4F : 2nd workshop, Madrid 24 March

FUTURE NON- CROPS FOR NORTHERN EU

Katri Pahkala, Dr.Agr. MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Production Research FI-31600 Jokioinen, Finland (www.mtt.fi) Contents

• Northern EU and the critical factors • Examples of non-food cases: • 1 Caraway as a non-food • 2 Energy crops: reed canary grass, fibre , straw • 3 Pulping field crops for papermaking • 4 Dye • Introducing a new crop to farms • Conclusions: Non-food crops for northern EU

24 March 2009 K. Pahkala MTT Northern EU

• Northern EU: North from 55 oN • Baltic countries : Estland, Latvia, Lithauen NO SE FI RU • Scandinavian countries: UK EE Denmark, Sweden, Finland (and Norway) DK LV 55N LT (UK: Scotland?) PL DE Critical factors in the north: Low temperatures and long day during short growing period Frozen soil and snow cover in winter at latitude 60 – 70 N

The climate change will improve 24 March 2009 the climate at northern K. Pahkala MTT latitudes Mean temperature for Northern EU countries

Denmark Finland Estonia Latvia Lithuania Sweden UKScotland Spain

25

20 C o 15

10

5

0 Mean temperature temperature Mean -5

-10 I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII Month Source: GAISMA 24 March 2009 K. Pahkala MTT Daylength : Sunrise, sunset, dawn and dusk times (www.gaisma.com)

Jokioinen 60.8 N Athens 38 N

24 March 2009 Bologna and Bucharest 44 N WageningenK. Pahkala (Ede)MTT and Poznan 52 N Non-food case 1: CARAWAY (Carum carvi) •Caraway is a biennial crop, which is well adapted to northern conditions. •Seeds are used as a spice. • Seed terpenoids are currently used for sprout inhibitor for potatoes, and control of diseases on organic farms • Finland is the main producer for non-food caraway. •The current area is 20 000 ha fotos: M. Keskitalo 24 March 2009 (Source: Keskitalo et al. 2005, Ngo-Duy et al. 2009) K. Pahkala MTT Non-food case 2: Energy crops:

• Reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) • Fibre hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) • Cereal, oilseed and linseed straw • Salix, Populus (?)

24 March 2009 K. Pahkala MTT ENERGY CROPS Reed canary grass (RCG) (Phalaris arundinacea L.) - A native, perennial grass species grown as a forage crop in Europe, Canada and USA. -Potential as an energy and fibre source has been evaluated in Sweden and Finland. -Harvesting in early spring as dead material: 10 – 15 harvestings

(3-8 tdm /ha affecting by soil type, age, harvest losses, weather)

24 March 2009 K. Pahkala MTT RCG production in Finland

Reed canary grass in Finland 100000 100 000? 80000 RCG area in communes, ha 60000

Areaha 40000

17200 20400 20000 10500 4500 300 500 900 1600 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2015

•Vapo Oy and Pohjolan Voima Oy are the largest concerns that buy RCG. •Delivery of RCG based on contracts between farmers and the power plant •Optimum distance less than 60 km to the power plant •Chopped, dry RCG is used mixed with peat or wood •The highest share of RCG used is 15% of the total energy value of the fuel: RCG is very dry MMM/Tike 2006 and light •More than 20 CHP plants have experience of RCG use in combustion The energy value for RCG is 5 MWh/t dm 24 March 2009 and 4.2 MWh/t at 14% moisture content •Source:K. Pahkala Pahkala MTT et al. 2008. ENERGY CROPS: Fibre hemp for solid

Fotos: K. Pahkala

1DM yield 6-10 t/ha: autumn harvesting 2DM yield 4.7-5.1 t/ha: spring harvesting Production for energy has been studied in Sweden and in Finland. Delayed harvesting in spring makes the separation of the long fibre easier. Source:24 March1 Pahkala2009 et al. 2008, HEMP SYS, 2SUNDBERG & WESTLIN 2005. JTI-Rapport 341 K. Pahkala MTT FIBRE HEMP P olar circle

65N

7-8 t/ha 6-12 t/ha NOSE FI RU 60N 5-10 t/ha

Stem DM yields for fibre hemp in 1995-2004 in Scandinavia at latitude 60 N - 65 N 50N 24 March 2009 K. Pahkala MTT ENERGY CROPS: Straw as a biofuel •The share of straw is about 30-50% of the total cereal biomass •Straw is suitable for co-firing with other solid fuels. Highest value: Rye and straw •Energy value for straw: 4 MWh/ton at 20% moisture, 4.8 MWh/ton DM Problems : High ash content (4–9%) and composition (silica, alkali metals). High moisture content at harvesting. Low density of the bales decreases the transportation efficiency • Possible raw material for bioethanol •Straw is used in large scale for solid biofuel in Denmark Foto: K. Pahkala

24 March 2009 K. Pahkala MTT Barley straw as raw material for ethanol Dry matter (DM) yield and fibre components • Highest DM yield 8 - 10 tons/ha Barley Straw + Leaves Ears 12 • The straw yield was about 30% of the 2005 2006 10 total biomass at harvest. 8 •Cellulose and lignin content of straw (incl. 6 4 leaf blades and sheaths) increased until 2 dough stage of grain. Biomassha DM ton/ 0 •Hemicellulose was most stable, ie. about ul g J -Jun - -Jul 4 6 1-Au 8-Aug 2-Jul 0-Jul 1-Aug 8-Aug 20 % of dry matter. ( Method: FibertecTM 27 18-Jul 2 1 2 Samplings (ISO6865, AOAC2002.04, feed)www.foss.dk/Solutions/ProductsDirect/FibertecSy

Barley straw Cellulose Hemicellulose Lignin stems.aspx) 60 2005 •After pre-treatment with steam explosion, 50

40 straw could be easily hydrolysed to

30 monosaccharides and fermented to

% DM in 20 ethanol. 10 •The optimum harvest time for bio-ethanol 0 production is at grain maturity. -Jun -Jul 7 4-Jul 8 2 1 26-Jul 1-Aug 8-Aug Samplings •Source: AgroEta project/ Kontturi & 24 March 2009 Pahkala 2007 K. Pahkala MTT Non-food case 3: Pulping field crops for papermaking (pulp yield, screenings) Birch D R ape i T urnip rape N ettle c H emp o Linseed t Lucerne Red clover s G oat's rue Common reed Wheat G Barley r O at a R ye s T imothy Meadow fesc s T all fesc R C G

24 March 2009 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 K. Pahkala MTT % of D M Source: Saijonkari-Pahkala 2001 Pulping quality of plant partsa) 30

Stem of reed canary 25 grass 20 Leaf blade 15 Leaf sheath Kappa • highest pulp yield and 10 Entire plant Stem crude fibre content (more 5 0 than 50% of DM) 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 • lowest kappa number Screened pulp yield, % of DM b) • high crude fibre content 55 indicates high pulp yield Stem 50 Entire plant

45 Leaf sheath

40

35 Leaf blade Source: Saijonkari-Pahkala 2001 30 Crude fibre, % of DM

25 24 March 2009 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 K. Pahkala MTT Screened pulp yield, % of DM Non-food case 4: Dye plants • Dyer’s woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) Blue dye (indigo) is extracted from leaf rosette. Before dyeing it needs to be reduced to its water soluble leuco -form by using sodium dithionite, biological induced reduction or electrochemically (Vuorema et al. 2009). Indigo yield: pure indigo 4-16 kg/ha (2-4 g/kg) (Keskitalo/MTT) Growing research: Keskitalo/MTT • Dyer’s Knotweed, Chinese indigo (Polygonum tinctorum Aiton) Foto: T.Tuomela/MTT’s archive Blue dye from leaves. An annual plant growing to about 75cm. Frost sensitive. Pollinated by insects. Dye yield: 3-4 g/kg Tansy (common ~) ( Tanacetum vulgare L. ) Light yellow or greenish dye from leaves and inflorescence (Source : Studies of Marjo Keskitalo) 24 March 2009 K. Pahkala MTT Dryer’s woad (Isatis tinctoria ) seedling, leaves ready for harvesting, 24harvesting March 2009 by Haldrup and blue indigo dye extracted from leaves K.(Source Pahkala MTT and fotos: Studies of Marjo Keskitalo) Experiences in introducing a new crop to farms

• To introduce a new industrial crop to farms requires large foregoing research and consulting effort • The whole logistics should be tested creatively in practice • Large scale production can still cause problems • Yields harvested with farm machinery can be lower than in research because of yield losses • Contract growing for industry • Production should be profitable to grower and to user • Positive attitude of industry and the Government is needed.

24 March 2009 K. Pahkala MTT Conclusions: Non-food crops for northern EU- current status Caraway ( Carum carvi ): sprout inhibitor for potatoes (industrial), control of potato diseases (experimental) Energy crops for heat and power plants and 2nd generation fuels: • reed canary grass ( Phalaris arundinacea ) (industrial) • straw (cereal, oilseed, linseed etc) (industrial) fibre hemp ( Cannabis sativa ) (local energy use) (Denmark, South Sweden) Salix, Populus (Denmark, South Sweden) (industrial) Oil crops for : spring turnip rape, spring rape, (industrial) winter rape (Denmark, South Sweden) (industrial) Fibre crops: fibre hemp, for textile (small scale processing) grass species and cereal straw for papermaking (pilot scale) Dye plants: Dyer’s woad (Isatis tinctoria ) (small scale) Dyer’s knotweed ( Polygonum tinctorum ) (experimental) Tansy ( Tanacetum vulgare ) (experimental)

24 March 2009 Warm thanks to Marjo Keskitalo for material K. Pahkala MTT of dye plants and caraway References • Keskitalo, M. et al. 2005. Control of potato late blight by caraway oil in organic farming. In: NJF-seminar 369, Alnarp, Sweden June 15-17, 2005. NJF Report 1, 1: 77-79. www.njf.nu/filebank/files/ 20050919$101511$fil$33d3ex7qOFsI2tQo8OGe.pdf • Kontturi, M., Pahkala, K. 2007. Straw biomass - potential raw material for ethanol production. In: NJF Seminar 405, Vilnius, Lithuania, September 25-26 2007. NJF Report 3, 4: 104-108. http://www.njf.nu/filebank/files/ 20080305$103008$fil$GVli0WP5XX2ExX4V1KKV.pdf • Ngo-Duy,C., Destaillats,F., Keskitalo,M., Arul,J., Angers,P. 2009. Triacyl-glycerols of Apiaceae seed oils: Composition and regiodistribution of fatty acids. Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol. 111: 164–169. • Pahkala, K., Aalto, M., Isolahti, M., Poikola, J., Jauhiainen, L. 2008. Large-scale energy grass farming for power plants—A case study from Ostrobothnia, Finland. Biomass and 32 (2008): 1009 – 1015. • Pahkala, K., Pahkala, E., Syrjälä, H. 2008. Northern limits to fibre hemp production in Europe. Journal of Industrial Hemp 13(2): 104-116. • Saijonkari-Pahkala, K. 2001. Non-wood plants as raw material for pulp and paper. Agricultural and food science in Finland 10, Supplement 1. http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/maa/sbiol/vk/saijonkari-pahkala • Sundberg,M. & Westlin,H. 2005. Hampa som bränsleråvara. JTI-Rapport 341. • Vuorema, A., John, P., Keskitalo, M. et al. 2009. Anthraquinone catalysis in the glucose- driven reduction of indigo to leuco-indigo. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. 11 (11). 1816-1824.

24 March 2009 K. Pahkala MTT Thank you! • Going to spring in Finland!

21 December at 10 am -18 oC

MTT Agrifood Research Finland Jokioinen 20 March at 10 am -9oC 24 March 2009 60 N K. Pahkala MTT