Introduction to fossil free grain production

Horváth, Tibor and Nyéki, Anikó Éva and Neményi, Miklós (2018) Introduction to fossil free grain production. ACTA AGRONOMICA ÓVÁRIENSIS, 59 (2). pp. 44-61. ISSN 1416-647X

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Abstract

Agriculture is a crucially important industry for mankind. This is the industry that has been with us since the dawn of history, producing products that are indispensable to our lives. It is therefore crucial that the system should remain sustainable in its energy use, not only at a given moment in time, but also over the long term. Within agriculture, the area of grain production has been of primary importance both economically and in terms of territory. In Hungary 56% of arable land in 2017 was used for grain production, of which the vast majority was given over to winter wheat and maize, over a total area of almost 2 million ha. These two grains also carry enormous significance worldwide. Due to their great importance, we examined the energy balance of the production of these two grains. In contrast to the current open energy system, we examined how the energy balance of the system would develop under a closed system. The closed system relies exclusively on biogas produced from the straw or maize stalks remaining as by-products of farming, as energy inputs. This can be used directly for fertilizer production and as fuel, or indirectly as a fuel used in heat or electricity generation. It can be calculated whether the by-products produced from one hectare of arable land, could be used to entirely cover the energy needs of the production, or in what way the energy balance would change compared with the current one. In the course of the study, it was found that in the case of maize, the largest energy demand was from nitrogen-based fertilizer (more than a quarter of the total energy demand). In the case of wheat, partly due to the plant’s lower nitrogen needs, and partly due to technology, the total amount of energy consumed is less than in the case of maize. However, the amount of biogas that can be obtained from wheat straw is lower than that from maize. The study assumes that the energy use of by-products will occur only through biogas technology, meaning it could be done in a decentralized manner.

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