The emerging bioenergy industry will create opportunities for farmers to control weeds as farmers look at efficient and cost effective ways to capture biomass such as wheat straw to feed bioenergy projects. In the process, machines like the Glenvar Harvest Direct could be the tool that farmers use to not only harvest this resource but remove weeds seeds from paddocks as well.

Current System

Currently most farmers either lay the crop residue in rows and burn it, or use chaff carts to capture the chaff which they later burn. However, considering the problems farmers have with chemical resistant weeds and the efforts and expenses going to controlling the problem, the Glenvar system offers a chemical free opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

Glenvar – How it Works

The system uses a conveyer belt to transfer crop residue from the back of the harvester into a conventional baler towed behind. The machine is costly and needs a skilled operator familiar in both harvesting and bailing, it will also slow down harvest as farmers maximise the amount of biomass they take (while keeping enough straw on the paddock to protect the soil from erosion) but the benefits of using the system far out way the cons.

Energy Farmers – The Opportunity

Energy Farmers believe farmers have an opportunity to get together and offer large amounts of crop residue to feed these bioenergy projects. One or more Glenvar systems could be contracted or owned by a group of farmers to collect the straw from the most weedy paddocks on each farm. This would negate the need to invest in a machine themselves.

The emerging bioenergy industry will offer many opportunities for farmers in the future. Sustainably produced energy and fuels will be in high demand and farmers, who own the resource will be in a good seat to capitalise.

Checkout a video of the system.

West Australian agricultural cropping systems have wheat straw in abundance and at the moment we are not utilising this resource to our and our communities’ advantage. Wheat straw for bioenergy is a feasible option and Energy Farmers is working to develop projects that use wheat straw for bioenergy.

Current situation

Most farmers in Western Australia are cropping year in year out. Wheat, canola and lupins grown in rotation gives farmers the option of using alternative chemicals to take out weeds however, chemical resistance is still an issue. Burning crop residue is one option that farmers have to break that weed seed cycle but this is where we are missing the opportunity, the straw is literally going up in smoke.

When talking about burning we are only speaking about burning the harvest rows, not the whole paddock. During harvest farmers direct the straw coming off the sieves and rotors into a narrow row and then come back in March or April and burn these rows. Harvest trials carried out by Energy Farmers in 2011/12 in Mullewa show that straw yields of 1 tonne of straw for every 1 tonne of grain are achievable by bailing this harvest row with a conventional baler.

Capturing the resource

While conventional bailing is OK, we believe the best option to capture the resource is with the Glenvar Bale Direct. The Glenvar system is a baler connected to the back of the harvester. The system uses a belt to move the material from the harvester to the baler where it is baled normally. We understand the concerns farmers have with this system. Balers are complex, need skilled operators and using the system will probably slow down harvest. However, the advantage of using the system is that residue and weeds are collected in a one pass operation.

Wheat straw is typically around 15-25% moisture and has a net calorific value of around 13-15 MJ/kg.  It contains nutrients such as potash however, has high amounts of silica which gives a relatively high ash content which and can lead to slagging and fouling problems during the combustion process.

Being a low density product, transport is an issue and one of the biggest limitations for any bioenergy project. Bale weights need to be kept to a maximum to alleviate this problem as well as sourcing straw for bioenergy projects close to where the facility is to be built.

Conversion technologies

Some of the emerging technology options to produce bioenergy and biofuels from wheat straw include:

Cellulose to ethanol – which is microbial or enzymatic conversion of biomass materials through fermentation. Fermentation involves microorganisms that use the fermentable sugars in biomass for food and in the process produces ethanol and other byproducts.

Pyrolysis – there are two types of pyrolysis fast and slow. Fast pyrolysis occurs between 300-550C and occurs in less than two seconds. The process produces a vapor which, once condensed turns into a fluid called pyrolysis oil. This oil can be used as a fuel source for boilers but needs to be further refined into transport fuels.

Slow pyrolysis occurs at around 400C and has longer residence times. The process releases the gases bound up in the biomass. These gases can be burnt to create heat or scrubbed (cleaned) to use in a gas fired motor driving a turbine.

Nutrient value

The nutrient value of the straw is also very important. If farmers are going to be removing straw from their paddocks then they will be also removing nutrients and these nutrient will need to be replaced. It does not make sense to us to replace these nutrients through fossil based fertilisers. Instead by-products of these conversion processes such as biochar can be used to replace the nutrients as well as pick up carbon credits through carbon storage or offsetting fossil based fertilisers.

Energy Farmers has been doing a lot of work on the feasibility of using wheat straw and other crop residues for bioenergy production. If you would like more information please contact us.

Energy Farmers Overview

We are  working with stakeholders to ramp up the bioenergy industry in Australia. Our view is that we need to build the confidence of farmers and feedstock suppliers in bioenergy technology, develop biomass supply chains and ultimately be in a position to supply large amounts of biomass to future bioenergy and biofuels projects across Australia.

For now we are developing small on site solutions that use wastes resources to produce power. See some of our bioenergy projects or  Contact us to learn more.

See our presentation below.

Biomass projects are complex, needing a lot of different aspects to come together to ensure project success. Financing these projects is an issue, long development times mean that investors get fatigued and look for alternatives. To really ramp up the industry these issues need to be ironed out, policy that fast track project development would also help.

In the future supply chains will be crucial, feedstock supply, harvesting, handling and transport will need to be solid to provide the large amounts of biomass that these projects will need. We are working to build the capacity of farmers so they are in a position to do this when the opportunity arises.

See our slideshow presentation below to see some more information or contact us to learn more.

The ‘Australian Bioenergy Roadmap – Setting the direction for biomass in stationary energy to 2020 and beyond” really highlights how far behind Australia is in terms of using biomass and waste to produce energy. After all, most European countries range from 4 to 15% in terms of how much bioenergy contributes to domestic energy supply.

The roadmap was funded by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, and is the culmination of a collaborative approach working in partnership with the bioenergy industry including the Clean Energy Council and Bioenergy Ausrtalia.

The biomass resource appraisal carried out as part of the development of the Roadmap confirmed that Australia has an abundance of economically viable and accessible biomass resources including agricultural related wastes, energy crops, landfill & sewage gas, sugarcane, urban biomass, and wood wastes.

Bioenergy enhances security of supply and provides a controllable and continuous supply of power. Bioenergy also produces thermal energy which can be used for heating and/or cooling. Bioenergy can contribute significantly to employment and economic development, particularly in rural and regional areas where much of the biomass resources are located and bioenergy can support existing enterprises such as farms and forestry.

The Roadmap demonstrates the potential of the industry and provides the pathways and guidance to attain that potential. The Clean Energy Futures legislation was a good first step, however for the industry to really take off it must be backed up by policy that reduces the barriers to entry, investment in R&D and more support for those already working hard to establish the industry.

While this move will have its own issues in terms of the food for fuel debate, it highlights the fact that the world is moving to more sustainable supplies of fuel and energy.

Our vision at Energy Farmers Australia is that farmers are at the forefront of this emerging bioenergy industry and use their currently underused resources such as straw to “grow” the world’s fuels & energy.

Read more about the John Deere Praxtrax Biofuels project.

The report covers the economic benefits of bioenergy, policy and regulatory environment and an outlook for the industry including the effects of a price on carbon.

Its exciting future for agriculture and the potential farmers have, to produce aviation biofuels. Richard Branson’s Virgin Australia have announced a consortium with Renewable Oil Corporation (ROC), Dynamotive Energy Systems Corporation (DYMTF) and Future Farm Industries Co-operative Research Centre (FFI CRC) to develop sustainable aviation biofuels with benefits. Benefits from these types of projects will flow to the Australian farming community and the environment.