Biofuels and Their Co-Products as Livestock Feed: Global Economic and Environmental Implications

Abstract

Abstract:This review studies biofuel expansion in terms of competition between conventional and advanced biofuels based on bioenergy potential. Production of advanced biofuels is generally more expensive than current biofuels because products are not yet cost competitive. What is overlooked in the discussion about biofuel is the contribution the industry makes to the global animal feed supply and land use for cultivation of feedstocks. The global ethanol industry produces 44 million metric tonnes of high-quality feed, however, the co-products of biodiesel production have a moderate impact on the feed market contributing to just 8-9 million tonnes of protein meal output a year. By economically displacing traditional feed ingredients co-products from biofuel production are an important and valuable component of the biofuels sector and the global feed market. The return of co-products to the feed market has agricultural land use (and GHG emissions) implications as well. The use of co-products generated from grains and oilseeds can reduce net land use by 11% to 40%. The proportion of global cropland used for biofuels is currently some 2% (30-35 million hectares). By adding co-products substituted for grains and oilseeds the land required for cultivation of feedstocks declines to 1.5% of the global crop area.

Electro-Fermentation in Aid of Bioenergy and Biopolymers

“…The dependency on fossil fuel based energy sources leads to the global problem of pollution and climate change [16,17]. The quest to find alternative resources for petroleum-based products (especially for transportation) has been the major impetus to produce bioenergy from renewable resources [18]. In this context, use of waste biomass in a biorefinery could be a potential alternative.…”

“…The competition among traditional and advanced biofuels will affect their large-scale production since they depend largely upon the limited land resources, crops (food/non-food), and lignocellulosic wastes. An EF strategy can contribute both to a more efficient energy production and livestock feed (indirectly to food supply) with the use of the byproducts of bioethanol production [18]. An integrative process was also developed combining bioethanol production along with MEC to produce hydrogen with concurrent degradation of phenolic compounds and its derivatives (furfurals) from the by-products of bioethanol (Figure 3).…”

Interdependencies between Biofuel, Fuel and Food Prices: The Case of the Brazilian Ethanol Market

“…The diversion of land previously used in food production towards energy crops (Land Use Change-LUC) is considered to be one factor behind those food price hikes [22][23][24][25], mainly because of its impacts on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and wider ecosystems. When demand for biofuels increases, farmers will have an incentive to meet this demand by producing more feedstock for biofuels production.…”

Influence of the incorporation mode of sugar beet pulp in the finishing diet on the digestive tract and performances of geese reared for foie gras production

“…Incorporation of SBP (10%) into a poultry diet based on corn, sunflower meal, barley, and wheat increases its water-holding capacity (+30%) and its swelling capacity (+15%) . Its use in goose diets has no detrimental effects on geese reared for meat production (Arslan, 2003(Arslan, , 2005 and could help mitigate the environmental consequences of both the animal production system (Mackenzie et al, 2016) and the biofuel industry (Popp et al, 2016). Additionally, Arroyo et al (2015) showed that SBP incorporation (10%) in a complete pelleted diet for geese reared for foie gras production tended to increase the crop volume of the birds (+8%).…”