide. However, separate research at the University of Illinois showed that miscanthus fiber can offer many gut health benefits for pets when combined with beet pulp or tomato pomace fibers, offering a potential alternative to refined XOS.

Miscanthus is currently being grown by over 150 farmers without the use of fertiliser chemicals. BETO underlines that continued success in finding uses for such feedstocks could lead to their wider adoption and therefore it has the potential to create a bottleneck in processing.

Other News this Month Includes:

Policy

Civil society groups call for end to soy biofuels
Meeting the Requirements of EU REDII

Markets

ELIX Polymers – chemically recycled products with up to 100% sustainable feedstocks
Green Plains Inc. completes acquisition of green plains partners
DOE to invest $30 million in carbon conversion and highly efficient CO₂ capture technologies

Research & Development

Purpose-grown energy crops: what drives feedstock innovation
Biorefinery model points to better method at producing co-products
DOE intends to issue funding to support mixed algae and wet waste feedstocks R&D for biofuels and
bioproducts